A] Christ’s Presence

First, we must remember that a Sacrament is not just a divinely sanctioned worship service but rather it is a sign and seal of the covenant itself. As such, it rests at the very heart of God’s relationship to His people. At the Lord’s Table Christ is spiritually present in much the same way that He was present in the Old Testament Temple. He has made His name to dwell there. That is, Christ has identified himself with the Sacrament in a unique way.  By instituting the Sacrament as a sign of His reconciliatory work on the Cross, Christ has sanctioned His table as the focal point of His fellowship with His people and His people with each other. Thus in Communion the true essence of this fellowship is both taught and experienced. It would be silly to suppose that at the very meal that celebrates our unending fellowship with God, that God would be absent.

Note: when we say that, “Christ has identified himself with the Sacrament in a unique way” and when we say that, “He has made His name to dwell there”, what we are describing is God’s covenantal presence. It is this covenantal presence that places the sacrament at the heart of God’s relationship with His people and sets it off from all other worship services: Covenantal presence involves three distinguishing characteristics. They are:

• Identification: First, covenantal presence means that God has identified Himself with the service and has set it apart as the focal point of His presence with His people. As such, the Sacrament is definitive of our relationship with God.
• Disclosure: Second, covenantal presence points to the pedagogical nature of the Sacrament. In the Sacrament, the heart of our relationship with God is not only experienced it is also taught. Thus, the Sacrament portrays the very essences of the Gospel that the Word expounds. At the same time, this pedagogical aspect of the Sacrament is further underscored by the fact that the administration of the Sacrament and the proclamation of the Word must always stand together. On the one hand, the Sacrament requires the explanation of the Word. First, the union between the common elements and the spiritual reality they represent is not natural or self-evident. As such, it must be made explicit and clear by Scripture. Second, the bread and wine do not become sacramental signs of the covenant by the authority or will of man. Rather, they are set apart by God according to the institution given us in God’s Word. Finally, we do well to remember that fellowship with Christ and thus admission to His Table is always through the acceptance of His Word (i.e. through faith in the Gospel and reception of Scripture’s correction). Thus, even in the unfortunate event when proclamation is limited to the words of institution, the Sacrament nonetheless requires Scripture’s exposition. On the other hand, while Scripture expounds the covenant, this exposition is intended to lead us into the fellowship and intimacy provided by the Sacrament. Therefore, just as we do not partake of the Lord’s Table without first hearing God’s Word, so too we do not gather to hear Scripture without being drawn by its instruction into fellowship and communion with God and His people. In the end, the proclamation of the Word and the administration of the Sacrament stand together as two aspects of a single corporate act. The result is that the Sacrament, especially when it is understood in terms of the whole service, is the primary and most comprehensive disclosure of God to His people.
• Administration: Third, covenantal presence indicates that the service stands as God’s means of administering His covenantal relationship with His people. Just as God administered His relationship with His Old Testament people at the Temple, through the sacrifices, so too, He now administers this relationship at the Table through Christ’s onetime sacrifice.

Thus, Christ’s spiritual presence is a covenantal presence at the heart of our relationship with God. It is at the Table that Christ meets with His people as a people and administers His relationship with them. All other aspects of the faith proceed from and return to this point. In other words, the covenant relationship, expounded by Scripture and enjoyed in its various capacities by God’s people, is partaken of in its most comprehensive manner at the Table.

Second, the bread and wine do not contain or become Christ. Christ is not in the meal but at the meal. In other words, Christ’s presence is not limited to or localized in the corporality of the signs but is uniquely and specially identified with the service as a whole. Thus the account of the Last Supper in Scripture provides not only the institution of the Sacrament but also a picture of the manner in which Christ meets with His people. He meets with them in fellowship at the table.

Bottom line: Christ is spiritually present at the Lord’s Supper in a unique and objective manner. His presence is apprehended by faith.

B] The Elements

The bread and wine signify Christ and the work He accomplished for His people. That is they portray Christ in the fullest terms. They present Him both in terms of His incarnation and in terms of the significance of that incarnation. Two points:

First, the elements cannot be abstracted from Christ. Christ is the new covenant. His body and blood, life and death are the merits by which the believer is nourished. The elements then do not represent a theological notion, they signify Christ our Savior. As such, it is through these signs that Christ’s spiritual and covenantal presence is both apprehended and guaranteed. Thus, when we perceive these outward signs by faith we are assured of the very spiritual reality they signify. In other words, as actually and truly as the elements are present, so too is Christ spiritually present. To see the one, is to be assured of the other.

Second, the elements are the meal that Christ gives His people to nourish them. That is, the elements are signs and seals of the New Covenant in Christ’s blood. As signs the elements tell us what we receive. They represent the body and blood of Christ’s one time sacrifice. Thus, to partake of the Sacrament by faith is to receive the full blessing and benefit of Christ’s saving work. As seals, the elements guarantee our full and personal reception of these blessings at the time of the meal. Thus, to receive the signs by faith is to receive the very spiritual reality they signify.

Bottom line: Christ is spiritually present at the Table to nourish His people. His spiritual presence is apprehended by faith through the signs of the Sacrament that represent Him. At the Table, Christ is the host and the elements are the meal that Christ gives His people to feed them. The meal that Christ provides is the full merit and grace of His one time sacrifice.

C] The Liturgy as Active

Christ has sanctioned His table as the focal point of His fellowship with His people and His people with each other. As such, we come to the Lord’s Table with joy and thanksgiving to actively commune with our Savior and His Church. Here then is the heart of Covenant fellowship. Christ’s unique presence at the table is a time when the spiritual union between the believer and his Lord is presented to the eyes of faith in a concentrated manner. At the table, Christ receives us to Himself and we in turn receive Him into ourselves by faith as we eat and drink the signs of His body and blood. As such, Christ has set apart the Sacrament as a special and sacred time for He and His people to enjoy the mystic union that forever binds them.

Second, as the heart of fellowship, the Eucharist is relational in its essence. Therefore, the believer is not merely a passive recipient. Rather, he is an active participant. As such, we offer our worship, praise, and thanksgiving to God for the gift of His Son. Second, we offer all that we are, have, and do in service and obedience to God, knowing that God has redeemed the whole of life. However, it is important to remember that we do not make these offerings by way of original merit. Rather, we offer them on the basis of Christ’s all sufficient sacrifice. Notice then that during the Eucharist, each party brings to the Table what is his to offer. You bring God your specific struggles, sins, and needs. Christ brings the grace that forgives and heals those specifics. As grace begins to heal you, you begin to serve God more and more throughout the week with the renewed area of your life. Finally, you return to the Lord’s Table on Sunday to offer God the fruit of that grace in praise and thanksgiving. Such then is the true and full meaning of liturgy as the work of God’s people. It is the whole life renewed by grace and given in service to God.

Thus, the Lord’s Supper is a time of true fellowship at the heart of a true relationship. Each party comes rejoicing in his love for the other and bringing to the table what is his to give.

Finally, the act or performance of the Eucharist is the fulfillment of the particular liturgy of each order (laity/deaconate/priest). The particular function of each order and their mutual dependence underscore the unity and corporate nature of the body of Christ. Without this unity and love, the Church cannot not rightly worship God nor can she successfully accomplish His mission to proclaim the Gospel to the world. The act of the Eucharist then is the supreme expression of life in Christ. It brings to full expression our fellowship with God, our active part in this fellowship, and our dependence on one another.