Welcome to Eat This Bread Drink This Cup. The title of my communion meditation today is "From Everlasting to Everlasting." I read from Psalms 103:13-18 (NIV). All Scripture quotations are from the New International Version (NIV) and are used with permission.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
15 The life of mortals is like grass,
they flourish like a flower of the field;
16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
17 But from everlasting to everlasting
the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children—
18 with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.
King David is the author of Psalms 103. In this psalm, not only does King David extol God's blessings, but he also impresses upon us just how great these blessings are. First, he tells us that "as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him," then, "as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us." Apparently dissatisfied with his descriptions of the scope of God's blessings so far, King David turns to time. In verses 17-18, he writes, "But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children—with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts." To date, no astronomer has identified a boundary to the heavens; it continues upward to infinity. No matter how far you travel to the east or the west, you will never arrive at the other end of the compass. With respect to time, "everlasting to everlasting" is for eternity. King David has convinced me that God's blessings are great! But in discussing time, Kind David appears to give it boundaries—from everlasting to everlasting. That leads me to believe that the present, or today, is the time between eternity or everlasting in the past and eternity or everlasting in the future. This has big implications for how we should live as today is the day for keeping His covenant and obeying His precepts. King David tells us our existence as mortals is like a flower of the field, here, then gone. Rather than worrying about the past or the future, we should be living for today and focusing on what is important to God. It is in these activities we show God our love and receive His love in return. Why waste a day in unprofitable endeavors? Today is Sunday, the Lord's Day, and we should focus on showing God that we love Him. One of these ways is by assembling together as the church to partake of the bread and drink the fruit of the vine from the cup. We show God that we love His Son and remember what He did to save us. It was because of His sacrifice that God now loves us and has forgiven us all our transgressions. These blessings are to me and you and to the children's children of all who fear Him from everlasting to everlasting. 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 grateful for the abundant blessings we receive from You. Thank-you so much for loving us with a love that knows no bounds. Because of Your great love, You asked Jesus to offer His life that we might have the forgiveness of sins. Through our faith in Jesus, You have both forgiven and forgotten our sins. Just now, as we partake of the bread and drink the fruit of the vine from the cup, we pause to remember Your Son, Jesus, the author of our blessings. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.
Today, Jesus invites you to partake of His supper. I read from Matthew 26:26-28 (NIV).
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, “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you 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!
