The Lord’s Supper is not a mere ritual. Nor is it empty symbolism. It’s the “Gospel made visible,” as Gerhardus Vos once said. Consider these six elements: (1) The Lord's Supper proclaims the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 11:24-25); (2) it is given for our spiritual nourishment and growth and grace (John 6:35, 57); (3) it confirms our union and communion with Christ (John 15:4); (4) it renews our thankfulness and our commitment to God (Ps. 50:14); (5) it declares our love and fellowship with one another (1 Cor. 10:17); and; (6) it points us to the Second Coming of Christ (1 Cor. 11:26). 

Let's talk about the Lord's Supper. The Bible makes it plain. It's not just a ritual. It's not empty symbolism. Rather, it's God's visible word preached to the eyes, to the ears, to the sense of taste.

Gerhardus Voss said that the Lord's Supper is the gospel made visible and he gave six elements of the Lord's Supper and I'd like to go down through them one by one. First, the Lord's Supper proclaims the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, this is my body which is given for you. This cup is the new covenant in my blood, 1st Corinthians 11, 24, and 25. Every time we come to the table we see with our eyes and we taste that the penalty of sin has been satisfied by Jesus Christ alone once for all.

Secondly, Voss said that the Lord's Supper is for spiritual nourishment and growth in grace. And that's why Jesus said, I am the bread of life. Whoever feeds on me will live. Just as the bread and the wine nourish the body, so does Christ nourish the soul. So the supper strengthens your faith.

It renews your assurance. It reminds you of the grace of God. It's just it's not simply a memorial, it is a memorial, but it is actually is a means of grace where believers are actually fed the truth of God. Vos thirdly said that the Lord's Supper confirms our union and communion with Christ. It's a little bit like a wedding ring.

It reminds you that, Hey, I'm married, I made a covenant, and it confirms the bond that we have with Christ. Voss says fourthly that the Lord's Supper renews our thankfulness and our commitment to God. We are presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice, not only to receive but also to respond with gratitude, with obedience and thanksgiving. And then fifthly, Vos says, the Lord's Supper declares our love and fellowship with one another. And when we come to the table, we're saying, we belong to one another.

Each member is confessing visually, I belong to Christ, I belong to this church, these are my people. And then sixthly, the Lord's Supper points us to the Second Coming. As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. 1st Corinthians 11 26. So the table actually stands between two comings, the first coming and the second coming, the cross and also the glorification.

The Lord's Supper makes the gospel visible to all the senses. It proclaims Christ's sacrifice for us, our nourishment by Him, our union with Him, our commitment to Him, our communion with each other, and his soon return. This is the word of God visualized for God's people in the Lord's Supper. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. Scripture applied as a production of Church and Family Life.

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