Re-naming and Re-creating

When Jesus said, “this is my body… this is my blood” he was in affect re-naming the bread and the wine. This meal is a New Creation meal, and just as our worship takes place already within the fellowship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, so too does this meal. This is why Paul says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). Just as this bread has been renamed the body of the Lord and this wine renamed the blood of the Lord, so too you have been renamed with the name of God, and in Jesus Christ, you are new creations. The old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. This is the case because Jesus rose from the dead. He was raised for our justification, Paul says. This means that the same verdict which raised Jesus from the dead has been reckoned to you. This is a new creation meal, a feast of the first fruits of the new creation. Therefore understand and believe that God accepts you here in the righteousness of Christ. Have you screwed up? Then God calls you his Son, and invites you to the table. Have you made major mistakes? Then God calls you his Beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. Have you made the same mistakes over and over again like a fool? Then God rejoices over you with dancing, and promises to raise you up from the dead. Do not cling to any sin. Let it go. Confess it and forsake it completely and entirely. And come enter in to the joy of the Lord.