Holy Communion
Often we have a hard time believing that we are loved. Men and women who have a keen awareness of their flaws will wonder if anyone can really love them. So we have a need to not only hear that we are loved, but also to receive tangible assurance of that love.
If we need that assurance from our fellow human beings, how much more do we need that assurance in our relationship to God?
God knows us so well. He knows how we feel. He knows what we need. Not only does he tell us in his Word that he loves us, he also gives us personal assurance of that love.
Now before anyone gets grossed out, this isn’t some kind of weird cannibalism. It’s bread and wine that looks, smells, and tastes like bread and wine. Yet, in a way that we can’t perceive or comprehend, Jesus tells us that with the bread and wine, his body and blood are really present in this Supper.
You want proof? Here’s the price I paid for you on the cross. This is my body which was sacrificed for you. This is my blood which I shed for you.”
Whenever we receive the Lord’s Supper, we remember Jesus’ saving, self-sacrificing love for us, and we personally receive not only assurance of that love, but we also receive his forgiveness.