Give and Receive - Galatians 1:3-5

Welcome to Eat This Bread Drink This Cup.

The communion meditation today is based on a passage of Scripture from the New Testament, Galatians 1:3-5. In this passage of Scripture, the Apostle Paul asks God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ to give us grace and peace. These two wonderful gifts are available to us through faith in Jesus, who gave His life for our sins. As we partake of the bread and drink wine from the cup, we remember His sacrifice for us. We join with the Apostle Paul in thanking God for our Savior, Jesus, and these gifts He gives, "All glory to God forever and ever! Amen." 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!

Transcript

Welcome to Eat This Bread Drink This Cup. The title of my communion meditation today is "Give and Receive." I read from Galatians 1: 3-5. All quotations are from the New Living Translation (NLT) and are used with permission.

3 May God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. 4 Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live. 5 All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.

In response to the Apostle Paul's request, the Scriptures are clear that God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ are willing to give grace and peace to all who are willing to receive it. As a recipient of God's grace and peace, the Apostle Paul wants everyone everywhere to receive both grace and peace. The means to grace and peace are explained by the Apostle Paul, "Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live." First, God saves us by His grace through faith in Jesus, who gave His life for our sins. And second, we have peace because have been rescued from this evil world in which we live. We are no longer slaves to sin; we are free and have been adopted as children of God. No matter what happens in this life—for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness, in health, in life, in death—we are His and waiting to begin our eternal life in heaven with Him! These gifts were truly important to the Apostle Paul and the other authors of the New Testament, and we find this desire for us expressed over and over in their writings. This greeting is present in 19 of 22 letters of the New Testament. Maybe you're not feeling these gifts as you walk the narrow road each day but that does not nullify the fact of their existence! In my opinion, of everything we are involved in that is lumped together in the category, living the Christian life, there is nothing that affirms more that we have received grace and peace from God like participating in the Lord's Supper. At the Lord's Table, we remember that "Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live." The Apostle Paul was overwhelmed while writing this letter to the Galatian Christians. He paused to pray, "All glory to God forever and ever! Amen" We join him in this prayer of thanksgiving and receive God's gifts of grace and peace. 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, thank-you for Your gifts of grace and peace. These gifts were not an afterthought in Your mind; You planned to give them to us from the very beginning. How awesome it is to know we are forgiven; we are adopted as Your children; and Your peace surrounds us like a fortress. All these blessings are ours because Your Son, Jesus, died on a cross for us. We join with the Apostle Paul in his prayer: "All glory to God forever and ever!" 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."

Artist's Note: If you have questions about the Lord's Supper, I invite you to visit my website, https://eatthisbreaddrinkthiscup.com, for a brief overview. The Eat This Bread Drink This Cup podcast is listed in most podcast directories, and I invite you to add my podcast to your favorites and be notified of new posts. There is a written transcript that accompanies each podcast, and you are free to use the transcript in accordance with US copyright law. My prayer is that you will benefit personally from this time with Jesus and encourage others to observe the Lord's Supper. In these trying times, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus!