CGMI ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL MANUAL – Topic: THE LORD’S SUPPER AS A COVENANT MEAL  [Church of God Mission International] l 1 May   2022

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CGMI ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL MANUAL

DATE: SUNDAY 1st MAY, ,2022

(HYMN: S S & S 837 “BLESSED ASSURANCE, JESUS IS MINE”)

TOPIC: THE LORD’S SUPPER AS A COVENANT MEAL
TEXT: Ex 12:1-14; Lk 22:13-20; 1Corin 11:20-34

CENTRAL THOUGHT:
For my flesh is real food, my blood is real drink. Jn 6:55(NIV)

INTRODUCTION
The Lord Jesus Christ ate the Passover meal with His disciples before His eventual trial and crucifixion.
An understanding of the Passover meal in the Old Testament will no doubt give us a clearer insight into the meal that is today celebrated as the Lord’s Supper.
The Lord’s Supper is an act of worship which is also known as The Communion (1 Cor 10:16). Today, some refer to it as The Eucharist, from the Greek eucharisto, “giving of thanks”, which Christ did at the time of its institution (Matt 26:26-27). It is a simple act, in which those who are Christians partake of unleavened bread and drink of the fruit of the vine. It is an important act, one that we should understand why we do it, lest our participation be meaningless to us, displeasing to God and detrimental to us, as we read in 1 Corin 11:27.
It is therefore very necessary for all Christians to be well acquainted with the meaning and practice of the Lord’s Supper.

LESSON OBJECTIVES:
The objectives are to:

1. Know the meaning of the Lord’s Supper
2. Examine the characteristics of the Lord’s Supper as set out in the Scriptures and
3. Know the benefits of partaking in the Lord’s Supper

BIBLE TRUTH
QUESTION 1.
WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THE LORD’S SUPPER ?
As the Passover was a memorial commemorating Israel’s deliverance from Egypt through the blood of the lamb on the door post, so the Supper is a memorial of our Lord’s death who makes our deliverance from the bondage of sin possible. Paul gives us an account as given by the Lord Himself (1 Corin 11:23-25). Here we note that we eat the bread in memory of His body and drink the cup (fruit of the vine) in memory of His blood. This way, we commemorate the death of Jesus on the cross. His death made the new covenant possible “for where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator” (Heb 9:16). His blood was shed for the remission of sins, “In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace”(Eph 1:7)

ALSO READ: Open Heaven 1 May 2022 By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – What Do You Eat?

QUESTION 2.
HOW IS THE LORD’S SUPPER TO BE OBSERVED ?
We are to reverentially eat the Communion, in a worthy manner” (1Corin 11:27, 29.NKJV). Failure to observe with proper reverence brings condemnation. One will thus be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord resulting in eating and drinking judgement to oneself. To make light of this memorial puts one in the same category as those who mocked Him as He hung on the cross.
It is to be done with self-examination, reflecting upon one’s spiritual condition (1 Corin 11:28). The Lord’s Supper, in one sense, then becomes a very private matter between a Christian and his/her God; a time to reflect on the past and to resolve for the future. It is a time to ask oneself some basic questions: Are we living in a manner that shows appreciation for His sacrifice by accepting the grace of God in our lives ? (2Corin 5:18-6:1) and by living for Jesus who died for us ? (2Corin 5:14-15; Gal 2:20) or are we by willful sinning, guilty of having “trampled the Son of God underfoot”, “counted the blood by which we were sanctified a common thing” or “insulted the Spirit of grace (Heb 10:26-29). Do we by refusing to repent of our sins, “crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame” (Heb 6:4-6).
The communion is to be celebrated with other christians as there is ample indication the Lord’s Supper is designed to be a communal meal. The disciples “came together” to break bread (Acts 20:7).
Indeed, whenever they came together, they were to “wait for one another”(1Corin 11:33). “For we being many are one bread and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread” (1Corin 10:17). At the communion, we commune not just with the Lord, but with one another.
It is to be done often. The early Christians often came together on the first day of the week to “break bread* (Acts 20:7)

QUESTION 3.
DISCUSS SOME WAYS IN WHICH THE LORD’S SUPPER IS BEING PERVERTED IN SOME OF THE CHURCHES ?
It has become obvious that the celebration of the Lord’s Supper has been corrupted in some of today’s congregations. It is not unusual to hear announcement on the radio and the television asking people, unbelievers inclusive, to come for “special services” with their own “coke or Rubens” and bread for the “Holy Communion”. Of course! many usually throng to such services in the hope of special blessings. This amount to a gross perversion of the sacred. How is this different from the “Abomination that maketh desolate” (Dan 12:1; Mk 13:14) ? Even in some assemblies, the need for unleavened bread to be used is not uphold. A look at the Exodus passage reveals that our God pays attention to details. Besides, the Lord’s Supper is for believers in Christ Jesus. Even the believer is called upon to examine his/herself before taking the communion. It is a HOLY COVENANT MEAL.
“Discerning the Lord’s body” in 1Corin 11:29 means that many of the Corinthians did not distinguish the Lord’s Supper from an ordinary and common meal. This also implies the unity of the body of Christ and the measure of agreement that is expected among us. “For we being many are one brea, and one body:for we are all partakers of that one bread” 1Corin 10:17

QUESTION 4.
WHAT IS THE BENEFIT OF THE LORD’S SUPPER TO THE CHRISTIAN ?
The cup and the bread of the present-day Communion declares, “Eat ofy humanity that lived out the life of God”. And that is what weak mankind needa-the humanity of Jesus that overcame. He said eat of my body and drink of my blood. Eat ofy humanness that was like you and overcame and lived in agape love; thus, He is saying let my life come into you.
The New Covenant, through the power of the Holy Spirit, gives us the very life and the very love of Jesus. And the bread and the cup make it real to us just as He was real human being, Spirit encased in flesh. And He, as Spirit in flesh, lived in agape love, and when we partake of the communion in our spirit and in our flesh, in all our senses, in the Life that was His Life, the Life that is His Life now. As we eat and drink , the Holy Spirit make it real to us, causes us to participate in, partake of, not only Him, but everything that comes with Him; the term of the new covenant. He is no longer just the coming one but He has now come to live His life in and through the believer!

   DAILY LIVING APPLICATION

Christians today should never lose sight of its significance for us. It is a constant reminder of the great sacrifice Jesus paid for our sins. It is a communion or sharing of the body and blood of the Lord, a time for self-examination and rededication. Many such thoughts encourage us to never neglected opportunities we have to observe the Lord’s Supper, but to continue steadfastly and in so doing “proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes”

MEMORY VERSE
1 Corinthians 10:17 “For we [being] many are one bread, [and] one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.”

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