This meal celebrates fellowship – being in fellowship with God and one another. This is why we call it communion. We are in fellowship. No grudges, no resentment, no bitterness, just fellowship.
But this meal is also teaching us how this fellowship works. There is only one way to be in Christian fellowship with God and one another. “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 Jn. 1:6-7).
There is only one way to walk in the light; there is only one way to have fellowship with God and one another. And that is through the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, cleansing us from all our sin. We share bread and wine because our fellowship is only possible through the death of Christ. He reconciles us to God and one another.
And how does this reconciliation happen? It happens through confession of sin and forgiveness. The very next verses in John’s letter say, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” How does Christ’s blood cleanse us from all our sins? It cleanses us when we ask Him to, when we confess our sins and ask Him to forgive us.
So, are there any places of tension in your family, with your husband, your wife, your kids, your parents? Are there any places of tension with anyone in this room or with anyone else? If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His son, cleanses us from all unrighteousness. Confess your sins, forgive one another, and come and welcome to Jesus Christ.
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