This Is Who You Are

We share this meal every week because Jesus told us to. But Jesus told us to share this meal because it was meant to define us and redefine us. This meal is who we are on many levels. We are disciples of Jesus, we are witnesses of His resurrection. This is the feast of the new covenant, the Kingdom of God, the new world order in King Jesus. This meal insists upon forgiveness in the blood of the new covenant. It proclaims the gospel, the death of Christ until He comes. This meal looks forward, it anticipates a bigger banquet at the coming of the King. This meal means that your Father in heaven feeds you and cares for you, and you must not worry or fear. This meal means that you are part of a new family, brothers and sisters and mother. This meal is a love feast, a marriage feast an expression of God’s love for His people in the gift of His son, His love in the gift of the Spirit poured out upon the Church, the bride of Christ. This meal means that God loves sinners, and failures, and outcasts because you have been welcomed to His table. This is the table that the Lord your Shepherd prepares in the presence of your enemies. And we could go on and on, but the point is that this is who you are. You are God’s people, you are a forgiven people, you are a loved people, you are a reconciled people, you are a people cared for and provided for, you are an evangelistic people, people with a mission, a calling, witnesses of the resurrection, friends of God, full citizens of the kingdom of heaven, and so on. And therefore, you must put down all of the other identifications that haunt you. You must reject all of the sins and powers that claim authority over you. You are not a failure of a husband, you are a beloved son of God. You are not a bitter, nagging wife, you are a forgiven child of God. You are not a disobedient son or daughter. You are not a liar. You are not a cheater. You are not thief. You are not an alcoholic. You are not a porn addict. You are not a homosexual. You are not an adulterer. You are not a whore. You are none of those things. You are not damaged goods. You are not broken merchandise. Maybe you used to be, but not anymore. Now you are forgiven saints. You are washed and clean and there is no one who can bring a charge against you. Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. But you may be thinking, but I still struggle with some of these sins. They still haunt me and trouble me. Yes, but the question is, whose word do you believe? Whose power do you trust? God says you are justified. You are innocent. You are forgiven. This meal is who you are. So come, eat, drink, and rejoice, and then go and sin no more.