Realizing the Atonement’s Realness, Part 2 (Part 1 of 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. As part two, we focus on the specific symbolism of the atonement. 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 on the cross for us. 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, we understand there is a realness to communion because of what it specifically represents and symbolizes. However, there is only realness to communion when it is understood in light of the atonement and understood by a group of people who grasp the reality of communion, understand it for what it is, and observe it as God intended.

To clarify the terminology: By “real,” I am not referring to the heretical doctrine of the real presence held by Lutherans and Roman Catholics—that Jesus is physically present in the elements. Roman Catholicism takes it further, claiming the priest transforms the bread and cup into the body and blood, soul and divinity of Christ.

When the priest pronounces the tremendous words of consecration, he reaches up into the heavens, brings Christ down from His throne, and places Him upon our altar to be offered up again as the victim for the sins of men. It is a power greater than that of monarchs and emperors... greater even than the power of the Virgin Mary. While the Blessed Virgin was the human agency by which Christ became incarnate a single time, the priest brings Christ down from heaven and renders Him present on our altar as the eternal victim for the sins of man not once but a thousand times. The priest speaks and lo, Christ, the eternal omnipotent God, bows His head in humble obedience to the priest’s command.

—John O’Brien, The Faith of Millions

That is not what I am saying. Christ is not an eternal victim but an eternal victor with respect to the sins of humanity.

As Christians, it is necessary to understand what the atonement accomplished and what communion is for—its purpose and what it communicates regarding the atonement.

The Apostle Paul determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified—in other words, except the atonement, the foundational principle from which he derived his entire doctrine. Even chapters on spiritual gifts, tongues, or moral corruption like sexual sin in chapter 5 are corrected through the atonement.

In chapter 11, there was a doctrinal issue with how the Corinthians did communion: “When you come together, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper.” Either they had no intention of celebrating it, turning it into gluttony and drunkenness, or their sinful gathering made true communion impossible.

There were divisions and factions—hairesis in Greek, from which we get “heresy”—doctrinal schisms based on misunderstanding atonement and gospel concepts. These must exist “in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.” Heresies reveal the genuine, those approved, who understand the atonement and live consistently with the gospel.

If there is a gospel deficiency, there will be a communion deficiency, and vice versa. Our goal is to observe communion rightly, not as mere tradition. Any atheist could partake without effect. It is not what goes into the mouth that sanctifies.

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

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.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

—1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (ESV)

It is a real communion because it symbolizes a real atonement. By personally taking the bread given by Christ, it symbolizes what Jesus did with His body: He gave it up, broken for you.

He was crushed for your iniquities... by his scourging... healing.

—Isaiah 53

Every bite symbolizes His body crushed for your iniquities, granting healing from sin by His breaking. There is no atonement that forgives without healing you of sin—a twofold reality: forgiveness and transformation, conforming you to His image. We are the body of Christ, healed to be whole, united as His bride.

Every sin is accounted for, as the sinless Son of God, our Lamb, was sacrificed for you—not just to forgive, but to heal.

The cup is the new covenant in His blood. This is not just shedding for forgiveness, but purchasing a covenant where God says, “I will never remember your sins”—meaning He will not hold them against you. Your eternal future is secure in that unbreakable covenant.

If you think any sin is unforgivable or held against you, hear this: God is not holding them against you because of Christ’s shed blood. Drink in celebration of the covenant.

Balance: His broken body heals, implying cessation of sin; total forgiveness is not license to sin. Yet it is absolutely secure, already accomplished.

Jesus says, “This is my body... my blood.” Plain language, but symbolic—like saying, “This is my wife,” of a photo. In John 6, He speaks spiritually: “The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” Eating His flesh and drinking His blood means coming to and believing in Him.

We understand food and drink sustain life physically; so His blood sustains spiritually—cure, sustenance, joy. Christianity points physically to spiritual realities. Communion celebrates the accomplished reality through symbols. Recognize their significance; do not take it lightly.

When the Lord’s Supper is Received, the Atonement is Revered

Paul says, “I received from the Lord what I delivered to you.” It is the Lord’s Supper—Jesus’ meal, under His authority. Not ours, not eaten in isolation, but as His body, in obedience.

We proclaim His death, the gospel, the atonement. “Let a person examine himself”—the verb form of “genuine.” Examine your genuineness, your approval, to discern yourself rightly before partaking.

Discerning the Genuine in Communion

In order that you would be part of those in verse 26 proclaiming the Lord's death rightly, and not part of those in verses 27 and 29 observing communion wrongly and proclaiming the wrong thing. The term here for "examine" and the term for "genuine" is a Greek term that refers to taking certain concepts and separating them, isolating them from one another. In so doing, you can see them pitted against each other and discern what is genuine, what is right, what is good, what is true, and what is false and inaccurate. It's discerning things by separating them out. That's one reason why the apostle Paul said there should be heresies among you, so you can see truth as black and white and discern who is genuine.

We're reminding ourselves of 1 Corinthians 2:2, determining to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified, that we would have a right understanding of the atonement doctrinally and practically, living consistent with the reality the atonement accomplishes.

Let a person examine himself. After proper and careful examination and discernment of a person's genuineness—like the apostle Peter saying, make every effort to confirm your calling and election, making it a genuine reality in that life—examine yourself, then eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

Why is this important? Why necessary? Why can't we just have people go through the line without recognition in their hearts that their profession of faith is real, their understanding of the atonement is right, and their practice of the atonement and gospel ongoing—like Philippians 1:27, live your lives in a manner worthy of the gospel? It's because of the serious, severe language in this passage.

As part of discerning ourselves, we should ask how much we believe and understand the circumstances and consequences of not doing communion right, in a state of reverence, understanding the atonement's significance, and practicing ongoing confession and repentance of sin. Do we accept these as fact, or shrug them off as insignificant because we just want to focus on the red letters, making us of Christ and not of Paul?

The Severe Consequences of Unworthy Participation

As often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Whoever 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.

In the first century, leading up to Jesus' crucifixion, many proclaimed, "We don't want Christ; we want Barabbas." By wanting a sinner instead of Christ, they proclaimed the wrong aspect of what brought Christ to the cross—crying out for him to die to get rid of him. They were guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.

It's amazing that in 1 Corinthians, the man who fornicated with his mother—a heinous sin unlike even unbelievers' sexual sins—is not specifically called guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But for the institution of communion, Paul pronounces significant judgment on those who participate unworthily.

1 Corinthians 11:29: For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.

Verse 30: That's why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died—specifically about the Corinthians, and by application, those who participate unworthily.

In careful examination, do we as blood-bought believers genuinely believe that if we participate in communion unworthily—examine yourself; you know if there's ongoing unrepentant lack of concern for sin, failure to understand how the gospel heals us from sin, no regard for sin in our lives—that we might become weak, ill, or die? Is this a passage we accept as the Word of God, an authority we heed as a genuine caution?

If you're about to participate in an activity where you know there's a real possibility of losing your life, is there not hesitation? For the Corinthians, it rang true—they knew individuals who were weak, ill, and died because they participated unworthily. Paul drew their minds to those, causing them to pause and consider the risk to health and longevity if they don't judge themselves truly.

Avoiding Judgment Through Self-Examination

Paul doesn't leave us to our own devices, saying some might die—go ahead and participate. He gives the means to avoid it: the teaching of communion. The body of Jesus was broken for us; the bread remembers that. The blood officiates the new covenant, securing forgiveness of sins. These heal us from sin.

As ones purchased by Christ, the only way to the Father, we can participate worthily. Examine yourself and be real—not expecting to come sinless, but honest about sin's existence, desiring to be rid of it, looking to communion to remind and refresh by the atonement and gospel, motivating a more gospel-saturated life.

Communion is intended to help you. Don't use it to hurt yourself. Use it as intended: If we judge ourselves, pronouncing our need for the atonement, come to the table recognizing ongoing need for atonement from sin. Partake; it reminds you of the gospel's power to save—from your sins, not in them.

Imagine lying dead in the ocean, incapable of change. A rescue vessel passing by isn't saving. But one that pulls you from the mire, regenerates, gives new life, secures you on dry land, preventing return to the depths—that's worth celebrating. I hope that's your focus on communion.

Isaiah 53:1-5: Who has believed what he has heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 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.