A call to have Communion with the Risen Christ in Daily Life


Communion with the Risen Christ in Daily Life

  • The post resurrection kerygma invites the church to celebrate the continuing presence of risen Christ in our day-to-day-life.
  • We are called to have communion with the risen Christ in our daily life.
  • What does it mean to have communion with the risen Christ?
  • The word Communion literally means "sharing."
  • Having communion with the risen Christ means; participating in the fellowship of the risen Lord.
  • communion is an act of manifesting a right relationship with God.
  • It reminds us to reinstate our covenantal relationship with God.
  • Usually the Lord's Supper is called communion (1 Corinth 10:16, 1 Corinth 10:17 ), because in it there is fellowship between Christ and his disciples, and of the disciples with others.
  • When we say communion it indicates an invisible unity between God and us.
  • It is a kind of bond, attachment with our Master.    
  • Communion also implies the state of intimacy with God, exhibiting a close connectivity with him in day today life.
  • Some of the clearest and richest expressions of fellowship are found in the Gospels.  
  • In fact, the most familiar and forcible expressions of the idea of communion is found in the parable of the Vine and the Branches in John 15.
  • Jesus claims that he is the true wine we are the branches. It indicates the spiritual union between God and us.
  • The same meaning is found in the analogy of the Body and its Members in Rom 12:5; and 1 Corinthians 12.
  • This reminds our obligation to establish communion with the risen Christ.
Effects of Communion with the risen Christ
  • Based on the gospel Luke 24:13-33, the effects of Communion with the risen Christ can be understood in three different ways.
  • On the road to Emmaus three things happened in the life of disciples.
  • They give us three different insights with regard to having communion with the risen Lord.

1.    Abiding Experience   
2.    Enlightening Experience
3.    Burning Experience  


1. Abiding Experience (Lk. 24:28-29) 

  • On the day of resurrection, two of his disciples were going to a village called Emmaus, talking with each other about all those things that had happened.
  • While they were walking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
  • However, their experience with the risen Lord is something remarkable, as recorded in Luke 24:13-33.
  • As they walked along the road they experienced Christ as their companion.
  • At some point they felt the need to care for Jesus and to have fellowship with him.
  • So, they urged him strongly saying that “stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.”
  • In King James Version it is written “They constrained Him.”
  • They constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening and the night is far spent."
  • We read in II Corinthians 5:14, "The love of Christ constrains us," that is, the love of Christ gets hold of us and it holds us tightly and strongly.
  • So the disciples compelled him to be with them that evening. Jesus considered their request.
  • He went in to stay with them and when he was at the table, he took bread, broke it and gave it to them.
  • This act of sharing is the source communion.
  • By inviting Jesus into their house the disciples thought that Jesus would be their guest but he became their host.
  • Staying with the risen Christ is the privilege of every believer as it indicates the abiding presence of God with us.
  • Often the Scriptures use that word "abide" to express the gracious, wonderful, living fellowship between God and His people.
  • "Abide" does not mean simply to be in the same place. To abide in spiritual union is something that can only be created by God in Christ.
  • For us to abide in God is to be brought to true faith in God. It is to respect, and to stand in obedience before God.
  • It is to delight in God. It is something that is enduring. It is not a temporary event.
  • The Lord said: "Abide in me and me in you." This is an invitation for the closer fellowship with God.

2. Enlightening Experience (Lk. 24:30-31) 

  • When Christ was at the table with the disciples, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them.
  • Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.
  • Why was it difficult for the disciples to recognize the risen Lord?
  • They were so disturbed when they saw him hanging on the Cross that they forgot his teaching, did not look for his resurrection, and failed to keep his promises in mind.
  • Their eyes were obstructed, that they could not recognize him until the breaking of the bread. 
  • They recognized him only after Jesus blessed the bread, broke it and gave it to them.
  • They instantly remembered how Jesus has been interpreting the Scriptures on the death and resurrection of him.
  • Through sharing communion, their eyes were opened. They experienced a great enlightenment.
  • They came to reality, believing in the resurrection of Christ.
  • For us God's communion is manifested through participating in the Lord's Supper (Luke 24:13-33)
  • This reminds us of the significant revelation of God's presence through our participation in the Lord's Supper.
  • And also it is important for us to note that God's communion is manifested through sharing in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
  • That’s what we recite before taking part in the Holy Communion.
  • The power of resurrection is experienced only if we share in the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ. 
  • Today, the Holy Communion manifests our present relationship with the risen Christ.
  • Communion brings everyone together as one body, celebrating greater unity with God.
  • The Lord’s Supper speaks of our sharing with Jesus in several ways.
  • We share in his crucifixion (Galatians 2:20; Colossians 2:20), in his death (Romans 6:4), in his resurrection (Ephesians 2:6; Colossians 2:13; 3:1) and in his life (Galatians 2:20).
  • Our lives are in him, and he is in us.
  • The Lord’s Supper pictures this spiritual reality called enlightenment.
                                                                                                                                               
3. Burning Experience (Lk. 24: 32)
  • After Jesus vanished from them the disciples asked each other, “were not our hearts burning within us” while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?
  • They had a feeling of fire in their heart, something bothering.  They said “Did Not Our Heart Burn within us?”
  • In fact, the two disciples were in an unbelieving frame of mind, having abandoned hope in Jesus, and were not at all seeking a spiritual experience or witness to anything.
  • The “burning” in their heart was an emotional reaction to their unique situation: they were hearing Jesus speak to them, and something inside them felt stirred by him.
  • Their encounter with the risen Lord has brought a heart burning experience.
  • Now having encountered Christ as their Companion in the way, as the Communicator who made the Word real and who opened their understanding to fellowship, their hearts were kindled, indeed ignited into hope, joy, happiness, and commitment to the living Savior.
  • In the Scripture, God's presence is often associated with fire.
  • A "Burning Heart" is ignited by the Scriptures, it is intensified by our communion with Him, and it will "inspire" us to become active.
  • What convinced them was that God finally allowed them to recognize Jesus—someone they had already known personally.
  • Their “testimony” was to what they had seen with their own eyes, that Jesus had risen from the dead.
  • Our fellowship with the risen Christ should cause change in our heart. 
  • We need to have our Hearts on Fire for God!
  • What is a "Burning Heart"? It is our response to the word of God and the situations around us.
  • Do we allow Him to daily open the Scriptures to us?
  • The real communion takes place when you read the scripture and respond to it in faith.

The Lord Jesus is our faithful companion in the road of our daily lives and He wants to come alongside to turn our sadness into joy and peace and give us mission with hope. Abiding in him enlightens our minds, causing fire in us to go and witness for the risen Lord. May our risen Christ grant us strength to have a constant communion with him!























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