Realizing the Atonement’s Realness, Part 2

The Lord's Supper is Real When the Lord's Supper is Right

This is the second part in a two-part series entitled "Realizing the Realness of the Atonement." In part two, we focus on the specific symbolism of the atonement and, within that symbolism, we realize the realness of communion, the realness of the Lord's Supper.

We are focusing on the fact that the atonement was real. The atonement was intensely intentional for us. We were specifically atoned for. We were specifically reconciled to God because Jesus Christ died upon the cross for us all those years ago. It had an intention to save us. It accomplished the intention for which it set out. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a real atonement that actually atones.

When we focus on the symbolism of the atonement, there is a realness to the communion that is witnessed through the Communion that is understood in light of the atonement. It is understood in light of a group of people who understand the reality of communion, understand it for what it is, and observe it as God intended.

From 1 Corinthians chapter 11, verse 17:

But in the following instructions I do not commend you because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. For in the first place when you come together as a church I hear that there are divisions among you and I believe it in part for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. When you come together it is not the Lord's supper that you eat for in eating. Each one goes ahead with his own meal, one goes hungry and another gets drunk.

There was a doctrinal issue in Corinth. There were divisions causing factions or schisms within the church that should not take place. As you recall from chapter 1, they were saying, "I am of Paul. I am of Apollos. I am of Cephas. I am of Christ." They were schisming the church, creating divisions that shouldn't exist.

If they genuinely listened to Paul, Apollos, or Cephas, there would be no division, because they were all saying the same thing. They were all focused on the atonement, on Jesus Christ, on the gospel.

Paul says there must be factions—Greek hairesis, from which we get "heresy." It's a doctrinal faction based on misunderstanding atonement and gospel concepts. Those must exist so we understand who is genuine. Failure to understand true doctrine and failure to live consistently with the gospel's message reveal who is genuine.

There was a gospel deficiency preventing them from celebrating the Lord's Supper rightly. If there is a gospel deficiency, there will be a communion deficiency, and vice versa. Our goal when we come together for communion is to observe it rightly, to participate correctly—not as mere tradition that any atheist could do without effect.

Paul determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified—the atonement. Even addressing spiritual gifts, tongues, or obscene moral corruption in chapter 5, he corrects through the atonement, the actual cure.

The Lord's Supper is Right When the Atonement Has Been Received

Verses 23-25:

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 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.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

This is definite communion symbolizing a real atonement. By taking the bread personally, it is personally given by Christ and personally received by you. The bread symbolizes what Jesus did with his body: he gave it up for you, broken for you.

From Isaiah 53:

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows... But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

Every bite symbolizes his body crushed for your iniquities. By his scourging and breaking, he grants healing from sin. There is no atonement that forgives without healing you of sin. It's twofold: forgiveness and transformation, conforming you to his image. We are the body of Christ, healed by his broken body so the bride is united perfectly to him. Every sin is accounted for by the sinless Son of God sacrificed on the cross.

The cup is the new covenant in his blood. This is not just shedding blood for forgiveness but purchasing a covenant where God says, "I will never remember your sins." God, being omniscient, will not hold them against you; they won't factor into your eternal future. This promise is sealed by Christ's blood.

If you think your sins are unforgivable, hear this: God is not holding them against you because of Christ's shed blood. Your eternal future is secure in that covenant.

Jesus says, "I give you my body." Taking the bread reminds us of what he accomplished. Plain language—"this is my body"—communicates symbolism, like saying, "This is my wife" about a photo. In John 6, Jesus speaks spiritually: "The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life." Eating his body and drinking his blood means coming to him and believing. Food and drink sustain physical life; they symbolize spiritual sustenance, cure, and joy from his blood.

Christianity has spiritual realities pointed to by physical symbols to help our weakness. We celebrate the reality through the symbols, valuing what Jesus accomplished, not taking it flippantly.

The Lord's Supper is Received When the Atonement is Revered

Paul received from the Lord what he delivered. It's the Lord's Supper—Jesus' meal, under his authority. We receive it personally but not in isolation from the body.

As often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup, for anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.

You proclaim the atonement, the gospel. "Examine" is the verb form of "genuine." Discern yourself—separate truth from false, like black and white. Understand the atonement doctrinally and live it practically, consistent with what it accomplishes.

Examine your genuineness, like Peter says: confirm your calling and election. Why? Severe consequences:

That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

Do you believe this? If participating unworthily—unrepentant sin, no concern for how the gospel heals—you risk weakness, illness, death. It's personal: you know your unworthiness. If an activity risks your life, you hesitate. For Corinth, it rang true—they knew people who died from unworthy participation.

Avoid it by examining yourself. The body broken and blood shed heal from sin. Be real about your life, honest about sin, desiring to be rid of it. Use communion to be reminded and refreshed by the atonement, motivated for gospel-saturated living.

If we judge ourselves—pronounce our need for atonement—we partake worthily. Communion helps; don't misuse it to hurt. It saves from sin, not in sin—like a rescue vessel pulling you from death, giving new life, securing you forever.