Communion and the Estate Whereinto Men Fell

The 19th question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, "What is the misery of that estate whereinto men fell?"  In other words, What is the situation that man finds himself in after Adam sinned?  What are the consequences?  What is man's status and future outside of Eden?

Answer:  "All mankind, by their fall, lost communion  with God, are under His wrath and curse, and so made liable to all the miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell."

That is some pretty heavy stuff to think about, though I don't think its hard for us to believe since that is the world we find ourselves in.  we don't have to look very hard to recognize death's presence in our world, or to see misery in people's lives (or perhaps our own).  Mankind as a whole is not communing with God, and many people that claim they are in relationship with a god, are in fact worshiping idols, man-made non-gods, demons and the like.  Thus they are not in any communion with God.

In revisiting this part of the Catechism today I am struck by the part that says we "lost communion with God."  Jesus has saved us from this estate of misery indeed, some of the redemption won't be fully realized till after the death of the body, but that particular element of restoring communion with God really touched my heart today.  I think it gives us cause to really consider the Lord's Supper and our participation in it.

The reality of what communion is, not just what it reminds us of or represents, is huge!  Jesus, God the Son, invites His followers to His table, to be nourished by His provision and more importantly by His presence.  He instituted in that moment that His followers should continue to do this throughout the ages till He returned.  At the time, I'm sure the disciples didn't fully understand how significant this was.  This was God himself establishing a means of intimate communion between Him and man again.  That's why I love the term communion now, because it reminds me that the lost communion with God is being/has been restored through Christ.  Communion isn't about us doing a good job of thinking and remembering Christ's sacrifice, though it does serve to remind us of the His blood shed and body broken to redeem His creation.  If we have the perspective of needing to focus on remembering, then we're trying to do the work in communion.  But in fact Jesus did all the work at the Last Supper, and the continuation of worship at the His table is no different.  If we approach it from the perspective that He will meet us there by the Holy Spirit, then we can participate in the fullness of what communion is, communing with Jesus, with God.  How deep and vast and mysterious is the love of God who restores us to Himself and invites us to His table.  It makes me want to come to the table more regularly.

Here's one of my favorite communion songs by a band called Leeland, not sure who made the video, but the lyrics paint a beautiful picture of our dependence upon the saviour and the amazing opportunity it is to come to His table.