1. The Eucharist brings us closer to Christ. We are united to Christ, and He is united to us. We feed on Him, and we receive His Life in the eating.
2. The Eucharist is the Tree of Life. Christ, being the Tree of Life, is the new Tree of Life, to replace the one in the Garden. Adam and Eve had their lives preserved by eating from the Tree, and we receive spiritual life through feeding on Christ in the Eucharist.
3. The Eucharist shows the Church to be the new Garden. As Christ is the Tree of Life, so the Eucharist shows the Church to be the new Garden. When we worship at Church on a Sunday, we are entering into the Garden, and there we are strengthened by being brought closer to God.
4. The Eucharist is Manna. The Israelites were fed by manna in the wilderness. As we live in the wilderness of this world, we feed on the Manna from Heaven, Jesus Christ.
5. The Eucharist is the Lamb. The Passover lamb was to be eaten. The Eucharist is the new Passover. Christ is the Lamb. Christ conquered Pharaoh, Satan, and the demons and angels under him who had distorted God's creation. We participate in that Passover through our union with Christ. He is the Lamb and He is the source of our life, and therefore we eat Him.
6. The Eucharist brings holiness. As we participate in the power of Christ's Resurrection in the Eucharist, that power strengthens us against sin, and makes us more like Jesus Christ.
7. The Eucharist works miracles. People can be healed through the power that is in the Eucharist.
8. The Eucharist depicts the victory of Christ. The demons and angels see the Eucharist and are afraid, for Christ conquered them through the Cross and through His Resurrection, and because of that victory, they lose their power, for that Life unleashed into the world strengthens human beings against sin; and because of that strengthening, do not give power away to the demons and angels, for they are better able to resist; and through that resistance, regain the authority that was rightfully theirs. The demons and angels can no longer usurp the authority of humans over the cosmos.
9. The Eucharist marks us as being God's people. We are God's people as we all share in the same meal. It defines us as being God's people. It is a covenant ceremony; it is a covenant privilege. The Church is identified through her union with Christ, and the Eucharist is our feeding on Jesus Christ.
10. The Eucharist causes us to love others. Through eating and drinking the Body and Blood, we love God the Father more; we love Christ more; we love the Holy Spirit more; and we love one another more as brothers and sisters in the Lord. The Eucharist brings us together. It not only marks us as being God's people but it unites us as being God's people.
11. The Eucharist strengthens us for the week ahead. We go to Church to be brought closer to God; to become more holy; and to be strengthened for the week ahead. We labour for six days, and we are refreshed on the seventh. Being refreshed on the seventh, we can re-enter the world on Monday, as new creatures, who can take on the world, for we belong to Christ, and He belongs to us.
12. The Eucharist prepares us for the end of time. The Eucharist is preparation for the day when we will see Christ face to Face, and be known even as we are known. We shall see Him as He really is, just as we see Him, through a glass darkly, in the bread and wine.
