What
is of humongous benefit to all believers is that of proclaiming the Lord’s
death till He comes. But what is the rationale and benefits of proclaiming the
Lord’s death?
The
word proclaims is to, announce, declare, and promulgate. But please note
carefully that this proclamation is centered on the Lord’s death and therefore,
stresses on the rationale and objective, the purpose and benefits for the death
of Jesus Christ.
So
then, what is the main objective of Christ’s death? The main purpose of
Christ’s death is stated as follows; “Surely He has borne our griefs and
carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and
afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions, He
was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have
turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of
us all” (Isaiah 53:4-6),
So
the main objective for the death of Jesus Christ is three-folds which is to express
His loving kindness towards humanity, His healing powers and His forgiving
mercies in order that we can have fellowship with the Father and the Son and with
one another since the wages of sin is death and the Father has absolutely no
fellowship with sin (darkness).
For;
“If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness (sin), we lie
and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the
light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His
Son cleanses us from all sin” (1John 1:6-7).
And
so, the main objective for proclaiming the Lords death which is symbolic of
partaking of the bread and drinking the wine is to cleanse us of our sins so
that we can have fellowship with the Father and the Son and with one another.
And
so it is imperative to note that, proclaiming the Lord’s death by partaking of
the bread and wine which represents His flesh and blood is the pre-requisite
for having fellowship with the Father and Son and with one another.
One
must also consider the fact that, true Christian fellowship should always include
the Father and the Son for this is what we have been admonished saying; “that
which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have
fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His
Son Jesus Christ” (1John 1:3).
The
apostle Paul alluded to this pre-requisite for true spiritual worship by
admonishing us saying; “Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as
to wise men; judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing which we
bless, is it not the communion (fellowship) of the blood of Christ? The bread
which we break, is it not the communion (fellowship) of the body of Christ? For
we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one
bread” (1Corinthians 10:14-17).
I
should also make mention at this juncture that, proclaiming the Lord’s death is
the main objective for having a Sabbath worship service. For we have been duly
instructed saying; “'These are the feasts of the LORD which you shall proclaim
to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the LORD, a burnt
offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, everything on
its day ---besides the Sabbaths of the LORD, besides your gifts, besides all
your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give to the LORD”
(Leviticus 23:37-38).
Therefore,
proclaiming the Lord’s death by partaking of the bread and wine is the main
reason for having a holy convocation and it is besides or in addition to
observing the Sabbaths, and whatever gifts, vows, or freewill offerings one
would like to offer to the Lord.
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