Until He Comes Again

1 Corinthians 11:23–26

Advent into Christmas into Waiting

Advent through the prophets’ eyes.

Jeremiah looked forward to the Righteous Branch; Zephaniah reminded God’s people that the King would be in their midst’ Micah showed us the Shepherd coming from Bethlehem; Isaiah proclaimed the child who would bear the government on His shoulders. The prophets trained us to wait.

But Christmas has come. The manger is empty. The cross has been climbed, the tomb has been emptied, and Christ has ascended to the right hand of God. We no longer wait for His coming in promise. We now live in the space between promise fulfilled in the past and promise yet to be realized in the future.

The question before the church is no longer Will He come? but How do we live until He comes again? Paul answers this not with timelines, charts, or debates. He gives us a Table.

Until He Comes

Paul assumes three things in this passage:

He has come to Atone: We proclaim the Lord’s death.

He is presently reigning and providing for us: we truly eat and drink in communion with Christ

We wait knowing He will come again in glory: the Supper has an expiration date.

The Supper only makes sense if history is moving somewhere. It is not a static ritual or sentimental remembrance.

It is lived theology: it teaches us where we have been, where we are, and where we hope to go.

The Message of the Table

He Came to Atone: “You proclaim the Lord’s death…”

The incarnation and the cross are inseparable. Christmas is not sentiment; it is substitution. He came in order to die.

The shepherds went to see a baby, but they left proclaiming the good news. The Supper similarly shows what happened in Bethlehem and Calvary.

We remember that Christ’s body and blood are sufficient.

The Supper proclaims, it does not repeat.

Every time we come to this Table, we say to ourselves and to the world: He came. He died. He satisfied God’s justice once for all.

He Reigns Until He Returns: “…until He comes.”

Christ’s reign is not in the future, a literal 1,000-year earthly kingdom. The “millennium” is symbolic of the church age, the period between Christ’s ascension and His second coming.

Christ reigns now over all creation, all nations, and even over evil itself. Nothing happens outside His sovereign counsel.

The already/not-yet tension: we live in a world that is still fallen, yet the King is seated on His throne. The “shadows” of sin and death exist, but the substance, the ultimate reality, is Christ’s victory.

Christ is enthroned now, ruling all things.

His kingdom is real, advancing, and opposed. The opposition is real, but it never surprises Him. Faith is required, because though He reigns, the church lives in a contested world where sin and suffering remain.

The King is not absent. He reigns over all, even that which would seem contrary to His kingdom. Every act of evil, every calamity, every opposition is under His sovereign control and will ultimately serve His wise and holy purposes.

We live between the shadow of the present age and the substance of His reign, seeing glimpses of His work and trusting His promises.

This faith shapes how we respond to suffering and evil, not with despair, resignation, or fear, but with hope, courage, and perseverance. Between the cross and crown, between birth and return, we are not powerless. We live, worship, and wait in the reality of a kingdom that cannot fail.

We Wait at the Table

We Proclaim:

The Supper is a sermon without a pulpit. Every time we gather at this Table, we proclaim something about God, about ourselves, and about one another. But what exactly do we proclaim?

Christ’s Sacrifice: He died for our sins.

Every bite of bread and every sip of wine says: the cross was sufficient, complete, once-for-all. We announce to ourselves and the world: the debt is paid, the penalty endured, the price fully covered.

Our Unity in Him

The Table proclaims that we are one in Christ - all share the same bread, all drink from the same cup. Personal differences, petty quarrels, and social divisions cannot break the unity Christ has established.

Our Need

The Table proclaims our dependence on God: we are weak, sinful, and in need of mercy. We do not approach as perfect, but as needy, hungry for forgiveness, grace, and nourishment. This is a proclamation of humility and reliance.

His Grace

Finally, the Supper proclaims God’s unmerited favor. Not only does Christ satisfy the penalty of sin, He gives Himself freely to strengthen our faith and sustain our hope. Every meal at the Table announces: grace is active, present, and sufficient until He comes.

We Feed:

At this Table, we are fed not by bread and wine, but by the Word of Christ, who gives Himself to sustain our faith. The elements are signs pointing to the true feast: nourishment for the soul.

We Feed on Christ Himself

The bread and cup are visible signs, but the reality is spiritual: Christ gives Himself to strengthen and sustain us.

Every time we partake, we are reminded that we do not live by physical sustenance alone, but by the Word of God made flesh, and by the Spirit who applies it.

We are fed in the Word

Christ nourishes us in preaching, teaching, and study of Scripture. The Table and the Word are inseparable: the Supper is both a proclamation of His death and a tangible participation in His promise.

Here, the Word “digests” for our souls what the cross accomplished: forgiveness, peace, reconciliation, and strength for obedience.

We feed not on bread and wine alone, but on Christ Himself, through His Word, through the Spirit, and through this Table. Every time we eat and drink, we are nourished for the journey between Bethlehem and the return of our King.

We Trust

The Supper does more than remind us of what Christ has done and feed us spiritually. It calls us to trust, to place our hope and confidence in Him, knowing that what began in Bethlehem will one day reach its glorious fulfillment.

Trust in His Promises

Every time we eat and drink, we declare that God’s promises are trustworthy.

Christ has promised to return, to bring judgment and restoration, and to make all things new.

The Supper trains our hearts to live under these promises, not under fear, despair, or anxiety.

Trust for the Journey

Waiting for Christ’s return is not passive. It is active faith: living faithfully in the present because we know the end is sure.

The Table reminds us that we are already under His reign; we wait as those fed, strengthened, and equipped for obedience.

Trust transforms our daily lives: how we work, love, forgive, and serve.

Trust in His Sovereignty

Even what appears chaotic, evil, or unjust is under His sovereign control.

This does not make suffering unreal or trivial, but it grounds hope: nothing can thwart God’s good purposes.

The Table reassures us that Christ’s kingdom is already established, even as we wait for its final revelation.

Conclusion

The prophets waited without seeing the fulfillment. We wait for a Savior we have already seen, yet who has not yet fully revealed His kingdom.

One day, we will not need this Table anymore. Faith will give way to sight. Until then, Christ meets us here.

Christmas declares: He came

The Supper declares: He died

The church confesses: He reigns

Our hope rests: He will come again

The shepherds came to see what the angels told them, then they went to proclaim it. We have come to this Table. We have received nourishment. And now, like them, we leave to live faithfully, proclaiming the death and life of the King, until He comes.