The Body and the Blood
1 Corinthians 10:16
"The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?”
In observing the Lord’s Supper, we consider the two elements of bread and wine. There is nothing in those elements that have any mystical or miraculous power. They are simply bread and wine. But what they represent is miraculous, marvelous and of the highest spiritual grace. The bread speaks of the body of Christ while the cup the blood of Christ. Too often we get caught up in the ritual of communion and neglect to take the time to contemplate the richness and glorious truths of the body and the blood.
I. The Body of Christ
A. When Jesus Christ observed the Seder meal which became the basis of our celebration of the Lord’s Supper, Luke 22:19 records that “... He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me."
B. To understand the significance of that statement we need to realize the necessity of the incarnation.
C. Genesis 1:27 “God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him”
D. God told man that “in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” – Genesis 2:17
E. Romans 5:12 “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned”
F. 1 Corinthians 15:22a “in Adam all die”
G. What it would take to redeem man would be a sacrifice that would be sufficient for every person who has ever lived or will live. The sacrifice of animals was not an acceptable. The penalty was imposed on man and had to be paid for by man. But all men are sinners; and if you could find a sinless being finite he could only atone or pay for one man’s sin not for all mankind. What was need was a sinless man who also was divine. No ordinary man would do. He must be both eternal God and perfect man.
II. There is nothing in fact or in fiction in the history of man which matches the mystery of the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
A. In the incarnation we have the great mystery of Godliness as 1 Timothy 3:16 declares that in Jesus Christ “God was manifest in the flesh”
B. John 1:-3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”
C. Prior to the Incarnation Jesus Christ existed in eternity as the second person of the Godhead.
D. John 8:58 "Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am."
• The present tense here is very important. It expresses a continuous action. Christ was saying that He continuously exists. This emphasizes an ageless open-endedness of Christ's existence
E. The Word, Who was and is God, joined a human nature in the person of Jesus of Nazareth – John 1:14 “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
F. Colossians 2:9 “For in him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”
G. In the incarnation we have (what is known as the hypostatic union) the combination of God the Word and a human nature in a single Being. The Lord Jesus Christ is truly and fully God and fully man.
III. The Importance of the Incarnation
A. Being fully Human , Jesus Christ is able to understand
• Hebrews 4:15 “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”
B. Being Divine, Jesus Christ
• Hebrews 7:25 “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them.”
C. The ody of Christ guarantees our redemption by insuring our atonement to be divine in nature and securing the propitiatory requirements of a voluntary sacrifice.
D. 1 Corinthians 15:22 “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”
Take a moment to think about the body of Christ and what He has done for you. Lets us thank the Lord for the body of Christ as we partake of the bread.
I. The Blood of Christ
A. In like manner after the breaking of the bread, Matthew 26:27-28 states that Christ “took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave [it] to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”
B. The payment for our salvation was costly. “Without shedding of blood is no remission!” (Hebrews 9:22b)
C. There is a Scarlet Thread that runs through the Bible.
1. In the Garden after Adam’s sin it was the blood of an animal that the Lord shed to provide a covering.
2. In Genesis 4 it was the blood of an animal that Abel offered
3. It was the blood of an animal that Abraham offered in Genesis 22.
4. On the night of the Passover in Exodus 12, it was the blood of the lamb that was placed upon the doors of the Israelites delivering them from the wrath and judgment of God
5. All through the Old Testament it was the blood of animals were offered as sacrifices.
6. These were shadows and pictures. Until Jesus Christ fully God fully man would come and offer His sacrificial blood for us
7. Hebrews 10:3-5 “But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou would not, but a body hast Thou prepared me:”
D. The Blood Of Christ Was Sinless Blood.
1. 1 Peter 1:18-19 “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”
2. His blood was not tainted by the blood of fallen Adam. It was the spotless blood of t he Son of God.
E. The Blood Of Christ Was Substitutionary Blood.
1. Isaiah 53:5-6 “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
2. The blood shed by Christ is the substituting death. He dies so that I do not die the death of judgment and condemnation. His death instead of mine.
F. The Blood Of Christ Was Sufficient Blood.
1. Romans 3:24-25 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.”
2. 1 John 1:7 “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
Take a moment to think about the blood of Christ and what He has done for you. Lets us thank the Lord for the blood of Christ as we partake of the cup.
Invitation and Closing Prayer
