In a traffic jam going to church,
the taxi was a hefty fare of $25 (about 8USD) , 3 times the
normal. Grumbling as to whether to enter the church even though late, I
am reminded the sum has been paid, the high taxi price has been paid, so
I better attend church. Often, as Christians, we forget, the highest
price was paid by Jesus Christ. It is at Communion that we remind
ourselves the event of Jesus’ death and body broken for us.
A church centered on the truth of communion, is a
church that draws power and spiritual connection with the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ, as if to bring us to the very place of
Jesus’ death. We may take communion as a ritualistic sacrament and
religious duty, which was the issue faced by early Christians , taking
it casually or in an unworthy manner instead of a spiritual experience
to enter deeper into God.
The message of Communion in 1 Cor 12 could be
better understood in the context of Corinth, a port city filled
thousands of temple prostitutes and priests in the worship of Aphrodite
which was cult with the temple priest having to castrate himself and
wear women’s clothing and the men of the city having sex with the
priests in order to connect themselves with the god. When Paul mentioned
in Romans (Rom 1:27-29) of men unnaturally exchanging their sex, it was
in the context of the worship of these deities when we should be
naturally worshipping God.
Paul demanded in 1 Cor 6:9-10 that the church has
nothing to do with people within the church who called themselves
Christians but who had the worship of the spiritual idols that goes on
in Corinth as he describes the scene below as full of drunkard men, male
prostitutes and sodomites.
(1 Cor
6:9 NRSV) Do you not know
that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived!
Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites,
(1 Cor
6:10 NRSV) thieves, the
greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers--none of these will inherit the
kingdom of God.
There were of course many male prostitutes or
temple “dogs” where the straight men had sex with, or the “sodomites”
which were the temple priests. It all goes back to the days of the
worship of Baal and Ashtoreth which were very similar in practices
because the same demonic beings were involved. The word used by Paul -
Arsenokoites” was also mis-translated as “Sodomites” (NKJV), and
“Homosexual Offenders” (NIV) even though there was no such usage in
Greek literature. The term appears to have been created by Paul from the
Septuagint’s Greek translation of Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13.
Leviticus
18:22 - “kai meta arsenos ou koimethese koiten gynaikos”
Leviticus 20:13 - “kai hos an koimethe meta arsenos koiten
gynaikos”
With this reference to Leviticus relating to idol
worship, it becomes clear that 1 Cor 6:9 was emphasizing the
unrighteousness of those who worship other gods having no part in the
kingdom of God (ie part of the church) rather than about same sex
orientation. Paul message was loud and clear for the Corinthian
Christians not to be engaged in the partying, dancing, and mass sexual
orgies in commemoration of these gods.
(1 Cor
11:25 NKJV) 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."
(1 Cor
11:26 NKJV) For as often as
you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death
till He comes.
(1 Cor
11:27 NKJV) Therefore
whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy
manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
The context on communion verses of 1 Cor 11:27
warning of taking the communion in an unworthy manner becomes clearer.
When we partake in the bread and wine, we are connecting with the broken
body of Jesus Christ, the pain and suffering that He went through, and
the blood spilled for us signifying the life that was lost because the
life is in the blood. The purpose of the “Cup” of blood was in
remembrance of Jesus, His death and resurrection. Therefore when we
drink this cup and eat the bread of remembrance where upon we are
connected spiritually to Christ becoming part of the body of Christ.
The concern about eating the food offered to idols
(1 Cor 10:26-28) precedes the Communion and set the stage as Communion
was part of the gathering for the meal. In was during the start of the
meal that Communion was held. Eating food offered to idols was not a
sin, but participating in the idol celebration worship was (1 Cor
6:9-10).
When we partake communion yet at the same time
partake in the idol worship where we are connected to the demonic
beings, we are committing a sin against the body and blood of Jesus
Christ. Why? We are forcing our demon filled bodies (through having sex
with the idols) to be connected to Jesus. We make the remembrance and
the body of Christ soil and corrupted.
(1 Cor
11:29 NIV) For anyone who
eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks
judgment on himself.
(1 Cor
11:30 NIV) That is why many
among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.
When we eat of the bread and drink of the wine,
there is a spiritual connection with Jesus. We are joined to Christ in
communion. If instead, we do not consider this as hallowed ground but
joined ourselves to other deities, we bring judgment of God upon
ourselves. Instead of receiving healing for our bodies and abundant life
through the Communion, we received the curse of judgment by taking the
communion unworthily. ie we become weak, sickly and suffer death. The
alternative is also true, when we take communion in a worthy manner, we
received God’s mercy and grace for healing in our lives.
How do we partake the communion in a worthy manner?
It is to make a decision to commit to Christ alone and not serve other
masters be-it spiritual principalities. We are to keep our bodies holy
for residence by the Holy Spirit, for we belong to Jesus Christ. The
price has been paid, the full price. Let us enter into communion daily,
for there is power to heal and restore our lives in it.
In our intellectual inclination, we have often
ignored that Christianity is Spiritual and the bible is an insight into
the spiritual realm. The idols that were worshipped in Corinth is not
just “dead” man made idols of our own intellectual creation or god idea,
they are “real” and represents powerful spiritual demonic personalities.
Hence the sin of taking the communion in an unworthy manner was not a
general sin, but the joining to a demonic being.
Angelic/demonic beings are not a man made idea or
an intellectual opinion. Paul was emphasizing that who we have in
church, what they do in the spiritual sense does matter. What we bring
into the church is not only a physical presence, but a spiritual one,
and in communion, we are joining ourselves spiritually to Jesus Christ,
His body through the Blood.
Sex does matter a great deal (far beyond having
moral codes/guidelines) because it was the manner of physically and
spiritually joining two souls. When a person has anal sex with the
temple priests, the spirit/demon comes in to possess us. Therefore, when
we have sex with many partners, we are not only exchanging bodily fluids
but our spirits are being penetrated, and we are letting spiritual
entities to come in. We may not only be getting STD’s but a lot more.
Safe sex cannot fully “save” us.
The church of Jesus Christ was never meant to be an
open door for all sorts of beliefs and spiritual experiences/background.
This is often confused with being queer of what is innate – our sex,
race, culture, sexual orientation, financial status, age, etc. There is
no consideration of whether we are master or slave, rich or poor, gay or
straight in Christ Jesus, because all are equal in Christ, saved by
grace. Christ is our identity and worship and not another spiritual
deity (for which there are many). A church that will grow, is a church
that understands the power of communion, the power of the supernatural
healing and move of the Spirit of God, that comes through being one with
the Body of Christ in Communion. We will not grow in the natural, if we
have not extended out tents in the spiritual sense.
Let us receive the Communion daily, for it comes
with it supernatural power of healing, deliverance and wholeness, in
Jesus Christ. The blessings of God has been already paid for, why not
enter into it.
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