Eat This Bread Drink This Cup

Boast In Him Alone - 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

Loma H. Hassell, II, MD Season 3 Episode 21

Welcome to Eat This Bread Drink This Cup. The communion meditation today is based on a passage of Scripture from the New Testament, 1 Corinthians 1:26-31. In this passage, the Apostle Paul describes the futility of human wisdom as God has made Jesus to be wisdom itself. Only Jesus can make us pure, holy, and freed from sin, and this is what humankind desperately needs above all else. As we partake of the bread and drink from the cup, we remember that Jesus offered His life to secure these blessings for us. All Scripture quotations are from the New Living Translation (NLT) and are used with permission

 

As you listen to the episode today, my hope is that you will be encouraged from the time spent meditating on what Jesus has done for you. You are a special person; the one Jesus died to save! 

Welcome to Eat This Bread Drink This Cup. The title of my communion meditation today is "Boast in Him Alone." I read from 1 Corinthians 1:26-31. All quotations are from the New Living Translation (NLT) and are used with permission.

 

26 Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. 27 Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. 28 God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. 29 As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.

30 God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin. 31 Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the LORD.”

 

The Scriptures tell us that God has put an end to boasting. I am glad because there has been and still is too much boasting! God has brought to nothing everything the world considers important, which includes every dimension of human achievement. If you are looking to the wisdom of this world to gain respect, you may temporarily succeed in the eyes of men, but you will be sadly disappointed when you stand before God. This is because God equates Jesus with wisdom: Jesus is wisdom, and wisdom is Jesus; it's that simple. Nothing but Jesus can make a human being pure, holy, and freed from sin and this is it what it takes to be made right with God. Paul quotes the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 9:24), who quotes the LORD. He said, "But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the LORD who demonstrates unfailing love and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth, and that I delight in these things. I, the LORD, have spoken!" The message is very clear. If you want to stand before God, then you must stand with Jesus! It's a good thing if you were not wise in the eyes of the world, or powerful, or wealthy when God called you-you had fewer things to overcome in order to accept Jesus! Even in the church, as Michael J. Kruger writes in his book, Hebrews for You, “It seems that people want to make Christianity first and foremost about all sorts of other things: being a good person, helping others, fighting for social change, and so on. But we can’t forget the core message. Christianity is a message about sin and how we can be forgiven for it.” All sorts of human endeavor may serve to make life better for us on planet Earth, however, we cannot let it take us over. After all, we are sinners, and we need to be saved! When we assemble to partake of the bread and drink from the cup, we remember that Jesus offered Himself on a cross to save us. This selfless act and the explanation for it are what is most important for us and humanity. Let us pray.

 

Abba, Father. Today we bless and set aside this bread and the fruit of the vine in this cup to remember Your Son, Jesus. We know that the bread represents His body that was nailed to the cross, and the fruit of the vine represents His blood that He shed for us. As we pour out the wine from the cup, we are reminded of how Jesus poured out His own blood that our sins might be forgiven. Abba, Father. We are definitely prone to get sidetracked into things that are not important. We take our eyes off the prize, which is Jesus, and it is good that we meet regularly to partake of the bread and drink from the cup to remember that He died to save us. Thank-you, Abba, Father, that we can be pure, holy, and freed from our sins because of Jesus. If we want to boast, we can boast in Him alone. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

 

Today, Jesus invites you to partake of His supper. I read from Matthew 26:26-28 (NLT).

26 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.” Let us partake of the bread.

27 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, 28 for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many." Let us partake of the cup.

And the assembly of believers said, "Amen!"

 

Until next time, from Numbers 6:24-26, "May the LORD bless you and protect you. May the LORD smile on you and be gracious to you. May the LORD show you his favor and give you his peace."