1. When I was five or six years old – I can’t remember the exact age - I had a profound experience. I was transported to a place called Golgotha - the skull-shaped hill where Jesus was crucified. #Illuminare
2. I do not know whether it was in the body or out of the body, to use an expression of Paul. It was Good Friday. The sky had turned willowy gray, pliant, like a dough mix. And I found myself at the scene of the crucifixion. #Illuminare
3. I saw those Roman soldiers, saw the two thieves on either side of Jesus, saw Jesus hanging on that tree, suspended between heaven and earth. He was in a limbo. The earth had rejected him, heaven had forsaken him. And then I began to cry. #Illuminare
4. I knew the significance of what I was watching. I knew Jesus suffered for me, which was why I was crying. What I didn’t know was that I was watching the most consequential event in human history – the enunciation of God’s new covenant with mankind. #Illuminare
5. I was watching the dramatization of what would later come to be known as the communion. Just a few days before the crucifixion Jesus had broken bread and declared his body broken. And then he took the cup and said that was his blood. #Illuminare
6. That blood would end up being the red seal on the newly minted contract between God and humanity. The disciples who partook of the first communion stood in a representative capacity for humanity. God was on one side, humanity on the other side, Jesus in the middle. #Illuminare
7. At that first communion flesh and blood partook of flesh and blood, that the scriptures might be fulfilled, “Since the children have flesh and blood, - #Illuminare
8. - he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death - that is the devil.” Hebrews 2:14 NIV. #Illuminare
9. A principal objective of communion is breaking the power of death. #Illuminare
10. At the Lord’s table God signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with humanity. But as any lawyer will tell you, an MOU is not legally enforceable. It is not a contract. #Illuminare
11. The law of contract states there can be no contract without exchange of money. Lawyers call this “consideration.” At the crucifixion that MOU became a valid contract. Jesus offered consideration with his blood. Blood is spiritual currency. #Illuminare
12. And so, when the Roman soldiers began whipping the hell out of him literally, they didn’t realize it but they were mining spiritual crypto currency for our salvation. #Illuminare
13. When they rammed that crown of thorns into his head, tearing into his flesh, they were minting his blood for our salvation. #Illuminare
14. And when they peeled the skin off his back, they were crediting the divine account with redemption currency. We were bought at a price. 1 Corinthians 6:20. #Illuminare
15. The most spiritually significant events often appear natural. They take place in the normal course of human history. #Illuminare
16. Why did Jesus subject himself to all that torture? Turns out it was multiaxial. #Illuminare
17. “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was crushed for our wickedness – our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing; the punishment required for our wellbeing fell on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5. #Illuminare
18. He was not just punished for our sins, he was disfigured for our diseases – our cancer, depression, disorders, heart disease, liver disease, infectious disease, diabetes, arthritis, asthma… All were laid on him. #Illuminare
19. Satan likes to browbeat people with their record of felonies and misdemeanors, which is an irony given his own record. He’ll make sure to remind you of your past. #Illuminare
20. He’ll send you digital files of your sins, especially when you’re making supplication to God on a specific issue, say your healing. He does hormonal infusion of guilt. #Illuminare
21. He’s the accuser. Revelation 12:10. The whole idea is to get you to self-disqualify yourself from God’s grace. He gives you bad conscience before God. #Illuminare
22. But Hebrews 10:22 says, “With his blood, our hearts are sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” The blood of Jesus cleanses us from ALL unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9. #Illuminare
23. If you don’t know your redemptive rights however Satan is going to keep bludgeoning you with your past. You’ll keep begging God for sins he’s already forgiven. #Illuminare
24. Because you feel unworthy, you can’t confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace to find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16 AMPC. #Illuminare
25. If you offend God, simply ask him for forgiveness. He’ll forgive you IMMEDIATELY. 1 John 1:8-9. Don’t bring a consciousness of sin to communion. Don’t negate the blood. Stand on your righteousness. #Illuminare
26. You’re the righteousness of God in Christ, Jesus has been made your righteousness. 2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Corinthians 1:30. God is not condemning you. The sprinkled blood of Jesus speaks forgiveness not vengeance. Hebrews 12:24. #Illuminare
27. This makes nonsense of the idea that if you’ve sinned you can’t approach the Lord’s table. The Lord’s table is especially for sinners. If Judas can partake of communion who can’t! Luke 22:21. #Illuminare
28. You can take communion by yourself in the privacy of your home. Jesus didn’t say it has to be in church. The original communion was actually enacted over dinner. There is such a thing as the priesthood of the believer. 1 Peter 2:9. #Illuminare
29. The constituent elements of communion are the bread and the wine. They’re symbolic. You can substitute the elements. #Illuminare
30. You can for example take communion with biscuit and Coke. Jesus used unleavened bread and wine, churches use wafers and blackcurrant and God is not angry. #Illuminare
31. There are communion packs by the way - the type used in church. They’re commercially available. #Illuminare
32. But the material particular of the eucharist is insignificant, it’s the faith you exercise that matters. Can you see Jesus being punished for your sins? Can you see your diseases laid on him? Can you see your depression healed as that soldier plunged in the spear? #Illuminare
33. We’re told he was a man acquainted with grief and pain, a man of sorrows. Meaning he took on depression. Isaiah 53:3-4 #Illuminare
34. Based on the four pillars of the atonement – forgiveness of sin, deliverance from evil, healing of our body, as well as prosperity, you can take communion if you have a challenge in any of the four departments. #Illuminare
35. If you’re sick you can take communion. If skilled archers are bitterly attacking you, wanting to slay you, you can take communion. If the sea is financially rough, you can take communion. If you’re struggling with walking in holiness, you can take communion. #Illuminare
36. But Jesus also said to take the communion in affectionate remembrance of him. 1 Corinthians 11:23 AMPC. It means we can take communion as an expression of love for Jesus. #Illuminare
37. Paul said we show forth his death with communion. His death was proof of his love. He had nothing to gain by dying for us. #Illuminare
38. How do you take communion privately? It’s quite simple. Open to 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 and begin to read out. #Illuminare
39. Where Jesus gives thanks give thanks, where he breaks bread break bread. It’s important you break that bread. It represents the broken body of Jesus. The broken body signifies healing for our body. #Illuminare
40. Read out the instruction concerning the cup; take the cup on cue. As you drink the cup see your sins forgiven, see death pass over you, see yourself prosperous, see yourself delivered, see yourself healed, see yourself loving God. That’s the essence of communion. #Illuminare
41. I want you to give your life to Jesus. Please pray this prayer: “Father I come to you in the name of Jesus. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in my heart that God raised him from the dead. I am saved. Amen.” #Illuminare
43. *To understand the Christian walk from a contemporary perspective, read my book, Conversations of a 21st Century Saint. Order at lekealderstore.com. #Illuminare
44. © Leke Alder | talk2me@lekealder.com. #Illuminare
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