By Michael C. Mack

Today is Father’s Day, a day we set aside to love and honor our dads. And it’s good that we do so! The fifth commandment instructs God’s people to “Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you” (Deuteronomy 5:16). The commandment is repeated several times through Scripture. Jesus discussed it in his teachings, and the apostle Paul referred to it as he taught Christ followers how to live together in Christian households.

So, it is right and proper to give honor to our dads.

But we must remember that we gather as the church today to give honor to our heavenly Father. We focus our attention and our praise on him. He is our creator. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. He is our all-powerful, ever-present, all-knowing Lord. He is our King, the only one worthy of our worship and praise. His Son, Jesus, is the Messiah, the anointed one sent by the Father to deliver us from bondage and restore us to God. He is our Savior. No one comes to the Father except through him (John 14:6). “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

We come to this time in our worship when we focus on what the heavenly Father sent his Son to do on our behalf. Jesus was crucified, buried, and on the third day was resurrected.

For this reason, earthly fathers and mothers and grandparents and children all bow to Jesus and to our heavenly Father. The Bible tells us,

At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:10-11).

As we eat the bread together as a family, let us remember what it represents: Jesus’ body sacrificed for us. And as we drink from the cup, let’s remember the blood Jesus shed to forgive us and reconcile us with the Father.

And let us bow in reverence to Jesus, to the glory of God the Father!

Michael C. Mack is editor of Christian Standard.

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By Michael C. Mack

As the apostle Paul told his story, he wrote,

But [the Lord] said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Most of us are good at boasting about our strengths: our natural abilities, our giftedness, and the talents we have worked hard to develop. We have physical strengths, intellectual capacities, emotional competence, relational aptitudes, and spiritual giftedness.

There are even assessments that measure our strengths. One is called StrengthFinder. It helps us discover what we do best, learn how to develop our greatest talents into strengths, and maximize our potential.

We enjoy thinking about, hearing about, and boasting about our strengths . . . but why would we, like Paul, boast about our weaknesses? That seems contrary to how our lives are oriented and what we’ve seen modeled. This is the upside-down, cross-shaped life Jesus has called us to if we want to follow him.

One of the important elements of Alcoholics Anonymous groups is telling your story—not sharing your strengths, but your weaknesses: your habits, hurts, and hang-ups. It’s about being humbled and open, transparent, and vulnerable. And it’s amazing. Other people relate to your God-honest truth, and it helps in their positive transformation as well.

As Christ followers, we do this for God’s glory. As we share our frailties, God’s power is unleashed, and it is perfected in our weakness. People see God’s power and love, his compassion and mercy through us.

God’s grace is sufficient for me. It’s all I need.

I don’t need more money or possessions or power. His grace is enough. I don’t need freedom from pain or difficult circumstances. His grace is enough. I don’t need my “best life now.” His grace is enough. I can now live in contentment and peace. His grace is enough.

As we focus on Jesus—his death on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins and the gift of eternal life—God shouts out to us, “My grace is sufficient for you”! As Jesus willingly sacrificed his body and shed his blood for the forgiveness of our sins, he shouted from the cross, “It is finished!” His grace is sufficient for all of us who believe in him.

Michael C. Mack is editor of Christian Standard.

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By Randy Ballinger

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

The birth of freedom came with great words.

Our Founding Fathers, though, knew that the fight against tyranny required more than great words.

The Declaration of Independence would be merely faded ink on yellowed parchment if action had not backed up those words. That’s why the 56 patriots who signed their names under those great words 246 years ago, did so “with a firm reliance on . . . divine Providence” and pledged to one another their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

The securing of freedom came with great resolve and sacrifice.

Even greater words were spoken two thousand years ago. A 30-year-old carpenter-turned-itinerant-preacher declared to folks in his hometown that he was going to set the world free:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor (Luke 4:18-19, English Standard Version, emphasis mine).

Jesus spoke words of liberty, recovery, and freedom—not for himself, but for us!

For three years, Jesus proclaimed that “the kingdom of God is at hand.” Most hung on to his words because no one ever spoke like Jesus.

Not all appreciated his words, though. Knowing that he was going to be brutally treated and killed for the words he spoke, “Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51, emphasis mine). Nothing could prevent Jesus from securing true and enduring freedom for all of us.

Jesus acted on his words with great resolve.

Jesus sacrificed his own life on the cross as payment for the penalty of our sins. Jesus won our independence from Satan’s tyranny of sin in our lives.

As we gather around this “Table of Independence,” let us be mindful and thankful that Jesus not only declared freedom from sin and spiritual death, but that he resolutely secured freedom for us as well.

Randy Ballinger lives with his wife, Gina Ann, near New Paris, Ohio. He is an elder with the Centerville (Indiana) Christian Church.

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By Michael C. Mack 

Novelists and short-story writers create believable characters—protagonists and antagonists (that is, heroes and villains), sidekicks, instigators, love interests, confidantes, and extras. They also create the worlds in which all these players live. Context and culture are essential to tell anyone’s story.  

Good fiction writers, however, will tell you that the word character is hollow. As an author writes and develops these characters and “lives” with them over time, they become real—they grow into friends, even family. It may sound odd, but a relationship is cultivated over time.  

Authors, artists, composers, architects, landscapers, and car restorers are all creators who develop attachments to their work. Have you ever heard someone refer to something they’ve created as their “baby”?  

God feels that way about us. He created each of us with individuality and flair. He created us for a purpose in this world he also created. As we spend time with him, and he with us, he cultivates a deeper and more intimate relationship with us. We are much more than mere characters in some narrative he is composing. He created each of us to be in a loving relationship with him.  

And when that relationship was blemished by our sin, it broke his heart (the climax of the story). And he loves us so much that he entered his creation—right into the middle of the story—and (here’s the resolution), in the most dramatic scene ever recorded, he stepped in and “he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).  

You see, this is not just the Author’s story. This is “our” story. God is the hero of the story, and we are the ones he came to save. “He was pierced for our transgressions.” 

As we share this Communion meal together, we celebrate Jesus’ heroic act. We take the bread and eat it to remember that he sacrificed his body for us . . . and we drink of the cup to remember the blood he shed for us.  

“By his wounds we are healed”!  

Michael C. Mack serves as editor of Christian Standard. 

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By Manndi Maphies Wilkins

Some families still gather around the dinner table at the end of a long, hard day to break bread together. It’s a time when children excitedly share what happened at school, dads talk about their days, and moms stay apprised of the latest happenings in everyone’s lives. The dinner table is a symbol of family unity. It’s a place to talk, laugh, and cry. 

In much the same way, Jesus gathered with his disciples around a table at the Last Supper. While Jesus knew what was to come, his disciples did not. Of the many enlightening discussions Jesus surely had with his disciples during shared meals, one of the most important lessons he ever taught them occurred during their final meal together in that upper room.  

“And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me’” (Luke 22:19). 

The disciples likely did not fully realize the metaphorical significance of the rich wine they drank and the warm bread they ate that night. It wasn’t until Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection that the meal’s full meaning was revealed.  

As a body of believers, we come together like the disciples. We are a family of friends, husbands, wives, widows, singles, young adults, and children. We are a family of sinners. The difference between our gatherings is we are looking back at the high price Jesus paid for our shortcomings. We commune together, bonded by the understanding that Jesus bought our freedom by paying for our sins on the cross.  

We eat the bread, which represents Christ’s body. We sip the juice, which represents his blood, shed for the forgiveness of our sins.  

Lord, thank you that we, as a family of believers, can gather to remember your Son and the sacrifice he made to ensure our place at your divine family table.  

Manndi Maphies Wilkins works for the University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Pharmacy. She is also a freelance writer. 

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By Stuart Powell  

Can God make a rock so big that he can’t move it? 

That question is intended to confuse the argument that Yahweh God is all-powerful. It is seldom posed as a valid inquiry.  

The rationale behind it follows this line of thinking: Can a deity who is unlimited in creative ability and power create something that exceeds his abilities? The absurdity of the premise does nothing to dissuade those who apply it only in those cases they fail to understand.  

I do know of a rock that God created that can’t be moved by anything in all of creation, either in the physical or spiritual worlds. Jesus described that rock as he was teaching his disciples: 

“But what about you?” [Jesus] asked. “Who do you say I am?” 

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it (Matthew 16:15-18). 

The immovable rock of ages is the confession that Jesus is the Christ, the only Son of the only Creator God. It is the rock upon which God continues to build his assembly of holy people, the church.  

When we, the church, gather to worship, we set aside time to remember what Jesus did to demonstrate that he is God’s rock of ages. Our worship is seen in the act of eating bread and drinking from a cup. Those common practices in these circumstances are the proclamation of the immovable rock.  

This rock is higher than Everest. It is more beautiful than Rushmore. It will outlast the Rockies or the Himalayas.  

As you eat, recall the flesh of Jesus torn by whips and pierced by nails. As you drink, focus on the blood of the Christ that God uses to wash away the sins of his people.  

Stuart Powell lives outside of Terre Haute, Indiana, where he serves with the North Side Christian Church. 

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By TonyaAnn Pember  

We celebrate Communion to commemorate the last night Christ spent on earth. His last meal with his disciples is known as the Last Supper. Leonardo DaVinci’s famous painting of this event is a misrepresentation. The actual seating arrangement of the night of Christ’s betrayal was very intentional. 

According to the Authentic Last Supper Exhibit at the Liberty Biblical Museum, in Jesus’ time, the upper room of a home held a U-shaped table that allowed servants to serve from the middle. The low table had no chairs, only large pillows. Each diner reclined on their left side, head toward the table, legs stretched out, and ate with their right hand. This position allowed the lowest servant to easily wash guests’ feet.  

As host, Jesus would have reclined in the second spot on the left. Tradition and custom required this. The first and third positions were for honored guests. Others sat around the U in order of their importance. The least honored guest would be at the end of the U on the right side. While this seat would be across from the host, it was several yards away. This seat was nearest the basin used for foot washing and a servant would be between the host and the guest.  

John 13:23 says John was “reclining next to” Jesus. For him to be “leaning back against Jesus” (v. 25) he would have been sitting at Jesus’ right, the first seat of the table. This same passage indicates that Peter “motioned” for John to inquire of Jesus. Peter had to be sitting far enough away that it might be awkward for him to shout the question, yet close enough to get John’s attention. Scholars believe Peter was sitting across the table in the least important seat. 

The most honored seat for the most respected guest was to Jesus’ immediate left. On this night, Judas sat in that honored position. Judas. All four Gospel writers confirm the presence of a traitor sharing the bowl with Jesus.  

Jesus knew Judas was the betrayer; he said as much at dinner. And yet, Judas was in the most honored seat. Perhaps Judas elbowed his way to that place, but it is likely our Savior seated Judas next to him. Jesus offered Judas every chance he needed to make a different choice. No greater love. 

TonyaAnn Pember is a freelance writer living in Elizabeth, Colorado. She is a retired teacher and National Writing Project fellow.  Her first book, Inside Story: 52 Weeks in the Word, was published in August 2021. 

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By Michael C. Mack 

Have you ever heard someone say there are many ways to Heaven and that Christians are narrow-minded to think Jesus is the only way?  

God’s Word is unambiguous and unequivocal about this topic.  

Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6, emphasis mine). And the apostle Peter said about Jesus, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12, emphasis mine).  

Perhaps those of us who follow Christ are “narrow-minded” when it comes to our faith in Jesus. We believe Jesus’ words are true: “Wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).  

Jesus said these words during his Sermon on the Mount immediately after teaching that God gives good gifts to those who ask him . . . and what could be a greater gift than salvation? And his “narrow road” discussion was followed with a warning to “watch out for false prophets” (Matthew 7:15). It’s vital for our faith to trust God’s Word, especially on such a life-and-death topic!   

Why would God, the creator of and master over everything, provide multiple ways to come to him? Why would he need to create many options? He didn’t. God designed one way, a beautiful way, to bring us back into relationship with him. Jesus is his way! 

Peter didn’t say a particular congregation, denomination, or movement would save you. And Jesus didn’t say a ritual, tradition, practice, or work will save you. No. Jesus is the only way.  

“Jesus-plus” is unnecessary and dangerous. When we add other things, we can too easily become dependent on them to save us, and we can too easily worship them in place of God. Jesus’ sacrificial death for you and me was enough.  

As we take the bread that represents Jesus’ body and drink from the cup that represents his shed blood, we pause to remember that Jesus is the way, the only way, to our Father God. Salvation is found in no one else! He is enough!  

Michael C. Mack serves as editor of Christian Standard.  

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By Doug Redford  

Now is the time of year that children are returning to school. They’ll have to adjust to getting up earlier. Parents will need to make sure their kids are in bed at a decent time and see to it that they do their homework. 

As far as we know, Jesus never attended the formal schools—the rabbinical schools—of his day. Yet even at age 12, he was impressing the teachers and scholars at the temple in Jerusalem with his wisdom and insight.  

Later, as an adult, he was scorned and criticized by those teachers and scholars because the people would hang on his every word and wouldn’t give the educated folks so much as the time of day. On one occasion they asked, “How did this man get such learning without having been taught?” (John 7:15). Jesus replied, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me” (v. 16). When you are sent by God and when you are God who became flesh (John 1:14), you have all the education you need. Or do you? 

There was a special school Jesus had to attend and a unique education he had to receive. Scripture says Jesus “learned obedience from what he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). Someone may say, “I thought Jesus was perfect; he never sinned. How did he have to learn obedience?” Jesus had to enroll in the classroom of the cross to become our Savior. The cross demanded that Jesus obey his Father and suffer to a degree that neither he nor any human being ever experienced.  

The education and training that a doctor receives is extremely demanding and rigorous—and expensive! Medical students usually run up significant debt by the time they finish their program. But no program—no training—was more rigorous or demanding than what Jesus endured so he could become our Great Physician, and in doing so, pay our debt of sin at the cross. 

Communion is the time when we remember the sacrifice Jesus made for each of us and the debt he paid. Whenever you take it, think of it as a prescription from the Great Physician. Think of Jesus offering it to you and saying, “You look like you’ve had a hard week. It’s been tough, hasn’t it? Here, take this; you’ll feel better. And call me anytime, night or day.” 

Doug Redford has served in the preaching ministry, as an editor of adult Sunday school curriculum, and as a Bible college professor. Currently he is the minister at Highview Christian Church in Cincinnati. 

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By Doug Redford  

Some time ago, the local newspaper carried the story of the death of an infant girl with a chromosomal disorder called Trisomy 18, also known as Edwards syndrome. The average lifespan for infants born with this condition is three days to two weeks. Less than 10 percent of children with this syndrome survive to their first birthday. In the news story, the mother of the child said this: “As with her life, our daughter’s death was marked by little gifts, and it was very peaceful. She was surrounded by the love of her family, and she was always in someone’s arms.” 

The picture of this child being “always in someone’s arms” shows how deeply she was loved, though her time on this earth was brief. It is a picture that brings to mind the prophet Isaiah’s description of Jesus as a gentle, caring shepherd.  

Immediately after describing the coming Messiah as someone who would rule with power and a mighty arm (Isaiah 40:10), the prophet’s imagery changed dramatically: “He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young” (Isaiah 40:11).  

Jesus went even further with the shepherd imagery by describing himself as the good shepherd who “lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). In fact, he referred to laying down his life five times in eight verses (vv. 11-18). 

Many of us have needed the assurance of being in our shepherd’s arms over the last couple of years or so, perhaps even more so amid the uncertainty of recent developments in our nation and world. We all probably can think of times when it gave us added strength to know our Lord’s arms were there to embrace us and carry us or to carry those to whom we’ve said goodbye, for even in death our loved ones are still in the shepherd’s loving arms. He still carries them; he is with them, just as another shepherd, David, attested (Psalm 23:4). 

At Communion we think about our shepherd’s arms stretched out on a cross, with his hands cruelly nailed there. A lost world of sinners, however, was still close to his heart. And while it may not have looked like it at the time, even when the shepherd was dying with his arms outstretched, we were still in his embrace. 

Doug Redford has served in the preaching ministry, as an editor of adult Sunday school curriculum, and as a Bible college professor. Currently he is the minister at Highview Christian Church in Cincinnati. 

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By Doug Redford 

On Labor Day in 2011, the Cincinnati Enquirer printed a piece called “Hands at Labor.” Pictured on the front page of the Local section were the hands of five individuals, along with a description of the work they did. The group was quite a mix: there was a neonatal intensive care nurse with a tiny infant’s hand in hers; a mechanic whose hands were dirty and greasy from working on cars; a tattoo artist whose hands were (as you might expect) covered in tattoos; a baker’s assistant whose hands were white with flour; and a World War II veteran, who lost his left hand and most of the fingers on his right hand trying to disarm a Nazi roadside bomb. After the war, the veteran had operated his own flooring business for 28 years.  

The Gospels tell us much about the hands of Jesus. We often read of Jesus taking someone by the hand when he healed that person or placing his hands on children to bless them. Jesus’ hands were used as instruments of love and compassion. 

Other people, however, did not treat Jesus so well with their hands. Jesus was seized in the Garden of Gethsemane by angry, hostile hands, and he was slapped and abused by other hands. Then Jesus’ hands, the hands that had healed and helped so many, were pierced by nails and fastened to a cross where he died. But those hands were not finished. After he arose, Jesus showed his hands to a doubting Thomas and told him, “Put your finger here; see my hands” (John 20:27). And the end of Luke’s Gospel says, “When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven” (Luke 24:50-51). 

When we take Communion, we hold in our hands the reminders of the price Jesus paid to save us from sin. After you take these emblems, you may want to extend or fold your hands in a prayer of thanks to our Savior, and then take a few moments to pray with the hymn writer, “Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of thy love.” 

Doug Redford has served in the preaching ministry, as an editor of adult Sunday school curriculum, and as a Bible college professor. Currently he is the minister at Highview Christian Church in Cincinnati. 

The post His Hands and Ours appeared first on Christian Standard.

By Doug Redford 

Some time ago, a newspaper carried a story about a woman who called 911 after a medical port dislodged from her arm. “Blood was spurting everywhere,” she recalled. The EMS unit that responded was equipped with a new tourniquet that was designed for military use. This new design, said a fire chief quoted in the article, locks into place so that it doesn’t become loose or shift during transport to the hospital. It does a much better job of stopping the flow of blood. In this case, the tourniquet helped save a woman’s life. Stopping the flow of blood when a serious injury occurs is what we do to save life, for the loss of too much blood will result in death. 

The apostle Paul described the cup of the Lord’s Supper as “a participation in the blood of Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:16). That the outpouring of Jesus’ blood was not halted meant death for him . . . but life for us. Jesus cried out as he was dying, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” but the separation that Jesus experienced meant renewed fellowship with God for us. As Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:13, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” 

Jesus could have provided the equivalent of a tourniquet; he could have called twelve legions of angels (72,000 of them) to come and rescue him from his enemies (Matthew 26:53). But the love of God had decreed that the blood of Christ should flow that day; no tourniquet devised by man would have been strong enough to stop it. It is never accurate to say that Jesus’ life was taken from him. He made clear that he gave his life: “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord” (John 10:18).  

The prophet Zechariah used the image of a fountain to picture the continual flowing of the blood of Christ that still carries the power “to cleanse them from sin and impurity” (Zechariah 13:1). William Cowper expressed that truth in the words of a widely known hymn: “There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Emmanuel’s veins; and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.” 

Doug Redford has served in the preaching ministry, as an editor of adult Sunday school curriculum, and as a Bible college professor. Currently he is the minister at Highview Christian Church in Cincinnati. 

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By Stuart Powell  

High school track meets feature athletes running a variety of distances around a 400-meter oval. In the Midwest, the 3,200-meter run is the longest of those races. Runners race eight laps around the track. The race starts at the beginning of turn one. The 100-meter curve is followed by a 100-meter straightaway, then another 100-meter curve, and finally the 100-meter homestretch. The 3,200 has 16 long left-hand turns and 16 straightaways between the start and finish of the race. No matter where the race is run, the track is the same. Each race finishes where it began. 

The beginning of the race is important, but not as critical as the end. Prizes aren’t awarded until the end. Trophies are reserved for the finishers. Although spectators and teammates often cheer and shout encouragement, the runner’s  relationship with the start/finish line is what matters most in a 3,200-meter run. The runners step over the start/finish line nine times during a race. In all but the final crossing, the line delivers the same message: keep going . . . finish! Every time a runner crosses the line, the longing to finish grows stronger.  

As Christians, we too have a finish line upon which we focus. We may not realize, however, that every time we gather around this table should serve as a reminder that our race is continuing. The time at this table is like crossing the line that completes each lap. The apostle Paul encouraged the believers in Corinth,  

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread, and after 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, he also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, every time you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For every time you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes  (1 Corinthians 11:23-26, New English Translation, author’s emphasis). 

If the loaf and cup of Communion could talk, they might offer this message: “Keep going. The end of the race is drawing near.” The longing to finish grows stronger every time we eat the bread. Every time we drink, it builds up our hope. Every time we gather, we realize that Jesus’ promises are nearer now than when we first believed.  

Keep going until the end. 

Stuart Powell lives outside of Terre Haute, Indiana, where he serves with the North Side Christian Church. 

The post Every Time appeared first on Christian Standard.

By Stuart Powell 

David was a man in pursuit of God’s heart. He submitted his life to the Word of God and the Holy Spirit during his teen years. He desired to build up God’s kingdom. Later, he planned to build a temple unlike any other among the nations. Its design was in harmony with the pattern divinely revealed to Moses generations earlier.  

God, however, refused David this honor. Before he died, David shared with the chosen son, Solomon, the new plan God had revealed to him. 

David said to Solomon: “My son, I had it in my heart to build a house for the Name of the Lord my God. But this word of the Lord came to me: ‘You have shed much blood and have fought many wars. You are not to build a house for my Name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in my sight. But you will have a son who will be a man of peace and rest, and I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side. His name will be Solomon, and I will grant Israel peace and quiet during his reign. He is the one who will build a house for my Name. He will be my son, and I will be his father. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever’” (1 Chronicles 22:7-10). 

Because the blood of God’s judgment against the faithless Canaanites and Philistines was on David’s hands, God desired a different king—one whose hands wouldn’t be stained with the life blood of God’s judgment against sinful people—to build a permanent temple for his Name. God planned for a man whose hands delivered peace to the land.  

We gather at this time to remember the Son of David—Jesus—who died with blood-stained hands. They were not stained from the battles against flesh-and-blood sinners. The blood-stained hands of the Son of David we celebrate are a reminder of the payment God made for the redemption available to all humanity.  

As you eat the bread and drink the cup, remember the peaceful hands of God’s Messiah, sacrificed for our sin. The Son of David who is still building God’s glorious temple today. 

Stuart Powell lives outside of Terre Haute, Indiana, where he serves with the North Side Christian Church. 

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By Doug Redford 

If the Israelites of the Old Testament had the books that we have in our Old Testament, arranged into chapters as ours is, Leviticus 16 would have drawn their attention as the Day of Atonement neared much as Luke 2 gets our attention during the Christmas season. There we see outlined the proper procedure for observing that sacred day, which came to be known as Yom Kippur, literally the “day of covering.” The Jewish people will observe it this year on October 4 and 5. The final verse of Leviticus 16 captures the day’s significance: “Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites” (v. 34).  

That single verse captures three important ingredients of this day. The first is its purpose: atonement. Dividing the word so that it reads “at-one-ment” is not a bad way to analyze its meaning. Like many such events in the Old Testament, the Day of Atonement served as a “shadow” (Hebrews 10:1) of what Jesus would accomplish by his death on the cross. The apostle John wrote, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10).  

Second, a time is mentioned: once a year. Every year the instructions of Leviticus 16 were to be repeated. The finality of Jesus’ sacrifice is perhaps best expressed in the book of Hebrews, where the writer pictures the contrast between the old covenant priest, who “day after day . . . stands” to offer sacrifices that can never truly remove sins, and Jesus, who after his one sacrifice at the cross, “sat down at the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:11-12; cf. 1:3).  

Third, the people impacted are mentioned: the sins of the Israelites. The Day of Atonement was a command given to God’s covenant people Israel. In contrast, Jesus’ sacrifice covered the sins of all peoples throughout all of history. First John 2:2 makes this clear: “He [Jesus] is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” 

Sin is a true pandemic, a word meaning “all the people.” Only Jesus’ blood provides a cure that has lost none of its power through the years to cover sins and to declare them forgiven, forgotten, forever! We remember his Day of Atonement through our Day of Remembrance at Communion. 

Thus we could modify the final verse of Leviticus 16 to read, “Atonement has been made once for all the sins of the entire world.” And we could add another verse, the verse of the hymn that declares,  

Guilty, vile, and helpless we;  
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
“Full atonement!” can it be?
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Doug Redford has served in the preaching ministry, as an editor of adult Sunday school curriculum, and as a Bible college professor. Currently he is the minister at Highview Christian Church in Cincinnati. 

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(We first ran this Communion meditation in January 2014.)

By Ronald G. Davis

In the 16th century, Francisco Coronado and a group of Spanish soldiers explored the American Southwest, looking for golden cities! A priest accompanied them to carry God’s blessing and protection. When they reached the source of the Rio Grande River in what is now central Colorado, as the traditional story is told, that priest was mortally wounded by Native Americans defending their independence.

As he lay dying in the Spaniards’ escape southward, he saw a glorious sunset on newly snowcapped peaks. “Sangre de Cristo! Sangre de Cristo!” he exclaimed, with dying breath. To him, those roseate, glowing mountains, reflecting God’s dying light, looked like sangre de Cristo, the “blood of Christ.” How appropriate to see in one’s dying moments the only hope for one’s immortal soul: the shed blood of a risen Savior.

Here at the table of the Lord, we see the blood of Christ, blood from the ripped and ruptured skin of his fully human body. In that blood we have been washed and made clean. In that blood we have the hope of ones who have died to sin. Do you here see, as a dying priest of the Lord Jesus, the blood of Christ shed to cover your sins? Do you see yourself whiter than snow . . . as it were, snowcapped and clad in his white robe of righteousness?

Those southern Colorado peaks along the San Luis Valley still carry the name Sangre de Cristo, regardless of the veracity of the traditional story of their naming. This table still carries the name “the Lord’s table,” because in very truth it represents to us the reality of his body and his blood.

Do you see the brightness of its glowing, its blood-red cast over the black shadows of your soul? Here, we bow our heads, not in death, but in the living praise of our Savior.

Ronald G. Davis, former professor of Christian education at Cincinnati Bible Seminary, resides in North College Hill, Ohio. Davis says there are many online images of the sun casting a blood-red glow on the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, and he suggests projecting one of these images during the presentation of this meditation at your home church.

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(We first ran this Communion meditation in January 2014.)

By Ronald G. Davis

Paul wrote beautifully and authoritatively of the Lord’s table. But he also sat there. Right across from us, as it were. Was he worthy? Are we? Both he and we are worthy in the gracious eyes of the Lord who invited us here.

Paul certainly had sins when he sat here. His tears of repentance were not for imagined occasions he “missed the mark” of God’s righteousness. No doubt, there were occasions at the table he thought about Stephen, the young evangelist, at whose stoning death he had smiled as he held the cloaks of the rock throwers. Perhaps he expressed his anguish of soul over his sharp disagreements with Barnabas on the wisdom of taking John Mark along on their second preaching campaign, dividing a friendship and an effective gospel team and putting the progress of the church at risk. Or maybe he sat here and berated himself. He had acted like a stubborn and senseless animal. He had rejected his first opportunities to accept Jesus as the Messiah, kicking, as it were, his rear heels against the prompting goad of God’s Spirit. No, Paul was not worthy, from a human perspective.

Certainly we have sat here, you and I, with our sins. Any tears we have shed were not actor’s tears simply for dramatic effect. Occasionally, no doubt, we have sat here with the image of one we failed to confront with the gospel, even though the opportunity stared us eye-to-eye. Perhaps here we have heard the echo of bitter and divisive words that once destroyed a relationship and dragged the old gospel ship onto a reef. Without exception we sit here recalling our own stubbornness to accept the clarion call of Christ to be his and to serve him in ways only we can serve. No, we are not worthy, from a human perspective.

But we sit here knowing, as Paul did, that we are “washed . . . sanctified . . . justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11). These emblems before us wipe away our doubting looks at ourselves and allow us to see ourselves in the mirror of his grace and love. Paul could sit at the table in Troas and break bread with others in full assurance of forgiveness (Acts 20:7). You and I can sit at this table here and break bread and taste his cup in the full assurance of the forgiving death of our Lord and Savior. He has made us worthy.

Ronald G. Davis, former professor of Christian education at Cincinnati Bible Seminary, resides in North College Hill, Ohio.

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(We first ran this Communion meditation in October 2016.)

By Ronald G. Davis

Because of varying details in the four Gospel accounts, scholars disagree over whether Judas was still present in the upper room when Jesus called for a new bread-and-cup occasion, a new Passover meaning. But we know Judas was there long enough to be given one last, gracious opportunity to repent (see John 13:18-30).

When Jesus said, “The one to whom I will give . . . ,” it was Judas’s fingers and thumb that grasped the sop, a grasping motion that characterized his lifestyle controlled by greed, not grace. Each who comes to this table with Jesus has the Judas choice: to repent and say, “Lord, I am deeply sorry for my sin,” or to say, “Excuse me, while I go out to sin some more!”

Judas cared so little for Jesus’ well being, he saw only money signs—”What is he worth?” Well, that is the question that is answered here at this table. “What is he worth?” Is he worthy of devotion? Worthy of obedience? Worthy of repentance? Will we sit quietly, repentantly, or are we in a hurry to “get out and get on with life”? Do we make the Judas choice? He repented . . . but too late. Jesus died because of Judas’s sin, and he died for Judas’s sin. Then, sadly, Judas died unnecessarily for his own sin, at his own hand.

Those are the choices: die for one’s own sin or allow Christ’s death to be a personal atonement for one’s sin.

Judas sits here at this table. And Satan stands ready to jump in as lord of the unrepentant life. Which Lord will you choose here as your own?

When Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me” (Mark 14:18), the only question I can ask, the only one you can ask: “Is it I?” For Judas the answer rang clearly, “Yes, it is!” What is Jesus’ answer to me? He is my Lord . . . or he is not. Here, I give my confession; here I give my answer.

_________________

Ron Davis loves “standing at the cross” reverently and thankfully each week at the Lord’s table of grace and sensing God’s love.

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(We first ran this Communion meditation in January 2014.)

By Ronald G. Davis

“What to wear? What to wear?” Millions of Americans echo that question, as seasons change, as holidays and holy days loom. “Should it be the floral print?” “Perhaps little Susie would look good in pink?” “Is it a white shirt and tie day or maybe just a striped henley?” Whatever the answer, for many that is a significant issue.

Christians need not ask the question. We have other, more significant truth to ponder and celebrate. Long ago, God answered the question through the pen of Isaiah. Isaiah 61:10 affirms: “For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness” (author emphasis). The old apostle John picked up that clothing image: “Before me was a great multitude that no one could count . . . standing before the throne and before the Lamb . . . wearing white robes . . . they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:9, 14).

At this table we wear our white garments of salvation, his robes of righteousness. At this table we join that innumerable throng to shout, “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb” (Revelation 7:10). And we raise our voices with the angels standing around the throne of God: “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!” (Revelation 7:12).

Were it not for the shed blood and pierced body of our Lord, we would stand here in soiled garments of sin: the grime of greed smeared on our sleeves, the dirt of doubt and deception drooling down our fronts, the mud of malicious, even murderous thoughts oozing from our breasts, the slime of sinfulness and its stench turning the nose of God aside. But . . . but . . . here we stand . . . in white robes, made white by his blood, made whiter still by his righteousness.

What to wear? What to wear? The answer is perfectly clear. Here we stand . . . in white, remembering the full cleansing power of his blood. Amen! Hallelujah!

________________

Ronald G. Davis, former professor of Christian education at Cincinnati Bible Seminary, resides in North College Hill, Ohio.

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How do you respond when you face difficulties, dangers, or disease? What would you do if you were “canceled” or faced persecution because of your faith in Jesus?  

We can relate to King David, who underwent many hardships and enemies. Yet he chose to praise God, trusting the Lord to deliver him again and again. He wrote,  

I love you, Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold (Psalm 18:1-2).  

What word stands out to you in this passage? It might be strength. God is our source of power. Or it may be rock. He is the firm foundation we can trust. Or fortress, a strong tower of protection. Or deliverer, a picture of Jesus as our Messiah. Or shield, a protective weapon to ward off the enemy’s attacks. Or horn of salvation, a symbol of power and victory. Or stronghold, another place of protection.  

All those words are good and helpful as we count the costs of following Jesus. But one word in this passage is hiding in plain sight, and it may be the preeminent word in this passage.  

It is the word my.  

My strength, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my shield, my salvation, my stronghold. This is personal for David . . . and it’s personal for each of us as well. Jesus is the true rock—my rock—who became the chief cornerstone of the church. He is my deliverer and my salvation. He delivered us and saved us at the cross.  

Don’t forget that what Jesus did at the cross was and is very personal for each of us. He is my deliverer. He is my savior. He gave up his body, represented by the bread, on the cross for me and you. He shed his blood, represented by this cup, to deliver us from death and give us eternal life.  

Thank you, Jesus, for dying for me. Thank you for sacrificing your body and blood so that I can be in relationship—in communion—with my Father.  

Michael C. Mack serves as editor of Christian Standard. 

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