Tuesday, April 15, 2014

THE HOPE OF THE CROSS OF CHRIST: A Past Conversion


For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”  In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”  For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

When we come to the Lord’s Table, and take the elements in our hands, we are directed to look back to the source of our hope.  Some 2,000 years ago a real Man hung on an actual cross and suffered a literal death and ushered in an eternal salvation!  Therefore, twice Paul records in this text these words that Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of Me.” 

We are to never forget what Jesus did for us on a hill called Calvary!  He made it possible for us to be reconciled to God.  Engrave Him on your heart!

As we personally receive Christ we are converted—from saints to sinners.  It is always good to remember where God has brought us from—or where without Him we might have been.  Some of us have been as I was, spending years manifesting the depravity of the heart—the fruit of sin within in full display by our actions.  So, as I look back I see I was rotten to the core, and how everything changed when He saved me!  Others were converted as children, and may have never exhibited the same sinful deeds to the same degree, and yet were just as evil in heart as the vilest sinner.  The fruit may not have developed, but the root contained all the latent wickedness that destines one for hell just as much as an obvious sinner.  But, in Christ, we are made new and changed from the inside out.

No wonder we all who have a past conversion can sing with enthusiasm and conviction:

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.” (John Newton)

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