We Remember

Each month we come to the table of communion — the table of remembrance.

You may have taken those elements hundreds of times, so that the practice may now seem ordinary and perfunctory.  It is not.  It is a time to remember some of the most powerful truths God has revealed to us.  We gather there to remember —

• We remember the person of Christ — that the eternal Son of God was incarnated and revealed as the authoritative Son of Man (Dan. 7:13-14).
• We remember the obedience of Christ in which He fulfilled all the demands of righteousness of God in the Law (Mt. 5:17-18).  He did in our place what we could never do, be obedient to His Father in everything He did, thought, said, or desired.  He was only obedient; there was nothing disobedient or sinful in Him in any way. 
• We remember the revelation of Christ as the Messiah, the Savior of Israel and the Savior of the world (Mt. 15:24).
• We remember Christ who came as the Lamb of God to be the final sacrifice for sin — our sin (Jn. 1:35-36).
• We remember the victory of Christ, so that when Christ died on the cross, He was not defeated, but He defeated sin, death, and Satan.  He was the Victor in His death (Jn. 16:33; Heb. 2:14).  So John Owen noted, “…in our celebration of the death of Christ, we do profess against Satan, that his power is broken, that he is conquered — tied to the chariot wheels of Christ, who has disarmed him.”
• We remember our sin — the depth of its rebellion against God and the quantity of that rebellion (Mt. 18:21ff).  Sin is never insignificant in its impact or its quantity.  We could not bear the weight of knowing just how sinful our sin is.   
• And we remember forgiveness from Christ for that sin.  Communion is the regular reminder of the cleansing of our sin (1 Cor. 11:23-32).  

But just how forgiven is “forgiven?”  When God says He forgives your sin because of Christ, how extensive is that forgiveness? 

• God, because of Christ, promises to never look at that sin to hold it against you again (Col. 2:14).
• God, because of Christ, promises to send that sin away from you as far as the east is from the west (Ps. 103:12).
• God, because of Christ, promises to equip you to live for Him (and not for sin, Rom. 6).
• Though the act of your sin remains (you can’t undo what has been done), God, because of Christ, does not define you by your sin; instead, He defines you by the righteousness of Christ. You no longer “wear” your sin as your identity, but God puts Christ’s robe of righteousness on you (2 Cor. 5:21). 
• Though the act of your sin remains, you are no longer considered guilty of that sin because Christ went to the cross in your place and was guilty in your place. And His resurrection demonstrates that God was satisfied with His payment of your guilt.  You are now free from guilt.  The condemnation of sin is removed from you.

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, that is your position.  Forgiven and freed.  And that is your daily memory and your meditation. 

Yes, you have sinned.  Don’t forget your sin, so that you are as aware of the magnitude of your salvation as you can be.  Don’t forget your sin so that you are aware of the cost of your sin and the memory of that cost serves as a deterrent to returning to that sin.  But never remember your sin as being greater than the life and grace of Christ.  Always remember your sin as covered by the blood of Christ.

However great your sin, Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension to Glory are infinitely greater.  That’s your new memory.  That is what we remember.

“Communion Bread and Cup 6” by fcor1614 is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.