Overview
Communion is a closure and a new beginning: closure to the bondage of sin at the crucifixion, and a new beginning of freedom in the resurrection. In this teaching Rev. Rico Magnelli works from 1 Corinthians 5:7 through Exodus 12, Romans 6 and 1 Corinthians 11 to show that communion is a memorial of our union and identification with Christ, and that it functions for us exactly as Passover functioned for Israel. Israel’s problem was that they left Egypt physically but not mentally, and the Corinthians’ problem was the same: with no closure at the cross they kept opening the door to condemnation and judgment. Discerning the Lord’s body means knowing it is over.
Transcript
Communion Is a Closure and a New Beginning
Please turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 5. I wanted to talk about communion and how communion is a closure and a new beginning. Communion is, as we know, a memorial of our union, our identification with Christ. And like Passover for Israel, it provided a closure and a new beginning. Closure to the bondage and a new beginning to freedom. And here in 1 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 7, is this wonderful truth, Purge out therefore the old leaven that you may be a new lump as you are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.
Purge Out the Old Leaven: Cleansing from the Inside Out
It says purge out the old leaven. Leaven was a thin strip of dough. When it’s used in the word metaphorically, it can either be bad or good. But the point is, is that a small amount affects the entire loaf. And he’s saying here, purge out therefore the old leaven. And it means cleanse it from the inside out.
So much of life is removing things, getting rid of things. And specifically in this context, it’s anything that binds us to an earthly identity, that you may be a new lump. That’s where the freedom is, as you are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.
This word purge is interesting. It’s only used two times. And I want to show you the other place that it’s used. In the leadership epistle of 2 Timothy, in chapter 2, in verse 21, it says, if a man therefore purge himself, it’s the same word. It means to clean from the inside out. Not the outside in, the inside out. Purge himself from these.
What is these talking about? It’s talking about the discussions that are contrary to the word. It says in verse 14 that there are words to no profit in the context. It says in verse 16 of the same chapter in the context, there’s profane and vain or empty babblings. In verse 18, it says that they err regarding truth and they overthrow or overturn the faith of some. They get people to doubt the accomplished work of Christ. That’s what verse 21 is talking about.
Purge out those empty discussions. Purge out that which is contrary to the word. Like you clean a vessel. What do you do when you clean a vessel? You don’t just clean the outside, right? You clean it from the inside, right? That’s what it’s talking about. Purge himself from these. He shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.
Israel Left Egypt Physically but Not Mentally
Look at Exodus chapter 12. Jesus Christ is our Passover. And here in Exodus chapter 12, we’re just going to read a little bit about the Passover. As you read the history of Israel, we see that those who left Egypt really only left physically. They didn’t leave mentally because they retained Egypt in their heart and conversations. They were not able to embrace a new beginning. They didn’t purge themselves from the inside out.
They left physically, but they didn’t leave mentally. It remained in their heart. That’s why specifically as they wandered in the wilderness, they kept talking about going back to Egypt and the bondage of Egypt. They kept complaining about Moses. See, they changed their physical location, but they didn’t change their mental point of view. Communion and Passover are about closure and a new beginning.
The Passover Lamb in Exodus 12
The day before they actually departed from Egypt, as many scholars estimate some two and a half million people. Moses instructs the people in Exodus chapter 12 in verse 5, your lamb shall be without blemish. They were to take a lamb, a male of the first year. You shall take it out from the sheep or from the goats, and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. And the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening or between the evening. And they shall take of the blood and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper doorposts of the houses wherein they shall eat it.
And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire and unleavened bread. And with bitter herbs, they shall eat it. Eat it not raw nor sodden. Sodden means to boil it. At all with water, but roast with fire, his head with his legs and with his purtenance thereof. And you shall let nothing of it remain until the morning, meaning nothing that’s edible. And that which remaineth of it, meaning that which is not edible, until the morning, you shall burn it with fire.
Everything About the Passover Marks a Closure
Fire has a permanent cleansing to it. Everything about this record is making the point that there’s a closure happening. They’re leaving Egypt after being in bondage for 400 years or so. But see, the challenge for Israel was, is that they didn’t leave Egypt mentally. And you can read that later on in the record of Israel.
And thus shall you eat it with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover. They were to eat and then the next day they were to depart.
The Passover’s Judgment on the Gods of Egypt
For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast and against all the gods of Egypt. I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. See, oftentimes we don’t understand that the Passover had an element of judgment in it, finality to it. And that finality and judgment was against primarily the gods of Egypt, the idolatry.
And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over. That’s the meaning there. Pass over you and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt. Amazing. And this day shall be unto you for a memorial. And you shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. And you’ll keep it a feast by an ordinance forever.
God wanted to make the point that he didn’t want his people in bondage. There was a point of transition. And this is the point of transition for these two and a half million people. And they were transitioning from bondage, closure, ending that chapter in their life, and then moving on to freedom.
The Body and the Blood: Sharing in Common with Christ
Look at Romans chapter six, please. For us begins with the body and the blood of Christ to close the door on the bondage of sin. It’s over. Sin is removed with the blood of the lamb. The lamb is Jesus Christ. And disease and sickness by the flesh of the lamb. That’s our identity with Christ, if you will. That’s what communion is really about. It’s a sharing in common with what Jesus Christ accomplished.
It says so in 1 Corinthians 10:16, that our communion is we share in common with Christ, his body, represented by the bread, and his blood, represented by the wine. And that’s our identity with Christ.
Baptized into His Death: The Finality of the Crucifixion
Here in Romans chapter six, in verse three, know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death. Baptism is a cleansing. There’s no more sin and death. That’s the cleansing.
In Genesis three, we understand more deeply why the devil tried to move this lie that he has continued to move throughout the centuries. When he told Eve, thou shalt not surely die. In other words, it’s not really a definitive boundary, but it is. See, because if Christ didn’t die, then our sins were not cleansed. We were buried with him in baptism, which means there was a cleansing of our sin. There’s a finality to the crucifixion. It’s closure once and for all. It was done and it will never be done again. It’s like when the children of Israel departed Egypt, that bondage that they had endured for 400 years was over if they wanted it, and they were to move on to freedom.
Crucifixion, Burial, Resurrection: Closure, Cleansing, Freedom
Verse four, therefore we are, the text is we were, buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. That’s the freedom. The closure is the crucifixion. The cleansing is the burial. The resurrection is the freedom. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.
Verse six, knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him. The body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin. The old nature that was passed on from Adam to every human being was crucified with Christ. There’s closure in the crucifixion. The old man is our sin nature that we received from Adam. It was crucified. The only thing that a Christian deals with now basically is the habits that they develop from that old man nature. But the old man is dead. He’s crucified with Christ.
The Night He Was Betrayed in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
On the night that Jesus Christ was betrayed, according to Matthew, he talks about the betrayal. And as they ate, he shared bread and wine, to symbolize the significance of his body and blood. And every time we eat something or we drink something, we assimilate it into our bodies. Actually, it breaks down at the molecular level. Mentally, we do the same thing with the truth regarding the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. We assimilate it into our hearts and minds. We make it part of the fiber of our being. That’s part of how we put closure to the sin nature and we move on in freedom.
In Mark, the Gospel of Mark, same thing. Jesus talks about the betrayal. And then as they ate, he shared bread and wine. In Luke, again, he shares about the betrayal that Judas Iscariot had conducted. He shares about the bread and wine with them. But in this gospel, it adds the part where they argue together about who’s the greatest leader and so forth. And Jesus straightens that out. And then he helps Peter. And he tells Peter to be strong when he is converted, which he’s referring to Christianity, and strengthen his brethren.
In John chapter 13 and following are some tremendous truths. After they have their last meal together, he washes their feet, symbolizing how they were to care for one another, showing Jesus Christ’s humility. He again mentions the betrayal. What’s so interesting is he forgave Judas. It’s amazing. In John, he talks about a new commandment, that they were to love one another as he loved them. He talks about himself being the way, the truth, and the life. He talks about the works that they would do like him and greater. He talks about the comforter that would come. And many, many, many other truths in John. This all happened in that one evening.
Why the Corinthian Church Had No Closure
Please turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 11. Why is this so significant? I know many in our world are thinking about these truths right now. Many Christians are. But the depth of it here is amazing. The Corinthian church were born-again believers, but they did not fully understand what was accomplished at the cross. And therefore, there was no closure to them. And they couldn’t move on in the freedom of the resurrection and the power that’s in the resurrection. They couldn’t move on because they had no closure. They kept opening the door for condemnation and judgment to themselves.
And here in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, Paul addresses this with them. He loved them. He was teaching them. In verse 19, he said, For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. What this is talking about is those that are approved are the ones who have proven the word to themselves, meaning who they are as saints. They are sanctified, set apart in Christ Jesus. So they’re not judging themselves and not judging anybody else. And they’re the ones that should be an example amongst the Corinthians. He’s trying to set them up as an example. Because you’ll see the impact of not properly discerning the Lord’s body here in a minute.
In fact, I like the English Standard Version for verse 19. It says, In order that those who are genuine among you, you may be recognized. He wants them to stand out, the ones that have proven the word to themselves regarding the closure that occurs at the crucifixion.
The Lord’s Supper at Corinth and This Do in Remembrance of Me
Verse 20, When you come together, therefore, into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper. For in eating, everyone taketh before other his own supper, and one is hungry and another is drunken. They weren’t taking care of each other. There was perhaps poor among them, and they weren’t taking care of them. They were just taking care of themselves selfishly. And it wasn’t the right atmosphere to understand the significance of what Jesus Christ accomplished.
Verse 22, What, have you not houses to eat and drink in? Or despise you the church of God? And shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I praise you not. For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. So we’re talking about the same night that we were referring to in the gospel.
And when he had given thanks, he brake it and said, Take eat, this is my body, which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of me. He was the Lamb of God, and his body was broken for us. Wherein which we receive our healing and our deliverance from any sickness or disease. After the same manner, also, he took the cup when he had supped, saying, This cup is the New Testament in my blood. This do ye as oft as you drink it in remembrance of me.
The idea was to bring back to remembrance what happened. It wasn’t supposed to be some mysterious ceremony. It was supposed to be so we would remember what actually he accomplished for us and in us. Because we identify with him in his work. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till he come. What he accomplished at the cross lives within us. And we demonstrate this until the return of Christ.
What It Means to Discern the Lord’s Body
See, the crucifixion is closure. It’s over. That’s why he had to die. The resurrection is the new beginning. If we do not fully understand closure, we cannot fully realize the benefit of the new beginning. That’s exactly what happened to Israel in the wilderness. They constantly wanted to go back to Egypt, go back to the bondage, complained about Moses for 40 years. If it’s over, it’s over. And this is what it means to discern the Lord’s body. That there’s a closure to the bondage of sin. And that there’s a new beginning in Christ Jesus.
Verse 27, Wherefore, whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, or improperly, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord, will continue to open himself up to the guilt. Therefore, there is no closure. And that guilt and that condemnation brings bondage. And that’s exactly what happened to the Corinthians. And those of Israel that mentally would not leave Egypt behind them, they died in the wilderness. It’s exactly what happened.
Let a Man Examine Himself: Mining for Gold
But let a man examine himself. The word examine is interesting because it’s used of a positive expectation in proving something. It’s never used negatively. One example would be simple. Let’s say I’m mining for gold. G-O-L-D, gold. I’m working through the earth in the mine. I want to get to the gold. I’m not looking for the dirt. I’m looking for the gold. I’m proving my labor to get to what’s expected. The gold is the Christ in you. That’s the treasure.
When he talks about let a man examine himself, meaning prove to himself. And the word himself is a reflexive pronoun. He’s supposed to do it to himself. Those that are approved are the ones who have proven the word to themselves, who they are in Christ Jesus, that they’re saints, they’re sanctified. They’re not judging themselves and not judging anybody else. That’s the full impact, if you will, of communion, sharing with Christ in his crucifixion, his burial, and then eventually his resurrection.
For he that eateth and drinketh… The word unworthily in verse 29 is not in the Greek text. For he that eateth and drinketh, eateth and drinketh damnation, or judgment, or condemnation to who? Himself. Not discerning the Lord’s body. When the Lord’s body is properly discerned, it brings a closure to someone’s life. They no longer live the lifestyle of condemnation and judgment. They don’t judge themselves and they don’t judge other people. There’s a closure to it. When it’s over, it’s over. And you can’t get much more closure than the crucifixion of Christ.
Weak, Sickly and Sleeping in the Corinthian Church
For this cause, many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. Meaning they fall asleep prematurely. They die prematurely. That’s what happened in the Corinthian church. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. That’s kind of an awkward translation. For if we would judge ourselves is in the sense, if we continue to separate completely, meaning the old man and the new man, to judge ourselves truly, that is to accept the judgment of God in Christ Jesus, we should not be judged. Meaning we would not keep judging ourselves by worldly standards.
Verse 32. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord that we should not be condemned with the world. What’s that talking about is when we are judged by the Lord, he’s already judged us in Christ Jesus. There’s no more condemnation or guilt. So we are disciplined to that truth in Christ, so that we’re not condemned along with the world. Why should we can be condemned if Jesus Christ was crucified for us? Wherefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, tarry one for another, and if any man hunger, let him eat at home, that ye come not together unto condemnation, and the rest will I set in order when I come.
God’s Heart Has Always Been Freedom for His People
Communion is that identification with Christ. It ties the Old and the New Testament together so beautifully, because like Passover for Israel, Passover provided a closure and a new beginning. The closure to bondage and the new beginning to move towards the promised land. The closure to the bondage for us was the crucifixion, and the new beginning and freedom for us was the resurrection. This is a tremendous way to grasp that God’s heart has been freedom for His people for thousands upon thousands of years. And He sent His Son that we would no longer live in the bondage of sin, but we would live in newness of life in Christ.
Key Takeaways
- Communion is a memorial of our union and identification with Christ, and like Passover for Israel it provides a closure to bondage and a new beginning to freedom.
- To purge out the old leaven (1 Corinthians 5:7) means to cleanse from the inside out, removing anything that binds us to an earthly identity; the same word appears in 2 Timothy 2:21 of purging out discussions contrary to the word.
- Those who left Egypt really only left physically: they retained Egypt in their heart and conversations, kept talking about going back, and so were not able to embrace a new beginning.
- The closure is the crucifixion, the cleansing is the burial, and the resurrection is the freedom.
- The Corinthian church were born-again believers who did not fully understand what was accomplished at the cross, so with no closure they kept opening the door for condemnation and judgment to themselves.
- To let a man examine himself is a positive word, never used negatively; it is like mining for gold, proving your labor to get to what is expected, and the gold is the Christ in you.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean that communion is a closure and a new beginning?
It means communion marks the end of one thing and the start of another, exactly as Passover did for Israel. Rev. Rico Magnelli puts it this way: the closure is the crucifixion, the cleansing is the burial, and the resurrection is the freedom. The closure to the bondage for us was the crucifixion, and the new beginning and freedom for us was the resurrection. If we do not fully understand closure, we cannot fully realize the benefit of the new beginning.
What does it mean to discern the Lord’s body in 1 Corinthians 11?
It means recognizing that there is a closure to the bondage of sin and a new beginning in Christ Jesus. When the Lord’s body is properly discerned, it brings a closure to someone’s life: they no longer live the lifestyle of condemnation and judgment, they don’t judge themselves and they don’t judge other people. As Rico Magnelli says, when it’s over, it’s over, and you can’t get much more closure than the crucifixion of Christ.
What does it mean to let a man examine himself before communion?
The word examine is used of a positive expectation in proving something, and it is never used negatively. Rico Magnelli compares it to mining for gold: you work through the earth because you want to get to the gold, not the dirt, proving your labor to get to what’s expected. The gold is the Christ in you. Himself is a reflexive pronoun, so a man proves the word to himself: that he is a saint, sanctified in Christ Jesus.
Scripture References
1 Corinthians 5:7; 2 Timothy 2:21; 2 Timothy 2:14; 2 Timothy 2:16; 2 Timothy 2:18; Exodus 12:5-14; Romans 6; 1 Corinthians 10:16; Romans 6:3; Genesis 3; Romans 6:4; Romans 6:6; Matthew; Mark; Luke; John 13; 1 Corinthians 11:19-34
This text was prepared from the teaching audio. Please verify scripture references against your own Bible.
