The Memorial as Abiding Presence

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Yahweh has testified through His apostles and prophets that the Law of Moses was spiritual (Romans 7:14), being a shadow of the true image, which is Christ (Colossians 2:16-17) (Hebrews 8:4-5) (Hebrews 10:1). In this way, we can use the Law to help us discern the spiritual truths being obscured, that are brought out through the holy Son of God, Christ Jesus the Lord.

Although known since the beginning of creation, to Adam and Eve, Yahweh gave His Name once more to His servant Moses, to be shared with the children of Israel. As He was questioned about Who Moses should say had sent him, and what was His Name, God replied thus:

15God said moreover to Moses, “You shall tell the children of Israel this, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all generations. Exodus 3:15

This Name, which had been known to their fathers, was now set down as God's Memorial to all generations, His Name for eternity.

As He continued to deal with the nation of Israel, He and His prophets would repeatedly refer to His presence as His Name being present. The desecration of the Temple was so much so because He said, "in Jerusalem shall My Name be forever." Thus, the people there were promised that their God, Yahweh, would always be present with them. God's Memorial was to be His presence among His people.

This corresponds directly with the Memorial given in the New Covenant to God's people, that of the Lord's Supper. Lord Jesus told His disciples to "do this for the remembrance of Me." That word translated "remembrance" is from the same root word as the one used in the ancient Greek translations of the Hebrew scriptures translated "memorial.." This Greek root word from which they both come means "to abide," which is seen in the article about the Remembrance of Jesus.

As the presence of Yahweh remained in Israel because His Name had been called upon the city and especially the Temple, so does the presence of Yahweh remain in the Assembly because we participate in the Supper that His Son left for us.

Christ is present with us in the Supper just as Yahweh was present through His Name in the Temple. It is this idea of Memorial that enables us to enter into that intimate experience of the personal presence of God.

Even more so, the Greek word used in the New Covenant for this "Memorial of [Jesus]" is intensified by the prefix, giving it a sense of repetition. Whereas God's Name was called once upon the City and Temple dedicated unto His Name, this Memorial of the Lord's Supper is often repeated as Jesus revealed to Paul, "as often as you eat this Bread and drink this Cup..."

We are guaranteed the presence of God in this New Covenant in many ways, including through His Spirit which He promised to give those who ask. But there is only one thing called Jesus' Memorial, and that is His Holy Supper.

Just as the Name of Yahweh was the Memorial for Israel, both a reminder of Who their God was, and that He was present in their midst in Jerusalem, so is the Body and Blood of Christ present in the Bread and Cup of His Supper the Memorial for His Body, the Assembly. He reminds of Who He is (the Son of God and Man) and what He does (gives Himself freely and completely to redeem the lost), and He is present with us as often as we eat and drink according to this blessed and powerful memorial. HalleluYah, for our God is love and He abides with us!

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The Good Message

As you read this site, you will hopefully come to know Yahweh more fully.

But all of this continuing knowledge is useless unless and until you come into union with Him. I use the word union because it is truly a marriage. It is that deep connection we all seek, for which we most often look in other people. However, the truth is that our hearts will only be fulfilled when we enter that union in fullness with the One Who made us.

This is the grace of God, that He has not stayed distant for us only to worship as Creator. But He has come unto us, even become one of us—in His Son, Christ Jesus—in order to share an intimate union with us. He desires such closeness that it truly will envelope our entire life, transforming us into something new and wonderful.

You may have already entered this union with Him and only seek to know Him better through reading here. But if you have not, as you do read, let this Gospel sink into your heart as you read it now.

God loves you, and has cast your sins into the sea. He has sent His only Son as the Savior of the world—that includes you.

That Son, Jesus Christ, was born as a man through a virgin who had given her life to Yahweh; He lived without sin, reflected the glory of His Father, God, in all His words and deeds, and was persecuted even unto death because of it.

His death upon a cross was the powerful explosion that separated you from your life of death. It remains for you, now, to enter into that death with Him. As you die to the one you are now, a person separated from God from your many sins, you will be born anew, with a nature predisposed to live rightly. This gift is free to you, with nothing you can do to earn it. It is the mercy of God to offer it to you, as He loves you so much! All you must do is receive it by trusting Him to have delivered you. Simply place your life in His hands and embrace the freedom that came through that death on the cross.

The Gospel is that Jesus did not remain dead, but rose again on the third day after His crucifixion! Death could not hold Him, as He was without sin. And so death will not be able to hold you, as you identify with Him fully through your trust in Him. Let go of yourself and confess Him as Lord of your life. The power of His death and resurrection will work in you all that your Creator has destined for you. You will truly enter a new life and experience that intimate union you have been seeking all of your life.

So ponder these words as you read here of this great God—Yahweh—and all that He has revealed to His creation. Let His Spirit testify to your heart that these words are true, that God is Love, and that He sent His Son so that you might receive the life that is unbound by time and space. As you feel that witness in your heart, simply believe and receive what He is offering to you, even now, and begin your new life as a child of God.

Please write to me and let me know when you take this step, as I will be your brother in Christ—we will be one in Him!