Wedding Communion
One of the greatest internal proofs of the infallibility of the Bible is God’s testimony concerning the human condition. The Scriptures comprehensively disclose and examine the contents of the human heart. God’s Word identifies at least 6 deadly enemies of man’s eternal soul: the world, the flesh, the devil, sin, death and hell. Human pride says, “No sweat, I will stare down all of these enemies and ultimately escape eternal judgment.” My friends, we must not deceive ourselves, the Person of Christ and His work on behalf of sinners disprove such hubris and arrogance.
Christ is ‘friend of sinners’ because He came to earth to bear the guilt of His people. His bloody death and victorious resurrection prove that He is the Son of God, that He fulfilled Scripture, satisfying the just claims of God against us. Consider for a moment our dilemma: each of us by nature is a habitual breaker of God’s righteous commands. Our transgressions have alienated us from our Creator. But, the good news of the gospel is that Christ, the Chief Shepherd has laid down His life that we might have life in Him—Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (Jn 10:10).
Abundant life is composed of love relationships that shall never end. That’s the heritage of people who belong to God’s ‘forever family’. Christ, the Good Shepherd has guaranteed by His resurrection that this endless abundant life (which begins now) belongs to His people. This is the promise Christ makes to those who believe upon Him and repent of their sin. “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10). “Lost” means ‘separated’ not having a normal love relationship with God. Christ came to repair and remedy that awful predicament.
My friends I am not talking about a philosophical path. The gospel is about coming to the living God who is drawing people to Himself through Christ. Followers of Christ know their God! That was not the case before they tasted His forgiving love. Those who make up this great company of forgiven sinners have life in Christ in common with each other. The bond that they have with the Lord and one another will never end. Death cannot touch that bond. Christ ate and drank with His disciples after His resurrection. His victory over the grave was won for His people— His rising is the warranty of future life together with Him. That means uncontainable joy is in store for His people—it is a joy which has begun now (1 Pet 1:8).
This is why David and Paige are taking communion today—because the ultimate bond holding them together is the fact that they share life in Christ in common. Life in Christ in common excels all other areas of commonality for this couple—whether companionship, romance, marital affection, communication skills, love of family, common interests, etc. In fact, their identity in Christ and their glorious destiny in their beloved Savior is the most defining thing about them. For they understand that the Father’s love that sacrificed the Son of God on their behalf is the foundation of their love for each other.
So out of their devotion to Christ and their overflowing gratitude to Him, their first few moments as a married couple will be spent taking communion. The bread and the wine are meant to show forth the death of Christ as the cause of new life in God. Partaking of these elements is designed by Christ Himself to bring to our remembrance the source of the believer’s salvation. “. . . and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls” (1 Pet 2:24).
David and Paige have fellowship with God, and Christian fellowship with each other because of what Christ has done for them in carrying their sin up to His cross so that He could blot it out. So in honoring their Savior by remembering His death, this dear couple is acknowledging that Christ will have first place in their marriage. There is no formula superior to Christ’s centrality for intimacy, forgiveness, acceptance and sacrificial love in a marriage.
Consuming the bread and the wine is a picture or symbol of the life force of Christ’s work going into our very being—making alive and transforming our dead, darkened, guilty, polluted souls. Now if a person did not eat or drink for weeks on end, he would certainly die. Our hearts break over the fact that countless souls around us are starving, perishing because they have dismissed the Word of Grace in Christ—having rejected the words of life. Jesus said, “. . . and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life” (Jn 5:40). It does not have to be that way. The greatest longing this couple has is that every friend, relative, and neighbor of theirs would come into the household of faith by coming to Christ who is life.
And now, David and Paige, “. . . the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”