1 Corinthians 11:23-34
1. Remember Who You Are
Paul reminds the Corinthians of the meal Jesus instituted on the night before His crucifixion. Jesus took the Passover meal and transformed it around Himself.
The Passover reminded Israel that God had rescued them from slavery through the blood of a lamb. Jesus now gives His people a new covenant meal, declaring that the bread is His body and the cup is His blood.
The symbolism is powerful. The Passover had pointed forward to Jesus, the true and greater Passover Lamb. His blood would accomplish the ultimate rescue—not merely from slavery to Egypt, but from slavery to sin and death.
The Lord’s Supper is therefore more than something we simply do at church. It is a repeated reminder: I belong to God. I have been rescued by God. I am loved by God.
We need to remember because we are constantly tempted to define ourselves by something else.
Our careers. Our families. Our accomplishments. Our failures. Our bank accounts. Our possessions. Our reputation. Our favorite teams. Our social standing.
But the table calls us back to the gospel.
Questions for consideration and discussion:
- What are some things you are tempted to use as the primary source of your identity or significance?
- How would your life look different this week if you intentionally remembered, throughout your day, that you are God’s beloved?
“But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
— Romans 5:8
2. Examine Yourself in Light of the Gospel
Paul doesn’t simply tell the Corinthians to remember the meal. He tells them to examine themselves.
Why?
Because they were participating in the Lord’s Supper while simultaneously treating one another in ways that contradicted everything the meal proclaimed. Their divisions, selfishness, and disregard for one another were antithetical to the gospel they were celebrating.
The Lord’s Supper forces us to ask whether our lives actually correspond with what we say we believe.
We come to the table recognizing that we are needy sinners who have been rescued by grace. We come because we need Jesus—not because we have earned our place.
And that changes the way we see other people.
The gospel says that God loved us so much that He gave His Son for us. We don’t have to manufacture our worth, compete for significance, or elevate ourselves over others. We are already loved.
That is why Paul can move from the Lord’s Supper in chapter 11 directly into his great teaching on love in chapter 13. The answer to the Corinthians’ relational mess is not simply, “Try harder to be nicer.” It is to understand and live out the love they have already received from God.
Questions for consideration and discussion:
- When you examine your relationships, where do you see impatience, envy, arrogance, self-seeking, or a tendency to keep a record of wrongs?
- How might receiving God’s love more deeply change the way you extend love to the people around you?
“Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs.”
— 1 Corinthians 13:4–5
3. Let God’s Love Become the Filter for Your Life
Our primary vision text as Beloved Church begins with a simple command: “Beloved, let us love one another.”
Why?
Because love is from God. And when we have been loved by God, that love begins to shape the way we live.
Think about a filter. If you run water through coffee grounds, what comes out the other side is coffee. What’s inside the filter determines what comes out.
We have filters for our hearts and minds, too. The question is: What is filtering our lives?
If fear is the filter, fear will shape what comes out.
If insecurity is the filter, insecurity will shape what comes out.
If pride is the filter, pride will shape what comes out.
But when we allow the love of God revealed in the gospel to become the filter through which we see ourselves, God, and others, something different begins to emerge.
We begin to live as people who know they belong, who are willing to be known, and who increasingly love others because we have been so deeply loved ourselves.
Questions for consideration and discussion:
- What tends to filter your reactions to other people—fear, pride, insecurity, resentment, self-protection, or something else?
- What would it look like this week to intentionally let God’s love shape the way you speak, respond, forgive, serve, and sacrifice?
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.”
— 1 John 4:7
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