"Upon Whom The End Of The Ages Is Come"
1I consider 1 Cor 10 to be specifically sacramental. The earlier part of the chapter considers baptism, because the Eucharistic assembly is comprised of the baptized only; and remember Paul is preaching in their Sunday worship assembly via his letter / sermon.
Verse 11 is, in my reading, particularly Eucharistic. "Upon whom / to whom the end of the ages is come," The "is come" is in the perfect tense in Greek indicating the (new) state of things for those who are baptized. For those who are locationally inside of Christ. What Paul regularly terms "in Christ" (Greek: en christo)
But what of "the end of the ages"? I think this is a reference to (maybe even a name for) the Holy Communion. For every Holy Communion is an installment of the Parousia (return of Christ). It is not simply a reminder of it, or symbol of it, but an actual piece of it.
In the Eucharist Christ intervenes into the affairs of men with judgment and salvation. He judges our enemies: Satan, sin and death. He judges the system of the fallen world, the "prince of the power of the air." He visits bodily, injecting his light, his leaven to preserve the world so that all should repent; and delivers salvation to us.
But he doesn't just judge sin in general but the sin of the communicant himself. He finds it, kills it, cuts it out, removes the tumor so to speak, and replaces it with the Balm of Gilead: life and salvation.
And so each Eucharist is: "the end of the ages" come upon us. Come to us. It is our new reality as the church of God in Christ: world without end. Amen.
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Stephen Mar 19, 2019 @ 11:03 pm