Every Sunday when I attend church I partake of the Sacrament. I partake of the bread that symbolizes Jesus Christ's body and drink the water that symbolizes His blood. I had always thought we are to remember His body that He sacrificed for us. I pictured His Atonement and what His body suffered and endured to make that possible. I believe that is part of it, but perhaps there is more.
Jesus Christ appeared to the people of Nephi after His resurrection. There He administered the sacrament. In 3 Nephi 18:7, Jesus teaches, "and this shall ye do in remembrance of my body, which I have shown unto you." In this account, it seems to me that the bread is to remind them of His resurrected body.
In a book written by Stephen Covey titled, "Spiritual Roots of Human Relations," he discusses how it is the Lord's work and glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man (Moses 1:39). "When the Lord revealed [this]...he essentially outlined the two great parts...of all that he has attempted to do among men since the beginning." The first part is immortality, and the second part is eternal life. Immortality is for everyone because of the miracle of the resurrection. Eternal life, "which has to do with the quality of the resurrection...is personal achievement by each individual made possible through the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ."
Could it be that the sacrament symbolizes exactly that? We remember His body and the gift we have of immortality. We rejoice in the miracle that Jesus Christ indeed lives! Not only that, we will have that same opportunity! Then after we partake and remember that marvelous gift, we partake of the water to remember the second part. We realize our need for the Atonement in order to achieve eternal life which is really only possible because of the first part.
I've gained personal insight on the meaning of the sacrament cup and the role of being able to follow the will of God no matter how bitter the "cup." Now, I add that it's really even a miracle in the first place that that matters. It matters that I choose His will because Jesus Christ actually lives! Otherwise there would be no point!
The sacrament, in addition to other important symbolisms, represents very well God's plan - to bring to pass the immortality AND eternal life of man.
