Dear Family at Christ Community,

     On Sunday, we will worship in Colossians 1:21-23 and celebrate the supremacy and sufficiency of Christ in and through the Lord’s Table. The bread and cup signify our eternal reconciliation to God through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Though we were once alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, Jesus made peace for us by the blood of the cross so that we may be presented holy, blameless, and above reproach before the Lord our God. We are called to continue in this fixed reality as a result of the finished and accepted work of Christ. We are to remain stable and steadfast upon this firm foundation, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that we have heard. The elements from the table serve to nourish our faith and hope so that we might persevere in faith and enjoy the assurance of our salvation in union with Christ.

     Consider Psalm 88 in which the psalmist feels so alienated from all that is good, and his faith and hope are flagging. After lamenting God’s humbling discipline, the psalmist asks a series of questions in verses 10-12 that poetically declare his sorrow and doubt:

Do you work wonders for the dead?
Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah
Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
Are your wonders known in the darkness,
or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

The psalm closes with no clear resolution or praise proving to be a rarity in the canon of the Psalms. However, the resolute, praiseworthy answer does eventually come in the person and work of Christ. Does God work wonders for the dead with the departed rising up to praise Him? We who were once dead in our trespasses have been raised to newness of life in the resurrection of Christ! Is God’s steadfast love declared in the grave? We who were once cut off from God by sin and death have heard His steadfast love call us forth from the grave! Are God’s wonders known in the darkness? We who once dwelt in fear in darkness have seen the wondrous light of redemption in Christ! All of this is signified and sealed in the Table!

     Approach the table this week filled with gratitude for the supremacy and sufficiency of Christ who has reconciled you to God the Father. Celebrate the past-tense nature of your alienation and hostility and the present and future-tense assurance of your holiness and blamelessness in union with Christ. Cultivate a stable and steadfast faith in Christ alone by
meditating on the Gospel. Seek reconciliation with others in the power of the Spirit as Christ has sought your reconciliation with God.

In Christ,
Cameron