Relying Only on God - 2 Corinthians 1:8-11

Welcome to Eat This Bread Drink This Cup.

The communion meditation today is based on a passage of Scripture from the New Testament, 2 Corinthians 1:8-11. In this passage of Scripture, the Apostle Paul and Timothy, his brother in the Lord, experience a crisis of faith that forces them to abandon their futile human efforts and rely only on God for deliverance. Their unassailable confidence in God was underpinned by knowing He is the God who raises the dead. As we assemble to partake of the bread and drink from the cup, we remember our loving savior, Jesus, the author of our confidence, and His sacrifice for us. All Scripture quotations are from the New Living Translation (NLT) and are used with permission.

As you listen to the episode today, my hope is that you will be encouraged from the time spent meditating on what Jesus has done for you. You are a special person; the one Jesus died to save!

Transcript

Welcome to Eat This Bread Drink This Cup. The title of my communion meditation today is "Relying Only on God." I read from 2 Corinthians 1:8-11. All quotations are from the New Living Translation (NLT) and are used with permission.

8 We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. 9 In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. 10 And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us. 11 And you are helping us by praying for us. Then many people will give thanks because God has graciously answered so many prayers for our safety.

In this letter, the Apostle Paul shares how he and Timothy, his brother in the Lord, were "crushed and overwhelmed beyond their ability to endure." Their situation was so grave they were sure they were going to die. The situation was so grave they abandoned any hope of fixing it themselves and had no other choice but to rely upon the prayers of the saints and God for deliverance. They were at the end of their rope. In their situation, the God who raises the dead intervened, they were saved, and they learned a valuable lesson about relying only on God. But this is not always the case. Our recent shared experiences show that Christians are not always delivered from death in this world; nevertheless, we have an unassailable faith that we will be delivered in the next. We have faith in the God who raises the dead, and that He knows what is best for us. There is no parallel passage of Scripture that shows that Jesus experienced any crisis of faith while He was with us. On the contrary, as Luke writes (Luke 9:51), "As the time drew near for him to ascend to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem." Resolutely describes a man who intends, no matter what may come, to accomplish his mission. Even in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus asks only if there was any other way (Matthew 26:42), "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done." He did drink the cup of suffering, offering His life for us on the cross, that we might have the forgiveness of sins and eternal life through faith in Him. No matter our situation or the magnitude of our suffering or how close we are to the end of our rope, the God who raises the dead can and will save us because of Jesus. He is our proof of that. Let us pray.

Abba, Father. Today we bless and set aside this bread and the fruit of the vine in this cup to remember Your Son, Jesus. We know that the bread represents His body that was nailed to the cross, and the fruit of the vine represents His blood that He shed for us. As we pour out the wine from the cup, we are reminded of how Jesus poured out His own blood that our sins might be forgiven. Abba, Father, oh how we need You. For the small things and the big things, You are our confidence, and we rely completely on You. Thank-you for sending Jesus that we might have forgiveness of our sins and eternal life in heaven with You. As we partake of the bread and drink from the cup, we remember our loving savior, Jesus, and His suffering for us. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Today, Jesus invites you to partake of His supper. I read from Matthew 26:26-28 (NLT).

 26 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.” Let us partake of the bread.

 27 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, 28 for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many." Let us partake of the cup.

 And the assembly of believers said, "Amen!"

Until next time, from Numbers 6:24-26, "May the LORD bless you and protect you. May the LORD smile on you and be gracious to you. May the LORD show you his favor and give you his peace."

Artist's Note: If you have questions about the Lord's Supper, I invite you to visit my website, https://eatthisbreaddrinkthiscup.com, for a brief overview. The Eat This Bread Drink This Cup podcast is listed in most podcast directories, and I invite you to add my podcast to your favorites and be notified of new posts. There is a written transcript that accompanies each podcast, and you are free to use the transcript in accordance with US copyright law. My prayer is that you will benefit personally from this time with Jesus and encourage others to observe the Lord's Supper. In these trying times, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus!