“The Cup of Blessing”
Setting the Lord's Table • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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16 Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?
The Cup of Blessing:
The Four cups in the Passover Meal:
The Cup of Sanctification: Commemorates God setting Israel apart and initiating the promise to bring them out of Egypt. The cup was shared after reciting the creation story in Genesis 1 & 2 and two loaves of bread would be broken and passed around to commence the start of the supper.
2. The Cup of Judgment/Plagues: It was done in memory of the ten plagues inflicted on Egypt and signifies deliverance from bondage. This would be shared after the story of the plagues and the Exodus was retold.
3. The Cup of Redemption: (Also known as the cup of blessing, because it was the cup that would be shared during the giving of the blessing at the end of the supper. It represented God's promise to redeem his people. (This is Paul is referring to in our text and the cup Jesus used to represent the new covenant in His blood…the blood the redeems us from our sins.)
4. The Cup of Praise (Hallel): Signifies the completion of redemption and the hope of restoration, often linked to the Hallel Psalms, which would be sung at the end of the Passover meal. This cup is likely what Jesus is referring to when facing the cross when He is asking the Father if the cup could pass from Him, because only in drinking that cup, the cross where Jesus bore our sins, could our redemption be complete.
Covenant
Covenant
16 Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?
The Cup = The New Covenant
20 And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.
25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
The Greek Word: diathēkē (Dee-oth-ih-kay)
Used to mean an agreement or a contract (there are many words for this)
This particular word described the kind of contract we’d call a last will and testament. It is very specific. (WOW!)
18 “But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.
18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates:
The Hebrew Word: bᵉrîyth (ber-eeth')
Between Men it is an alliance, a treaty, a compact, and agreement, a pledge or a vow.
Between God and Man it is a covenant. And alliance of everlasting friendship.
The word is a derivative of two other Hebrew words. Their meanings are significant.
Bara (bah-rah), which means “to eat”
Bārā' (baw-rah), which means “to cut” (It is literally where the idiom “cut a deal” comes from).
So this word that God uses for a promise He’s making to His people. The word for covenant, literally means to eat or consume and to cut.
The Cup of Blessing:
Cup (The consuming/eating)
Christ’s Blood (The cutting/blood)
Contract (Last will and testament)
Communion
Communion
16 Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?
Sharing = Koinonia
Yes, the word for fellowship is the word Paul uses here for “sharing”.
Koinonia is most commonly translated fellowship, but it can also mean community, and sharing/participation.
Paul is saying that in communion, when we worship Christ in this specific way in remembrance of His body and blood offered for us. It is a special time of worship of Christ, through the Spirit, to the glory of the Father, who gave His Son so that we could have true unity and fellowship in Christ. In communion we have a an opportunity to share in a closeness and an intimacy with Christ we cannot find by other means.
17 Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.
The Lord’s supper is an opportunity for us to draw close to Christ. Not that we cannot draw close to Him in other ways, but in there is no better opportunity.
Commitment
Commitment
18 Look at the nation Israel; are not those who eat the sacrifices sharers in the altar?
What is this about? What is Paul saying?
6 ‘Every male among the priests may eat of it. It shall be eaten in a holy place; it is most holy. 7 ‘The guilt offering is like the sin offering, there is one law for them; the priest who makes atonement with it shall have it.
Killing the sacrifice and offering it to God was not enough for the people to be reconciled to God. In order to have true fellowship with God, the sacrifice had to be not only given, but the atonement from that sacrifice had to be recieved. When the priests ate or consumed the sacrifice, it demonstrated they were receiving the gift of God’s grace, forgiveness and mercy into their lives. They were committing themselves to the Lord by taking into themselves what He was offering to them. They were acknowledging the sacrifice was for them and their sin so that they could have forgiveness of sin and fellowship with God. By sharing in the sacrifice the priests were committing themselves to the Lord.
Communion is about commitment.
Notice the contrast a few verses later.
21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.
24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
28 But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly.
The Lord’s Supper can be and should be a time of recommitment of our lives to the Lord Jesus.
It is a time were we examine our devotion. Have we been devoting ourselves to other things rather than to Christ? We cannot serve two master!
Communion is a time where we recommit ourselves to Christ because our tendency is to drift away.
In the Lord’s Supper we profess and pledge our devotion and dependance on the Lord Jesus.
As we eat and drink we are reminded of His sacrifice for our sins.
Are we eat and drink we are outwardly demonstrating that which we have done inwardly in our hearts and minds.
We are to partake in such a way that we are devoting ourselves to Christ and seeking oneness and unity with Him.
Communion is about commitment to Christ.
(Explain who communion is for and how we will take communion)
Pray
The Lord’s Supper:
23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
