52 Weeks at the Table – Week 2
When God brought the first Adam into the world, it did not take long for it to be obvious that it was not good for him to be alone. So God gave the man Eve, and He gave them a garden in their world, and He gave them everything they needed it, and to make them fully human, He gave them a choice between the self-minded sin and love for others and Him. When true evil came into the garden, He let them be tempted through hunger and doubt and ambition. When they heard God’s voice in the garden and were awakened to evil’s presence, they were forced from the garden together … they worked against hunger and thirst together … and they faced the death of their child together.
When God brought the last Adam into the world, God gave Him very little – a family and friends. Everything He needed to be fully human, including the choice between the selfishness of sin and the selflessness of love. He let Jesus be tempted through hunger and doubt and ambition. And when Jesus’ closest friends dozed off hearing His voice, they were awakened to true evil coming into the garden. When He was forced from the garden, He was led alone … when His last meal with them was gone, He thirsted alone … and at the end, he faced death alone.
But God knew it was not good for Him to be alone, nor for us. So we remember the Christ in this last meal together, and yearn for the day when we will be brought back to life as He was. We anticipate the day we’ll be presented to Him as His bride, beautifully dressed for her Husband. We look forward to the timeless day of a wedding feast that satisfies our hunger and thirst for his righteousness far beyond what these morsels of bread and sips from a cup can whet our hopeful appetites to share with Him.
And in them we remember His body and His blood, given selflessly so that we could be together for all time, by giving us life without end through His Spirit.
A Prayer Over the Bread
Father of the Bridegroom, we praise You for Your wisdom in providing all that we needed, from our families and friends to the relationship we deeply and desperately need with You. We thank You for placing us, the lonely, in Your gathered family, as Your children by giving your one and only true Son. Feed our hunger for Him through this bread, His body; feed our doubt through His faith; feed our ambition through His selflessness. Bless this bread and we who share it, recalling Jesus Christ and praying through His intercession. Amen.
A Prayer Over the Cup
Father of the Given Son, we give You glory for giving us all that we needed to be human – from the power of choice that speaks of Your faith in us to the blood of your Son which erases the sin we have selfishly chosen. Thank you for this cup which eases our thirst for the righteousness we cannot achieve alone. Bless it and us as we share in the joy of His redemption and praise You through His name. Amen.
Blog In My Own Eye 
WOW.Incredibly well-said.
Keith, I am very pleased that you brought up the book of Revelation.I wanted to during your last post’s comments but was afraid I would be accused of hi-jacking your post. Not by you, but by others who have accused me before of being a hi-jacker.( changing the subject).Going from John 1 to Revelation in my opinion, is not changing the subject, it is only enhancing knowledge of the subject.It is imposable for me to read John 1, then the book of revelation and understand what some folks say about John 1 being proof that Jesus was there at the beginning.Or that Jesus was really God, or that at the least he was one of three equal beings that made up God. It is far easier for me to come to the conclusion, that Jesus was the “lamb of God” and the one “True witness” Rv:1:5: And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness,Rv:3:14: And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;Rv:20:4: And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God,since the author of both books (is the same) it is hard for me to read both and come to the conclusion where some have arrived.
Laymond, we’ve chatted about this before and I doubt that we’ll change each other’s points of view.Fortunately, I don’t believe there’s anything in scripture that implies that a perfect understanding of scripture and doctrine and the nature/relationship of God and Jesus Christ are prerequisites for entry into the kingdom of heaven.So, we’ll have all kinds of time in eternity to chat about it!
Keith, I hope for many’s sake that, knowing who Jesus really was is not a prerequisite for entry into the kingdom of heaven.But the following scripture, and the question ask of me before I was baptized, seem to say differently. ( the question asked of me before baptism, was “do you believe Jesus is the Son of God”) I often wonder what would happen if someone said “NO” he was really God. Mt:10:32: Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.(I believe this is the reason for the question asked of me at baptism ) Mt:10:33: But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. (What is so important that we must confess, and never deny)?Jn:1:34: And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.My last comment to you about this subject, ever.
“Fortunately, I don’t believe there’s anything in scripture that implies that a perfect understanding of scripture and doctrine and the nature/relationship of God and Jesus Christ are prerequisites for entry into the kingdom of heaven.”That would be quite scary now wouldn’t it? Heaven would have a very dense population.By the way….like the new blog look
Wonderful post yet again brother.I enjoy your blog so very much. It made me think and I like that about your blog and this post in particular. I hope you and your family have a wonderful 2009. You are always in my prayers brother. Keep up the great work you do with your blog and ministry. Never, ever forget the kingdom difference you are making in the lives of believers across the country.