Monday, June 18, 2007

Communion Mediation-Covenant

This weekend we have been talking about our favorite theological word, covenant. But I hope that you have begun to see that it is not so much a theological word as it is a relational word. We say this word all the time because we see the imprints of relation everywhere, in the Trinity, in our union with Christ, in our marriage, in our families, in our church. Everywhere we turn, we see the implications of love, loyalty, and faithfulness. As we begin to see this, we realize how truly glorious it is and so we have to put covenant before every noun. But the best noun to put covenant before is God. For He truly is a covenant making and covenant keeping God. He initiates and we reciprocate.

There is a covenant of love in the Godhead itself. The Triunal persons express love and faithfulness, one to another. And this love and faithfulness spills out of the Godhead all over His people. We are the recipients of His love and of His faithfulness to us. Because of this, we can then express love and faithfulness to God, to our wives and children and to all the saints gathered here.

What we do here at this table is an expression of the Covenant between God and us as a people. But it is not just that corporate expression. Because of that corporate covenant, we are able to love one another within that covenant. So, this meal is also an expression of the covenant between brothers and sisters in Christ. Thus, we eat together communing with God and with one another through the Holy Spirit and we express the love of God and His faithfulness to us and the love of the brotherhood and our faithfulness to one another. This is living in covenant with God. This is living in covenant with each other. What a privilege to celebrate and practice this truth here each Lord’s Day.

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