We take Communion very ritualistically, but why? Why does it matter if we take the bread before the wine? If we’re running a race, don’t we need liquid before we need food? What was Jesus explaining to us during the Last Supper? Join ArieRashelle as she searches through Scripture to find an answer to these questions.
Luke 2:19-20 Luke 5:37-38 John 3:3
Communion: Why The Bread Before The Wine?
Jesus was very specific in leading the first communion during the Last Supper. He gave the bread before He gave the wine. Paul brings to remembrance this exact event, explaining that we are now declaring the LROD’s death until He returns.
26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
Matthew 26:26-29
23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when He was betrayed took bread, 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also He took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
As Christians, we take communion as a ritual, not really understanding the purpose and significance of the bread and the wine. We understand it represents Jesus’ body and His blood, but do we understand the why? Join us as we discuss the meaning of the eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Christ Jesus.
Matthew 26:27-28 Leviticus 17:11 Ephesians 2:4-5 Matthew 15:16-17 Matthew 4:4
Communion: Why The Flesh & The Blood?
Communion is the symbolic ritual of eating bread and drinking wine (or grape juice) in remembrance of Christ. Jesus explained the necessity for communion to the Jews before the Last Supper even took place.
“50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.”
The Angel of The LORD (AKA The Angel of God) is a mysterious and frightening being in the Old Testament. Is he a regular angel? Is he a special angel? Is he an angel at all? What is he? If he is a special angel, then what are angels? Is he a member of the Trinity? Is he a false god? Join ArieRashelle as she strives to answer these questions in our video The Angel of The LORD.
7 The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” 9 The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” 11 And the angel of the Lord said to her,
“Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has listened to your affliction. 12 He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”
13 So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.”
Genesis 16:7-13
1 Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.
3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” 4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
Exodus 3:1-6
The Summary
Just to clarify, we believe that the Angel of The LORD is Jesus because of the way people react to Him, He accepted worship, and both of their names are Wonderful. The reason these things are important is because these are all attributes unique to God. We believe that The Trinity is made up of three separate beings (Yahweh, Jesus, and The Holy Spirit) that make up one being, God. We believe that the Angel of The LORD is another name for Jesus, as is, The Christ, The Son of God, Prince of Peace, The Word of The LORD, and more.
Is the Holy Spirit really God? Is the Holy Spirit even a person? Does the Holy Spirit have His own thoughts? How do we know it’s not just the manifestation of The Father’s presence? Join ArieRashelle in the final video, The Spirit, of our three-part series, The Trinity, as she explains who the Holy Spirit is and what His role is in the Trinity.
Psalms 51:11 Luke 1:19 Hebrews 9:24 John 16:7 2 Timothy 1:14 Matthew 28:19 Matthew 3:11 Mark 3:28-29 Jude 1:8-10 John 3:5-6 Romans 8:26 1 Samuel 10:10 1 Samuel 10:12 Luke 1:67 1 Corinthians 12:1 Acts 1:8 Romans 15:13 John 1:32 Luke 24:29 2 Kings 4:18-37 2 Kings 2:19-22
The Holy Spirit’s Role In The Trinity:
We explained the Trinity as being a body: The Father as the brain, directing the arms and legs, which is Jesus, which means the Holy Spirit makes up the blood, veins, nerves that connect the Father and the Son. For instance, in the video above, we explained that Jesus could not begin His work on Earth until He was baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit.
32 And John (John the Baptist) bore witness: ‘I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on Him.’
1 John 1:32
Therefore, the Holy Spirit is the one who gives out the Spiritual Gifts.
When Jesus was explaining who the Holy Spirit is to His disciples, He explained that He would bring conviction to the World.
8 And when He comes, He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
John 16:8-11
So, we can see that it’s the Holy Spirit’s role to be our conscience. Jesus never said that it was just the Church that He would do this for, but the world, which means that the world has no excuse for the Spirit has personally convicted everyone of sin, righteousness, and judgment.
Fun Fact:
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Genesis 1:1-2
Moses tells us that God (Elohim) created the heaven and the earth, but not the specific God-Head being because it took all three of them to create. So, the first God-Head being mentioned is the Holy Spirit.
How can Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Father all be God, if there is only one God? So is Jesus really God? Wasn’t Jesus born from a human woman? Didn’t He have an Earthly Father? How can we be sure that there is even a Trinity? Does the Bible ever actually say there is such a thing as the Trinity? Join ArieRashelle as she explains how Jesus fits into the Trinity through Scripture in this second video, The Son, of our three-part series, The Trinity.
John 10:30 John 1:1-5 John 1:14 Matthew 3:16-17 2 Peter 1:17 Isaiah 42:8 Isaiah 48:11 John 8:54 John 17:1 Isaiah 43:11 Hosea 13:4 Titus 3:4-7 Acts 5:30-31 Isaiah 44:6 Isaiah 48:12 Revelation 1:17-18 Revelation 2:8 Revelation 22:12-13 Exodus 7:14 John 8:58 John 1:1-2 1 Timothy 2:5-6 Hebrews 4:14 Hebrews 5:9-10 Hebrews 7:26-27 John 14:6 John 16:23 John 8:34 1 John 2:1 Romans 5:18-19 1 Corinthians 15:21 Hebrews 10:4-11 Galatians 5:1 Romans 6:6-7 1 Corinthians 10:13 James 4:7 John 15:15 Luke 7:34 Philippians 2:5-7 John 14:14 Hebrews 2:11 Matthew 12:49 Proverbs 17:17
The Trinity: The Son
Jesus’ Role in the Trinity as the Son
We truly didn’t get into Jesus’s role in the video, in fear of it being too long. One of Jesus’s primary roles, as being the Word of God, is fulfilling what The Father says. We see this throughout Scripture from Old Testament to New Testament. In our last video we explained that Yahweh, The Father, makes the plans and leads the Head of the Trinity. So then can we say Yahweh is more powerful or important than Jesus? No, it doesn’t. Because they balance each other.
Each member of the Trinity has a specific role to play. The Father plans, directs, and leads the Trinity. The Son fulfills the plans of the Father. Think of The Trinity as a body. The Father is the head, and the Son is the body. The body does as the head commands. The head is not more important than the body, and the body not more important than the head, for neither can be without the other; instead they complement each other.
For example,
19 So Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.’
John 5:19
28 So Jesus said to them, ‘When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. 29 And He who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.’
John 8:28-29
Jesus follows the lead of The Father not because He is weaker, not because He is less of God, but because He humbles Himself.
Paul explains it like this:
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Philippians 2:5-8
So why would Jesus do this? If we keep reading, Paul tells us.
9 Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:9-11
So Jesus did this to glorify His Father. He took the sin, punishment, debt, and death that we could not bear so that we could have life and life more abundantly. And in doing this the Father glorified the Son, bestowing upon Him the name above all names.
Jesus is also the Righteous Judge. As any good society, there are laws. So if there are laws, there would need to be someone who decides whether the laws have been kept. Once the judge has spoken, someone must either reward or punish those whom the judge has judged.
We see this plainly when Jesus said,
21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He will. 22 For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
John 5:21-23
So the Father has given Jesus the task of being a righteous judge, so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. The Father did this to make sure that all saw that the Son was honored as God, to ensure we saw that they are equal. Jesus explains when and whom He will judge.
31 When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 Before Him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And He will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.
Matthew 25:31-33
So at the final judgment, we will all stand before Jesus as He sits on His throne. He will separate us according to how we lived our lives. Jesus tells us that the Father carries out His righteous judgments.
1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
John 15:1-2
So Jesus judges and then the Father brings forth the judgment itself, whether it be a reward or a punishment.
The Trinity can be a confusing idea, yet an important one. It’s the core belief of all Christians. We believe God is made up of three separate entities: The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. We believe in the Godhead, but do we understand what that means? Is it possible to explain The Trinity to non-believers? Can we even explain it to each other?
Who is the Father? Is He Yahweh? Is Yahweh the same as Allah? Who is Jehovah? ArieRashelle takes on the challenge to explain the Trinity by proving each member’s God status starting with The Father in this three-part series.
Genesis 1:1 Genesis 1:26-27 Deuteronomy 6:4 John 1:1-2 John 10:30 Philippians 2:5-6 Jeremiah 1:12 Isaiah 55:10-11 Psalms 110:1 Jeremiah 23:5-6 Genesis 14:18-20 Exodus 6:7 Genesis 15:2 Genesis 17:1-2 Exodus 6:3 Exodus 17:5 Psalms 60:4-5 Genesis 22:14 Matthew 7:7-11 Philippians 4:19 Jeremiah 29:11 Judges 6:24 1 John 4:17 Micah 7:18-19 John 5:19 John 14:26 Qu’ran 25:1-3 Qu’ran 112 Matthew 2:14-15 Hosea 11:1 Matthew 3:17 John 3:16 Qu’ran 3:59-62
The Trinity: The Father
God The Father
Within the Trinity, there is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20
8 See that there be no one who shall lead *you* away as a prey through philosophy and vain deceit, according to the teaching of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in Him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and ye are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and authority, 11 in whom also ye have been circumcised with circumcision not done by hand, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of the Christ; 12 buried with Him in baptism, in which ye have been also raised with [Him] through faith of the working of God who raised Him from among the dead.
Colossians 2:8-12
Some of the Father’s Roles in the Trinity
21 Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’
Matthew 7:21-22
49 For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has Himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak.
If Jesus is our Kinsman Redeemer, did He have specific requirements to fulfill? If so, did He fulfill all requirements? Why did it have to be Jesus? Could someone else have redeemed us? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he goes into detail of how Jesus fulfills every requirement to be our Kinsman Redeemer in the second video, The Fulfillment, of our two-part series, the Kinsman Redeemer.
Hebrews 9:22 Ezekiel 18:20 Romans 6:23a Romans 3:23 Leviticus 17:11 Revelation 5:1-6 Luke 4:18-19 Luke 4:21 Leviticus 25:8-13 John 1:1-5 John 1:14 Hebrews 2:16-17 Philippians 2:7-8 Luke 1:26-35 Genesis 3:15 Isaiah 7:14 1 John 2:2-3 John 10:17-18 Titus 2:14 Hebrews 10:12 Mark 10:45 John 19:10-11 John 1:12 John 19:30 John 3:16 Ephesians 1:7 1 Peter 1:18-19 Romans 6:23b John 1:12 1 John 1:9
More on The Fulfillment of The Kinsman Redeemer
31 Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
Jeremiah 31:31-34
11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
15 Therefore He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. 16 For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established.
Hebrews 9:11-16
19 And He took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”
Jesus is our Kinsman Redeemer, but do we understand what that means? Do we know where it comes from or why it’s even important? Is it even important? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he goes into detail on the purpose of Jesus being our Kinsman Redeemer in the first video, The Jesus Piece, of our two-part series, the Kinsman Redeemer.
3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, He said,
“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; 6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. 7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’”
8 When He said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), 9 then He added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second.
Hebrews 10:3-9
Why Jesus had to come as a man in order to save us?
21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
We know we need the Blood of Jesus, but what does that mean exactly? Why do we need the blood? What does the blood do for us? Can we be saved without the blood? Join ArieRashelle as she dissects the Bible to find the answers to all of these questions in our video, The Blood of Jesus.
7 But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
1 John 1:7
11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
Jesus said you can’t put new wine in old wineskins. But what was He talking about? What was Jesus trying to tell John’s Disciples? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he explains the message behind New Wineskins.
Hebrews 8:6-13 Matthew 11:10 2 Corinthians 3:14 Exodus 13:17 Matthew 19:3-5
Verses on New Wineskins
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
2 Corinthians 5:17
15 For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. 16 And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.
Galatians 6:15-16
14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
Ephesians 2:14-16
22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:22-24
9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.
