This Table represents two things that the world considers inconsistent. First, it is a Table of thanksgiving. It represents an overflow of joy, and love, and peace. This is a Table of fellowship, and mutual life. That is one thing.
But the second thing, just as real, is that this is a Table that proclaims death. The apostle says that every time we partake, we proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes again.
How can these two things be consistent with one another? In their consistency, we see the wisdom of God, and we should also see the folly of man.
We proclaim a death that is the life of the entire world. What is it that died? Our old Adamic man died in the death of Jesus. In the death of Jesus Christ we rejoice in the death of death, and in the death of all things that lead to death. As one old Puritan noted, there are only two things that cause pain—sin and suffering. Christ took our sin upon Himself, and therefore can give us the privilege of partaking in His sufferings. Because of the death of Jesus, we do not even have one sin to bear. Shall we not then carry the lighter portion, and accept any sufferings that come to us with joy? Count it all joy, we are told, when we encounter sufferings?
How? The sting of sin is gone, and so if our comforts die, if our reputation dies, if our estate dies, if our bodies die—it is well. When the sin is dealt with, death must be followed by resurrection. This is the Table of that hope. It is a Table of the gospel. It is Table of life-giving transformation.
We proclaim that death until He comes again because for our lost and sorry world, death is the only possible way out.
So come, and welcome, to Jesus Christ.
Somebody’s taking an end run around his postmillenialism!