Community union is the highest goal achievable on earth. In the Christian faith we have a word for it, Communion. In this article we will discuss this most important subject. Before we do, let us look at where this subject originates.
There was a time before any matter existed. The only life that existed was shared by the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, this fellowship of Persons that we call God. There was absolute harmony between them. They were utterly devoted to One another. These Persons were “other-centered”, the opposite of humans who are “self-centered”. These Persons were/are in such a state of union with one another that we say they are “One”. They are each of the same essence. The early church fathers used the word homoousios, meaning “of one substance” or “of one essence” to describe their nature of being. There were no secrets. There was no competition. Each looked out for the interests of the other. Each participated so completely in the shared life of the other that they were one. Some early church documents describe that life of God in this way. The Father and the Son share a relationship through the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
It was said that “the Father wanted to be intimately known” so He opened His heart to the Holy Spirit that He might search the deep things there and make them known to the Son. The Son also wanted to be intimately known so He opened His heart to the Holy Spirit that He might search the deep things there that He might share them with Father. In this way of life there was absolute unity and harmony.
Scripture informs us that a time came when they wanted to share their existence with others made like them. Let us look at Genesis 1:26-27. “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” God created man with an emotional structure so that he could experience love, joy, peace and many other traits of emotion. God created man with a mind and an intellect so that he could think, reason, create and plan. He created man with a capacity for relationship. Both male and female He created them for the joy of sharing in this relationship with the Father, Son and Spirit.
Scripture also informs us that the first man and woman enjoyed this relationship until an adversary seduced them into believing that God could not be trusted. The adversary even suggested that God had lied to them. Notice the story, “Now the serpent (adversary) was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?’ The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden’, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ‘You will not surely die,’ the serpent said to the woman. ‘For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. (Genesis 3:1-7)
We see in the verses that follow that the relationship between man and God ended with the fateful decision to decide for themselves what was right and what was wrong. God came into the garden in the cool of the day (for the obvious purpose of fellowship) and Adam and Eve hid in the trees of the garden.
That broken relationship would have been fatal and eternal, but notice what God did. He confronted Adam and Eve with their behavior. They each dodged the question, “What have you done?” by blaming another. (v 9-13) God acted by cursing the serpent (adversary) and foretelling that a “seed” would come from the woman who would “crush his head”, meaning that the “seed” would destroy the works of the adversary. (Genesis 3:14-15) The prophecy also included the painful truth that the adversary would “bruise the heel” of the one referred to as the “seed”. The New Testament book of Galatians reveals that this prophecy about the “seed” would be fulfilled by Jesus Christ, the ultimate Seed, born of a woman. (Galatians 3:19) This “bruising of the heel” was the first reference to the crucifixion.
So this prophecy of Genesis 3:15 was an immediate action by God to promise that this action on the part of the adversary, which resulted in the breaking of the relationship between God and man, would be repaired. Jesus Christ would come and destroy the works of the adversary.
God had created man for the purpose of fellowship with Himself (Father, Son and Spirit) and He was not going to rest until every man and every woman had an opportunity to enter into that circle of shared life with the Father, Son and Spirit.
We are now beginning to see the proper setting for the Christian sacrament of Communion. In Luke 22:19-20 we see the origin of partaking of broken bread and wine. “And He (Jesus) 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.’ In the same way, after the supper He took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.’”
Every man and every woman has shared in the brokenness of humanity, the brokenness of the relationship with God. But…God is faithful to His promises.
Adam and Eve did not take God by surprise when they chose to disbelieve Him. He had created them. He knew of their capabilities. He had also created the one who became the adversary. (Colossians 1:16) God knew that Satan was extremely crafty, subtle, devious and deceiving. God’s plan did not “go south” when Adam and Eve began to distrust God. He had foreseen that sin would enter into human existence. Before the creation (foundation) of the world the decision was made that Jesus would have to come and redeem a fallen humanity. (Rev. 13:8)
It is helpful here to include some information about the origin of Satan. While some suggest that certain scriptures speak of Satan, only one position seems to be safe. God had created an angelic being (the one who became Satan) and endowed him with amazing gifts and abilities. There came a time when this angel turned against God and “fell” (Revelation 12:3-9). His original name can only be guessed at, but apparently his name was changed to Satan, which means “the accuser” and “the adversary”. Here we use the term “adversary” intentionally for he attempts to thwart the purposes of God at every turn. A sobering scripture to note is 1 Peter 5:8 where Satan (the devil) prowls around like a roaring lion “looking for someone to devour”. While this and other scriptures present Satan as a pretty scary being you may be confident that Jesus has overcome him. (Matthew 4:10-11) His power has been seriously limited. People tend to ascribe more power to him than is reasonable. He continues to plague mankind (Ephesians 2:2), but as the apostle Paul said, “We are not unaware of his schemes.” (2 Corinthians 2:11b) Today we continue to be aware of his continuing schemes.
To conclude, God had created him perfect and had given him (and all created beings) the power of self-will. This one chose to defy God and obviously continues to function as an adversary.
Humanity is in need of being reconciled. God has reconciled humanity to Himself, not counting man’s sins against him (2 Corinthians 5:19), but not every human has accepted this reconciliation. In 2 Corinthians 5:20 Paul “implores” everyone to “be reconciled to God”.
To be reconciled to God is to have communion with the Father, Son and Spirit. Reconciliation works this way. The Father draws a person to Himself (John 6:44) and points the person to His Son, Jesus Christ. He creates a hunger in the person to know Jesus. He directs the person to the Word of God, the Bible, where the person may find information about Jesus. The Holy Spirit is working in the background lifting the veil from the person’s heart (2 Corinthians 3:15-16) that he can comprehend the reality of Jesus, His nature and His Presence in the person’s life. Jesus then begins to reveal the existence of His Father, (Matthew 11:27) His nature and His love for the person. The Holy Spirit pours the love of God into one’s heart that He may know that he is loved and enables one to love God in return. This revelation leads one to repentance (Romans 2:4), the changing of one’s mind regarding how one thinks about God. The surrendering of one’s heart to God is a most natural result of coming to see God as He is.
One is drawn into fellowship with those of like mind and spirit. There one learns about baptism, the immersion of one’s life into the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19) In this fellowship one learns about the Christian sacrament of Communion, the partaking of the broken bread and the cup (the fruit of the vine be it wine or grape juice).
God entered into the brokenness of humanity in the Person of Jesus. Jesus became horribly broken (crucified) so that our brokenness could be healed. (1 Peter 2:24) Jesus became broken so that we could become whole. When we partake of the broken bread Jesus enables us to see more clearly how we are complete in Him. When we partake of the cup Jesus enables us to see that He poured out His blood so that we might have eternal life in communion with Him, His Father and the Holy Spirit.
Once we have entered into communion with God we live in peace. Our lives are characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22) One is a new creation. (2 Corinthians 5:17) Living in this new lifestyle attracts people to us. We are enabled to extend this fellowship to all.
We have now traveled all the way from pre-history to the present. Do you know God? Do you know the Father’s heart? Do you understand the depth of love that the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit have toward you? Do you understand your worth in their eyes? We believe that God is drawing you into a relationship with Himself. Open your heart to Him that He might fill it with His love. Lift your voice to Him and tell Him how much you appreciate His loving you. Allow the Holy Spirit to lead you into an ever-growing awareness of the greatness of Jesus. Listen closely as Jesus ever more reveals the Father to you. A world of discovery and joy inexpressible awaits you.
