Grace Bible Church - Communion Podcast

The post Communion Meditation: May 17 2026 appeared first on Grace Bible Church.

Opening Prayer Jesus, thank you for the cross. Be honored as we remember you in your sacrifice for us now in communion. In Jesus’ name, amen. The Unfathomable Riches of Christ Each week at Grace Bible Church, we take the Lord’s Supper. We take the bread and the cup just as Jesus commanded us the night before he died. These are touchable, tastable, visible reminders of the reality of our Savior Jesus, who gave himself for us. We’re going to use the Bible. We’re going to use God’s Word to remember, to prep our hearts. For those who do have a Bible, open it to the passage that we just read. We’re going to look only at Ephesians 3:8. Paul begins. He says: “To me, the very least of all the saints, this grace was given.” This is Paul speaking. He was once a persecutor of the church, once a violent enemy of Christians, even approving of their deaths. That’s why he calls himself the least. And when Jesus confronted Paul on the road to Damascus, he didn’t merely say, “Why are you persecuting my people?” He said, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Paul never got over that. He never got over the mercy. He never got over the wonder that Jesus would save him and then give him the grace of preaching the gospel. And we must never get over the fact that God extended his mercy to you and to me. It was never because we deserved it. We all were God’s enemies and would have been there cheering on, even committing the crucifixion of our Savior. And then look what Paul goes on to say in Ephesians 3:8. He says: “To me, the least of all the saints was given this grace, to proclaim the good news of the unfathomable riches of Christ to the Gentiles.” Paul says that he was proclaiming the good news. He was proclaiming the gospel of the unfathomable riches of Christ. I love that Paul describes the riches as unfathomable, unsearchable. We could say they’re inexhaustible. They’re without bottom. They’re beyond our ability to measure or comprehend. And that phrase, the good news that he was preaching, that’s what we mean when we say the gospel. We use that word a lot around here: the gospel. We say the good news as shorthand. What’s it shorthand for? Remember this verse for the rest of your life when you hear gospel and say, “Oh yeah, it’s the good news of unfathomable riches in Christ.” The gospel is not a bare minimum message that gets you forgiven and gets you out of hell, as wonderful as that is. The gospel, this good news, brings sinners saved by grace through faith into the immeasurable riches of Christ. We are richly provided for. If you have riches, you have all that you need. You have no lack. And if we think rightly, we actually know that in Christ, we have not only all that we need, but all that we would ever truly want. We will never exhaust these riches. We won’t reach the end of them. You know what? When we are in heaven for eternity, we will never be bored with Christ. Paul already said in Ephesians 2:7 that when God saved us, he saved us so that in the ages to come, he might show us what? The surpassing riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. This means that these riches do not run out, neither in this life nor in the life to come. God’s going to spend the coming ages showing us the surpassing riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Think of it. In a thousand years, that’s a long time. In a thousand years, they’re no closer to being exhausted. In a million years, we’re just getting started. In a hundred million billion years, still enjoying and not yet getting to the bottom of these riches. What Is Ours in Christ So listen to what’s ours in him in the book of Ephesians. I just did a survey of the book to start getting help to shepherd my heart, so I’ll shepherd your heart. What are these riches? This is just in one book, and most of what I share is from Ephesians. I’m just going to start rattling it off. Just sit back and receive. If you’ve read the book of Ephesians, you’re going to know some of this. But I just want you to be overwhelmed with these unfathomable riches: that before the foundation of the world, the Father chose us in Christ, predestined us for adoption, lavished his grace on us in the Beloved, and blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. In Christ, we have redemption through his blood, forgiveness of trespasses, justification by his blood, peace with God, no condemnation, the very righteousness of God counted to us. Once we were dead, far off, strangers, aliens, enemies. Now we’re alive with Christ, brought near by his blood, fellow citizens, members of the household of God, beloved children, fellow heirs, members of one body, partakers of the promise. These are not just theological truths, Christian. These are yours in Christ if you’ve been saved by grace. Christ himself is our peace. He’s broken down the dividing wall, made one new man of Jew and Gentile, and reconciled us to God through the cross. Through him, we have access to the Father in one Spirit. We are sealed by the promised Holy Spirit, who is the pledge of our inheritance, and Christ dwells in our hearts through faith. We have resurrection power at work in us. We are seated with Christ in the heavenly places. We have him as head over all things for the church, exalted over every rule, authority, power, and dominion. We are his workmanship, being built into a spiritual dwelling for God by the Spirit, strengthened through the Spirit in the inner man, rooted and grounded in love, knowing the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, and being built up into the fullness of God. We are being grown up into Christ, nourished, cherished by Christ, sanctified, cleansed by his word, prepared as his bride without spot or wrinkle. Elsewhere, God’s Word says we have a future. We have a resurrection, glorification, an inheritance kept for us, the promise of being forever with the Lord, beholding his face. This is the gospel. In Christ We Get God But here’s what we must not miss. These riches are not detached from Christ. They are not a pile of gifts handed to us while Christ stands off at a distance. The blessings are in Christ, and the blessings of Christ include not only what he gives us, all of those riches, but best of all, we get God himself. This is what Paul means when he says in Philippians, “I count all things loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord.” In Christ we get Christ. In Christ we get God. The greatest treasure of the gospel, the greatest riches, is that through Christ, God himself is provided to the believer. We have bold access to the Father, it says right here in this context, through one Spirit. Unfathomable, immeasurable, unsearchable. What kindness provided by Jesus. Every blessing I just named and more, every spiritual treasure, every eternal riches, all of them came through one great exchange. The Great Exchange Listen to 2 Corinthians 5:21, and this is what I want us to have in mind as we take the bread and juice: “God made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” He took what’s ours, we get what’s his. Right? He took our sin, we get his righteousness. He took our death, we get his life. He took our curse, we get blessing. He took our poverty, we get the unfathomable riches in Christ. At the cross, the Son bore the judgment and God-forsakenness that our sin deserved. Think of him. Just hours after he gave us this bread and juice to remember, he hung there and cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” So that all who are in him would never be forsaken, but be united to Christ, have full access to the Father. Bold access. The bread and the cup are reminders for us of this good news, this good news that Jesus did all that was necessary to get us these blessings. It’s done. Paid in full. No more debt I owe. Thank you, Jesus. Invitation to the Table So, believer, before you take the bread, examine yourself. Think: where have you been treasuring lesser things in view of these surpassing riches? In the light of the glory of the gospel in the face of Jesus Christ, these lesser things that we get distracted by, money, success, power, things that you might be willing to turn to instead of Christ, they become seen for what they are. If you’ve fallen for those things, been distracted by them, confess that. Turn now. Take the bread and juice. But if you’re not a believer, if you haven’t turned from yourself to Christ in repentance and faith, let the bread and juice pass when it comes to you. We’re glad you’re here, but this is for those who are Jesus’. But hear me. Christ himself and all the riches that are in the gospel, they’re offered freely to you, received only through Jesus by faith. This exchange, sin for righteousness, death for life, poverty for riches, it’s for any who will come. So talk to me after the service or anyone around you. Come up to the front after; there are people who will pray with you. But please don’t leave here today still separated from Christ and the riches he offers you in the gospel, separated from him. Receive it. Believe. Trust in him. But if you won’t, let the bread and juice pass. Men, please serve us. Believer, take, eat, take, drink. Remember the body given, the blood shed. Remember the great exchange and the unfathomable riches of Christ proclaimed in the gospel, purchased by Christ’s body and blood. And know that you and I will not tire in all of eternity. We will never get tired of receiving, enjoying, searching out the unfathomable riches that are ours in Christ. 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