Chewing and Swallowing

It is not a coincidence that the fall of our race into sin involved food. God created Adam and Eve, and placed them in a garden full of food, and placed one tree in that garden off limits. They were not to eat of that one tree.

All the other trees were open to them, and the Lord used to come down to walk with them in the cool of the day. There is at least one hint that when the Lord came down to commune with them, He would eat from the trees in the garden. The serpent urges them to eat from the prohibited tree so that they might become like Him. Perhaps, Adam and Eve were tempted to think, the Lord knew good and evil, not because of who He was, but simply because He was eating from this tree. And if they ate, then perhaps they could catch up. Only perhaps. But regardless, wisdom eats, but so does folly.

It is therefore not surprising that our salvation involves food. God ate with the elders of Israel on the mountain in the days of Moses. He ate with Abraham on the great day of the promise concerning Isaac (Gen. 18). The entire sacrificial system of the Old Testament involved food. And so, now, we come to this Table.

We ought not to make Adam’s mistake, thinking that we can accomplish anything simply by eating. We eat and we drink our salvation, it is true, but we also are capable of eating and drinking damnation. The chewing, tasting and swallowing are common to both. The thing that distinguishes is evangelical heart religion. Faith, hope and love chew and swallow. So do unbelief, cynicism and malice. The chewing and swallowing in themselves are nothing (but also everything). What matters is love, joy and peace in the Holy Spirit.

So come, and welcome, to Jesus Christ.