The kingdom of God is not in eating and drinking.

“I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and died. This is the bread coming down from heaven, that anyone may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread, having come down from heaven. If anyone shall have eaten of this bread, he will live to the age. And also, the bread that I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.” John 6:48-51

An Act of Remembrance.

God instructs Israel how they are to eat the Passover, after they came out of Egypt. “You must not eat leavened bread with it; for seven days you are to eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left the land of Egypt in haste—so that you may remember for the rest of your life the day you left the land of Egypt.” Deuteronomy 16:3 God wants them to remember how they were saved from bondage of slavery with the mighty hand of God. They could have just eaten the lamb as ordained, but it was not the eating God was concerned with but wanting them to remember His deliverance.

And Jesus instigates the communion on the very day Israel remembers their liberation from Egypt. Jesus the Lamb of God does not equate Himself with the sacrificial lamb of Passover but with the unleavened bread. Through Jesus animal sacrifice has come to an end, there is to be no more sacrifice for sins. Jesus, the Lamb of God was sacrificed once for all. “He has been revealed once in the consummation of the ages for the putting away of sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” Hebrews 9:26 But there is to be a remembrance of His deliverance through the bread and wine.

“Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine—since he was priest of God Most High — and he blessed Abram and said: “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” Genesis 14:18-20

Eating and Drinking.

Jesus gave His flesh for the world to make an end of sin and we are redeemed. He gave His flesh that we through Him may be delivered from the flesh to be spirits. The bread and wine do not make His real flesh and blood because, “Even though we have regarded Christ according to flesh, yet now we regard Him thus no longer.“ 2 Corinthians 5:16 We do not purify ourselves through acts of the flesh, through eating and drinking. “A man is not justified by works of law [of the flesh], except through faith from Jesus Christ.” Galatians 2:16 God had delivered Him up, for us once. It is finished, He has done it, by His blood we are redeemed and by His stripes we were healed.

The kingdom of God is not in eating and drinking. Jesus said “Do you not yet understand that everything entering into the mouth goes into the stomach, and is cast out into the sewer?” Matthew 15:17 And Paul in Colossians writes:

“If you have died with Christ, away from the principles of the world, why as if living in the world do you submit to decrees: “You should not handle! You should not taste! You should not touch!”?— which are all unto decay with the use, according to the precepts and teachings of men, which having indeed an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed worship and humility and harsh treatment of the body, are not of any value against the indulgence of the flesh.” Colossians 2:20-23

In saying, “If you have died with Christ, away from the principles of the world?” That is from being flesh to be spirits in Christ, then the practice of natural matters are not of any benefit. Though he is speaking of food and days to emphasize the break from the law. The concept that is carried over in his teaching is applicable to the treatment of the bread and wine. Why do we elevate bread and wine which are natural and decay to have any spiritual effect in the handling and eating of which serves the flesh? The point being, do not let anyone one deceive you in venerating the natural, “things that decay,” to have any spiritual significance, which is a product of false worship and humility.

In the days of Jesus they asked, “How is this man able to give us His flesh to eat?” John 6:52 Two thousands years later and we are still asking the same question. The Lord says, “It is the Spirit giving life; the flesh profits nothing.” [vs.63] Yet we seek out means to eat His flesh, in the flesh so that we may to live in the Spirit. The Spirit is of faith, it is in believing and not works of the flesh. “The words that I speak to you are spirit and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” [vs.63-64] It is in believing in His words that we eat of Him and abide in Him.

Therefore, when we eat of the bread and drink the wine we do it in remembrance of His sacrifice for our salvation. It is an act of fellowship, “For where two or three are gathered together unto My name, there am I in their midst.” Matthew 18:20 It is the affirmation of our salvation, “And they have overcome him by reason of the blood of the Lamb, and by reason of the word of their testimony;” Revelation 12:11 It is to illustrate the reality of the truth that He is in us, by His Spirit. “The one being joined to the Lord is one spirit.” 1 Corinthians 5:17

Doctrine of Transformation.

The terms transubstantiation and consubstantiation are used to refer to the conversion of the bread and wine into the real presences of the body and blood of Christ. A transformation is claimed yet not in the natural, as the Lord made the water wine. Otherwise, after the consecration the officiator ought to be holding flesh dripped in blood. Then the transformation inferred must be in the spirit, there are no other realities [there is no escaping this assumption.] It is claimed the bread and the wine are only in appearance, to the true presence. To this, one of God’s generals asked, “Then consecrate part of the bread and not the other and see which part does not decay. Since it is written, ”Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see decay.” Psalm 16:10

It is obvious no transformation takes place in the natural. Then to say the bread remains bread in Appearance, in characteristics, and is subject to the law of nature so will decay yet it is the real body of Christ, is to deceive, it is to claim water into wine where no miracle has taken place. The issue then is in mixing flesh and spirit. Then we have made flesh to be spirit by the solemnity of our prayer, which We can NOT do.

The Lord said, what is flesh is flesh and what is spirit is spirit, the natural does not become spiritual. So the bread and wine which are natural by NO means become spiritual. By No means, it is against the word of God. Not even we who have the first fruit of the Spirit in us convert our mortal body to be spiritual. The last trumpet has not sounded, death is not defeated therefore the natural remains natural, the mortal remains mortal, the perishable remains perishable and the bread bread and the wine wine.

Jesus Himself says to His disciples, “And having taken the cup, having given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many. Truly I say to you that never will I drink of the fruit of the vine again, until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God.” Mark 14:23-25 Jesus did not convert the bread and wine in the natural, nor in spirit since after saying, “this My blood of the covenant,” He says “never will I drink of the fruit of the vine again, until that day.” So the wine does not become blood, in heaven nor the bread flesh. The fact that He Himself takes part in the ceremony should give light to His purpose. Jesus did not eat His own flesh nor drink His own blood, then it is only in the remembrance of His suffering and in fellowship we eat the bread and wine.

“And He said to them, “With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I say to you that never again will I eat thereof, until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” Luke 20:16

We are no longer flesh but are spirits, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away; behold, the new has come into being.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 Then if this supposed conversion is not in spirit then there is no benefit from the bread and wine. Because we are spirits, and what we need is spiritual food and drink. We have to eat on that, which came down from heaven and that is the word of God. 

“Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, having been fully equipped toward every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17

There is no escaping this, if we say it is in the natural, then it is pointless, even an offence since we sacrifice Christ afresh. If we say it is in the spirit, then we have made flesh to be spirit, the works of our own hands to have spiritual significance. It is an offering of Cain. Therefore, if no change takes place in the natural or in the spiritual then there is no transformation, only the act of remembrance remains through the symbolism of the bread and wine.

The Corinthians Offence.

We say the Corinthians were suffering because they did not venerate the bread and wine. “For the one eating and drinking not discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. Because of this, many are weak and sick among you, and many are fallen asleep.” 1 Corinthians 11:29-30

No, the purpose Paul teaches this is on the account of fellowship: but Corinthians had made it all about Eating and Drinking. They ate because they were hungry and drank to be drunk. So he says “What! Have you no houses in which to eat and to drink? Or do you despise the church of God and put to shame those having nothing?” [Vs. 22] He rebukes them for showing no regard to their fellow brothers and sisters. They came together to share in the Lord’s table [to eat in His presences] but missed the point.

So he says at the end of his admonishment, “So then, my brothers, coming together in order to eat, wait for one another. If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that you might not come together for judgment; 1 Corinthians 11:33-34 The judgment is the fact that they did not wait for one another, they did not discern the body of Christ of which they are all a part of. We might have made the breaking of bread a ceremonial act, of sharing a piece of cracker and spoonful of wine for sake of convenience and practicality. But when it says in Acts, “they broke bread together,” it meant they shared their food together in fellowship with one another to the honour of the Lord, “in one accord.”

The thing is those who seek to lift the bread and wine to the position of idolatrise veneration are the ones who are most comparable to the Corinthians. Because they also have made it all about the eating and drinking at the expense of the word, faith and fellowship. Truly if the bread and wine become His flesh and blood, the manner we eat it does not make a difference. The word of God, the gospel of Christ preached in brothels will save just as much as the one preached in the most pristine lofty palace.

An antibiotics is able to do its work whether we take it in bed carelessly or if we take it standing before the medicine cabinet admiring the carvings on the pill. Both will do the same work, because what matters is taking the pill. But if it is placebo, then faith has everything to do with it. But by making it about the elements conversion, the focus has become the eating and drinking, a fleshly exercise for the justification in the spirit. A lifeless manmade object is claimed to be transformed into the eternal body of the Lord, to be able to impart life to the one who eats it. This is the greatest offense of all, Christ is the Rock that is cut without hands.

No Justification by Natural Means.

Jesus washed the feet of Judas, and says, “The one having been bathed has no need to wash, except the feet, but is wholly clean. And you all are clean, but not all.” John 13:10 The physical act of Jesus washing Judas with water, did not cleanse him. Jesus shared with him His bread and said, “I speak not about all of you. I know whom I chose; but it is that the Scripture may be fulfilled: ‘The one eating My bread has lifted up his heel against Me’.” [vs.18] Jesus gave him the bread from His own hand, “It is he to whom I will dip the morsel and will give him.” [vs.26] Yet in all these, Judas was not saved.

But later He would say to His disciples, “Already you are clean by reason of the word that I have spoken to you.” John 15:3 Then Judas lacked the one thing that is necessary, that is the word of the Lord found no place in him. The Lord said to the multitude who ate from His hand, “Do not work for the food that is perishing, but for the food enduring unto eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you;” John 6:27 He says this even though, He gave them the bread and the fish. There is no justification through natural means, only through faith in Him.

The Lord said, “The man shall live not by bread alone, but by every word coming out of the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4 Two things are necessary to live, bread that feeds the body and the word that feeds the soul. Jesus is the Word of God, that proceeds forth from Him, He is the bread of life. It is whoever believes in Him and not whoever eats Him shall live. When we eat food we feed our body which perishes but when we confess Him and testify of His works we build up the spirit and soul of one another.

Therefore we do not honour Christ by making the bread and wine to be something it is not. Rather we take away from His purpose, we dress up and take away meaning. We make flesh to be the focus and miss the word of God. We miss out on fellowship and sharing of testimony of Jesus with one another. The food is to be a catalyst for us to share Christ with one another. It is Communion He is after. 

We had missed it; when we got together after service for coffee and cake with one another and discuss the service and the word of God. And when we shared the burden of our life with one another that was the Lord’s table, that was communion, there He was with us in the eating and drinking and we did not even know it. 

“And they constrained Him, saying, “Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and now the day has declined.” And He entered in to abide with them. And it came to pass in His reclining with them, having taken the bread, He blessed it; and having broken it, He began giving it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew Him. And He being seen, vanished from them.” Luke 24:29-31

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