THE FLESH AND BLOOD OF JESUS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY DECEMBER 01, 2023.

SUBJECT : THE FLESH AND BLOOD OF JESUS!

Memory verse: "He who eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, dwells in Me, and I in him.” (John 6 vs 56.) 

READ: John 6 vs 51 - 58:

6:51: I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

6:52: The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?

6:53: Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.

6:54: Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

6:55: For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

6:56: He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.

6:57: As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.

6:58: This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever. 

INTIMATION: 

The Lord’s Supper (the eating and drinking of the flesh and blood of Jesus) was when Jesus celebrated with the apostles their deliverance from sin through the cross. He also wanted them and all that will believe in the new covenant to celebrate what would take place that would result in their forgiveness of sins. The blood of Jesus that cleansed us of sin, brings us into a covenant relationship with God. 

Jesus gave His incarnate body in order to be a sacrifice for the sins of those who would hear and learn from Him. As a result they would respond to the events of the good news of His death, burial and resurrection. Therefore, through the eating of the Supper (the flesh and blood of Jesus), Christians spiritually drink and eat of His blood and body because they abide in Him and He in them.

The life of the flesh is in the blood (Leviticus 17 vs 11). The two are essential elements in man’s physical being. Those who eat the flesh of Jesus, who is the Bread of Life, will never spiritually die. They will dwell in God’s presence without end. Jesus said the metaphorical statement that one must partake of Him as the Bread of Life in order to sustain his life throughout eternity. Jesus gives spiritual life that comes from His sacrificial death on the cross.

When we partake of the bread during the Lord’s Supper, we partake of the life that we have in the body of Christ. If one is not in the body, therefore, he does not have life. It is for this reason that we are baptized into the body in order to have life. As the life of the flesh is in the blood, and was forfeited by sin, life eternal can be imparted only by the expiation made in giving up of the life by the sinless Savior.

The shedding of His blood in expiratory sacrifice brings us into a covenant relationship with God to enjoy His covering. To “drink His blood” is to appropriate the saving effects of His expiatory death. "God's Covering" is an expression which describes the spiritual protection and nurture which God provides for all those who are in a covenant relationship with Him. You cannot see His covering but you can certainly experience the effect which it has. The believer is not only saved, redeemed, and justified by the blood of Christ, but the blood sets the believer free from the power of sin and makes him holy and enables him to grow in Christ likeness by the work of the Holy Spirit.

The new covenant in the blood of Jesus is the platform that allows us to enter into the presence of a perfect and holy God. It was shed on our behalf, and it grants us membership into a divine family and access to God's presence. It is the most precious treasure, and we should never lose our gratitude toward it.

Through the blood of Jesus, our sins are not just covered, but completely washed away.” “The blood of Jesus is the bridge that reconciles us to God and makes us his beloved.” “In the blood of Jesus, we find victory over death and the promise of eternal life.”

Those who are eating and drinking the “flesh and blood” of Jesus are the ones who have eternal life. Therefore, Christians are actively eating and drinking of the Lord’s Supper today that Jesus instituted. They eat and drink of the bread and fruit of the vine that represents the body (life) and blood (atoning sacrifice) of Jesus. Therefore, they are the ones who are in possession of eternal life because they have obeyed the gospel in order to come into Christ (Romans 6 vs 3 - 6). When Christians partake of the Super, they are figuratively partaking of the incarnate blood and body of Jesus that was given as an atonement offering for their sins (Romans 3 vs 25).

In His incarnate state on earth, the Son was sustained by the power of God as everything of this world is sustained. Jesus lived because of His obedience to do the Will of the Father. In like manner, those who continue to feed on Jesus will continue to be sustained by Jesus who continues throughout eternity. Therefore, the eternity of anyone depends on their feeding on the life that proceeds from Jesus. Those who do not feed on Jesus cannot expect to be sustained throughout eternity. 

Eternal existence, therefore, depends on remaining in the presence of God who is indigenously eternal. Nothing can maintain eternity apart from the presence of God. Only God is eternal, and thus, all who would desire eternal existence must seek to come into a relationship with God. 

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You for the Supreme Sacrifice of Jesus Christ our Messiah on the cross for our salvation, and our new covenant relationship with You resulting from the sacrifice. I will continually celebrate the event of the cross by the eating and drinking of the body and blood of Jesus, and rejoice in my continued sustenance in Your presence, Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!