A Whole Life in Christ Jesus!
We're here on the final day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and I hope it's been a blessed week for all of us.
Eight evenings ago, baptized believers took part in the commanded ceremony of unleavened bread and wine — symbols of the flesh and blood of Jesus. We say accurately that they are only symbols, because they don’t literally become Jesus’ flesh and blood.
But let’s turn to John to see if this comes with complications…
John 6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.
John 6:54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 6:56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.
These words were a turning point in Jesus’ ministry. Look at what happened shortly after:
John 6:66 From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.
Many of His own followers walked away.
Then, at His last Passover before His death, Jesus pointed again to His body and blood — His flesh that would soon be broken, His blood that would soon be shed. This would establish a New Covenant.
So here’s a question worth asking: Is taking of Jesus’ body and blood only about the Passover service — only about the symbols of bread and wine? Or is Jesus calling us to live every day taking in the real Christ?
Paul reflects on this in 1 Corinthians 10 (LITV – Green’s):
1Co 10:16-17 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a partaking of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a partaking of the body of Christ? Because we, the many, are one bread, one body, for we all partake of the one bread.
Paul is clearly stating a present and ongoing participation of the whole church in partaking of the blood and body of the Christ.
Would any of us say that tomorrow — after this festival ends — we are no longer expected to partake of Jesus’ flesh and blood? Of course not. Our responsibility to live in Christ doesn’t end when the feast ends.
So what is left for us to do tomorrow? The next day? A month from now?
God’s festivals were not designed to make us temporarily closer to Him than we would otherwise be every other day of the year. They serve a different purpose — and that’s what I want us to think about today.
Man’s Religion vs. God’s Intent
Let’s look at how most of Christianity approaches religion, because people’s view of loyalty to God is very different from God’s own view.
About one-third of all humans call themselves Christian. And I’ll say plainly:
Less than half of one percent of Christians actually observe the Sabbath — and even that number includes Trinitarians and those who don’t keep God’s annual Holy Days.
One example of false religion: The most influential Christian group instituted a non-biblical season called Lent — established shortly after the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D., more than 230 years after the book of Revelation was written.
Lent’s official purpose is to prepare believers for Easter through 40 days of repentance, prayer, fasting, and giving. It claims to mirror Jesus’ 40 days in the desert.
Here’s the question I have to ask myself: If I kept Lent, what about the other 325 days of the year? Is God fine with me being less repentant, less prayerful, less connected to Him, and less generous on those days?
Man-made religion creates seasons for getting right with God. But God’s intent is for His children to seek Him with the same diligence every day of their lives.
2 Cor. 4:15–16 For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.
The seasons He created and that we observe serve another purpose.
God’s Plan — Revealed Through His Festivals
Jesus called the Passover a memorial of His sacrifice, and that we remember this is how He established the New Covenant. God’s feasts are celebrations of God’s relationship with us. In every one of them — Passover, Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, the Fall Holy Days — God reveals both His power to save and the full process of that salvation. Not just for us, but for all of mankind; all by His own ability and effort, not ours. We obey. We follow. But God is the source of our salvation, not just by death, but by life and action!
GOD’S PLAN FOR MANKIND WILL BE FULFILLED!
Passover — Sins paid for, even before we fully understood it.
Days of Unleavened Bread — Being rescued from sin by God’s mighty deliverance.
Pentecost — Becoming part of God’s family through repentance, baptism, and receiving His Holy Spirit — full deliverance.
Fall Holy Days — God’s plan for all of humanity: opening salvation to everyone, walking daily having dependence on God, growing in obedience, and we, now, preparing to serve Jesus in His Kingdom.
Devotion to God is not seasonal. Yes, we have highs and lows — that’s real. But the expectation is clear: we seek first God’s Kingdom and His righteousness every — single — day.
Paul’s Example: Daily Commitment
Paul’s advice to Timothy shows the kind of daily diligence God calls for:
2 Tim. 2:15–16 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness.
And Paul made this remarkable statement to the Corinthians:
1 Cor. 15:31 …I die daily.
He gave himself up every single day — for the Gospel, for God’s people.
So, which is easier — maintaining a close walk with God every day? Or coasting most of the year because I’ve set aside 40 days to get right with God, only to start the same cycle all over again?
Examining Ourselves — Daily
Read this next passage carefully. There is more here than meets the eye.
1 Cor. 11:27–28 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. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
It would be foolish of me to treat Passover carelessly. But here is what I want us to see: Paul was not only telling the Corinthians to examine themselves once a year to worthily take symbols at a service. He was calling them — calling us — to examine themselves/ourselves daily. The full Person of Jesus is offered for our consumption every day. We are dead to ourselves and alive in Christ — daily. That is God’s intent in giving us His Holy Spirit.
We may fall short on any given day. But the instruction is to give 100% every day. Being begotten of God means being ALL IN, every single day of the rest of our lives. So, I ask again, “What will you and I do tomorrow compared to Passover or today? How about the next day or next month?
As we think about our relationships — with God and with one another — let’s grow in thankfulness for the righteousness of God revealed to those who repent, are baptized, and receive the gift of His Spirit.
May we grow in gratefulness, knowing our journey calls for a full effort every day, with God’s Spirit fully at work in us every day, as we take of the body and blood of Christ — He living in us EVERY day.
OFFERTORY – REFLECTING ON OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD DAILY
One of the ways God gives us to express our gratefulness is the commanded offering during His three seasons of Holy Assembly. God built this into His Holy Days — a practical way to thankfully acknowledge His blessings in our lives.
Time is not available to read statements sent into the home office, but letters and comments sent this past year tell an interesting story. Out of 67 correspondences, the word “thank” or something like it appeared 41 times. “Grateful” came up twice, “appreciate” fifteen times. Three of those people also included a donation. One other said she wanted to give but wasn’t able. These are people who may not yet be a part of this way of life — and yet God’s word, shared through His Church, moved them to give thanks. And, of course, that thanksgiving ultimately belongs to God.
Please turn to the book of Deuteronomy, where we are reminded of an important thing for which we are to prepare ahead of time.
Deut. 16:16–17 Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles; and they shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed. Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you.
We are not to come before God empty-handed. And it’s not about the size of the gift — it’s about the heart behind it.
We give as we are able — and whatever we are able to give is an expression of our thanksgiving. So we, with a right attitude, give as we are able, but what we are able to give is irrelevant to God based on amount.
Mark 12:41–44 Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans. So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.”
Even a small gift, given in faith, is not small to God. Our attitude in giving to God is everything!
Let’s close today with the following scripture…
Rom. 8:1–2 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
This is a daily promise. No matter what day it is, we can move forward — thankful, grateful, appreciative — taking of the body and blood of Christ, in a new covenant family relationship with God — living our whole life in Christ Jesus!
