Encounters With Christ Through the Sacraments

The other day I was participating in the Lord’s Supper and reflecting on Jesus’ death, and I got to thinking about the other sacraments and how we have encounters with Christ through them.

There are two sacraments practiced by most Christians: Baptism and Communion. Then, there are five other sacraments that some Christian denominations and traditions hold to that have historical significance in the church. We can have encounters with Christ through these sacraments because they lead us to meditate on the gospel and its result.

What is A Sacrament?

First, we have to answer the question: what is a sacrament? St. Augustine defined a sacrament as “the visible form of invisible grace.”

Merriam-Webster defines a sacrament as: “a Christian rite (such as baptism or the Eucharist) that is believed to have been ordained by Christ and that is held to be a means of divine grace or to be a sign or symbol of a spiritual reality”

In other words, these are ritual actions that (depending on your tradition of Christianity) either bestow, contain, or symbolize God’s grace.

Over time, there have come to be seven different rites recognized as sacraments by Christians. They are:

• Baptism
• Eucharist
• Confirmation
• Confession
• Anointing the Sick
• Holy Orders (Ordination)
• Marriage

Christians differ widely between traditions and denominations on what the meaning of a sacrament is and how God works through them. But there are at least two that the majority of Christians will hold: Baptism and Eucharist.

Check out this great overview of Sacraments to see more of what the various Christian traditions believe regarding the sacraments.

Now, this post is not about the number of sacraments, what they are, whether or not they are biblical, or how God works through them.

What I want to try and do instead is to see how we have encounters with Christ through these sacraments.

So, I want to spend the majority of the time on the two sacraments the majority of Christian’s affirm (Baptism and Eucharist), and then take a briefer look at the other five and see how we may encounter Christ through them.

Sacraments in the Bible

Baptism

Baptism is a sacrament that involves water in which we are united with Christ in His death and resurrection.

Jesus initiated this sacrament at the Great Commission when He said, “ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).

Paul later describes baptism as something that unites us with Christ’s death. “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:4).

Christian baptism can be traced back to John the Baptist’s baptism of repentance. So, baptism carries with it the idea of repenting of our sins.

We can go back even further into the Old Testament with the ritual purification washings found there. It was these ritual washings Jesus often criticized the religious leaders about. Not because they were wrong, but because they became a ritual for ritual’s sake. They became a rule unto themselves.

But regardless, we again see the ideas of purification, cleansing, and washing away.

So, baptism carries with it the ideas of repenting and washing away of our sins. That means it involves a washing and purification. But how do we have an encounter with Christ through baptism?

Some denominations and branches of Christianity hold to the idea of immersion baptism, where the person is fully submerged in water. This is a clear portrayal of Jesus’ death and resurrection. These may even include the words, “buried with him in the likeness of his death, raised to walk in a new life.”

Many believers regard baptism as a sign and seal of God’s covenant of grace. As such, Christians throughout history have practiced infant baptism. Here, an infant is baptized as a symbolic claim for God and the Church to raise the child well and trust Christ to work in his/her life to bring them to a point of salvation.

We are commanded in Scripture to baptize people in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And so, it’s through Christ’s name and by the power of the Triune God that we are baptized. And it’s by Jesus’ name and the power of the Triune God that we are purified and cleansed from our sins.

Baptism points directly to our means of salvation, that is, Jesus’ death on the cross.

Baptism also carries with it the idea of new life. Jesus’ didn’t stay dead on the cross. Three days later He came back to life. Baptism is an entering into that new life, a new church, a new community of believers.

So, there is this idea in baptism, not only of our sins being washed away, but of a newness as well. A new life. A new way to walk in life. A new example to walk by, and that’s Jesus. That’s how we have an encounter with Christ through Baptism.

The Eucharist

The Eucharist goes by many names. Eucharist. Holy Communion. The Lord’s Supper.

It is Jesus who commanded and initiated the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper (Luke 22:7-38). We see in the gospel accounts how Jesus took the Jewish Passover celebration and transformed it. He brought new and deeper meaning into it through His death.

During the Eucharist we eat bread and drink wine. As Jesus was establishing this sacrament, He said about the bread, “This is my body.” And about the wine he said, “This is my blood.”

Now, this article is not the place where we are going to discuss the various views on the Eucharist and how it works. Rather, we are going to look at how the Eucharist reveals Christ, and how we can have an encounter with Christ through the Eucharist.

So, however you practice the Eucharist, whatever specifics you believe in about it, we can encounter Christ through it.

Jesus makes it abundantly clear that Eucharist is about His death on the cross for our sins. But it also is a means of communion, a communion with God and with other believers. That’s why sometimes it’s referred to as Holy Communion.

It’s through Jesus’ death on the cross that we find communion and peace with God (Romans 5:1).

It’s His love that’s displayed on the cross that unites all believers.

So, the Eucharist is a sacrament that is closely tied to Jesus’ death on the cross and it’s result in bringing us into communion with God and others.

Sacraments in the Church

The Sacraments of Baptism and Communion are almost universally held by Christians. Historically, there are other sacraments that are practiced by some Christian traditions and denominations. We’ll take a brief look at those now.

Confirmation

Confirmation is closely associated with baptism and can occur at the same time as baptism. Though, most denominations now view Confirmation as a coming-of-age ritual where the person re-iterates, or confirms, their commitment to the faith.

Confirmation is us affirming that God is working in our lives and we choose to be in communion with others who hold the same view and to be in community with God.

It reflects Baptism in that brings us into communion with the community of believers. It reflects the Eucharist in that we choose to participate in and love that community. It is a pledge of allegiance to the Kingdom of God, and the King–Jesus.

Confession

The Bible clearly commands that believers are to confess their sin, both to God and one another.

Whether or not confession should be defined as a sacrament and how it’s practiced is up for debate within the Christian traditions and denominations. But the reality is we can have encounters with Christ through confession.

When we confess our sins and receive absolution we look to the work of Christ and His role as the Mediator of our sin. We are to confess our sins to God. And when we sin against someone else, we are to confess our sin to them and seek forgiveness.

There is a sense in which we are saved from our sin, and a sense in which we are being saved from our sin. We are saved from our sin through Jesus’ death on the cross that completely washes away our sins and is the sole means of our salvation.

We are being saved in the sense that we still live in a broken world, we still sin and make mistakes. So, there’s times when we ought to seek forgiveness. We are in a process of being made more like Christ. This happens through encounters with Him.

Anointing the Sick

There is one verse in the Bible that is often used to support the idea of anointing the sick (James 5:14-15). Though, how this verse is interpreted is up for debate.

But how do we encounter Christ through the anointing of the sick? In thinking about the answer to this question I kept going back to Jesus’ miracles. Our salvation is the greatest miracle Jesus ever performed.

But Jesus also performed miracles here on earth. So, we can encounter Christ through the hope of a miracle, and the prayers of the righteous. Through it, we realize that we have a new life in Christ, and whatever sickness we are dealing with is only temporary.

Holy Orders (Ordination)

Ordination is the laying on of hands with prayer to set apart someone for ministry in the Church. You can find stories in the Bible where the apostles and church leaders lay hands on someone in order to prepare them to go out and serve God.

Here I am reminded of Jesus’ baptism, the closest thing we have to an ordination of Jesus. It’s when He started His ministry. So, once again we see a close connection to one of the two widely held sacraments, baptism.

I also feel like we can have encounters with Christ through Ordination, as it is a reminder of the Day of Pentecost and the arrival of the Holy Spirit. It serves as a reminder of the role of the Holy Spirit, both in our salvation and call to ministry.

Marriage

Marriage is a union of a male and female under God. The Bible encourages the Christian couple to emulate Christ and the Church. It is in that way that we encounter Christ through marriage.

Ephesians 5:21-33 explains how a husband and wife are to relate to one another in imitation of Christ and the Church. It is summed up in verse 21, “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

Marriage ought to be a continual dramatization of the gospel and the love of Christ. So through marriage, we can have encounters with Christ, daily reminders of the gospel, grace, peace, and love of God.

Sacraments Point to Christ and Display the Gospel

The Sacraments have an important and historical role in the Christian faith. They are intimately connected with displaying God’s grace.

Baptism and Communion are clearly connected to the gospel and Christ’s death on the cross. They display God’s grace in forgiving our sins and uniting us with Him and all believers.

Other sacraments of historical importance are either closely tied to Baptism and Communion or display the power and love of Christ’s gospel ministry.

If we take St. Augustine’s broad definition of a sacrament as a “visible form of an invisible grace,” then what is the gospel and who is Christ, but the heart, life, power, and purpose of every sacrament? For, “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation” (Colossians 1:15).