The Body And The Blood

COVENANT COMMUNITY CHURCH

PASTOR: TERRY VAUGHAN

AUGUST 25, 2002

KJV

SERMON TITLE: THE BODY AND THE BLOOD

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

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?

I see two things in that verse. Two words that really stuck out are the word “Bless” and the word “Break.” I want you to realize this morning that there is a two fold meaning of why God sent his only Son to die on the cross for us. A lot of people don’t know it. I want you to get a clear understanding of this. I want to preach a few minutes on the body and the blood.

I want you try and grasp what the Lord is saying this morning. I remember reading in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 where Paul said “I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. And that he was buried, and that he arose again in the third day according to the scriptures.” I’m glad Paul always looked to the scriptures and said this is what is right according to God. There seems to be so many differences of opinions today. We need to look in the true word of God today and see what thus saith the Lord. Now in 1 Corinthians 11:26 Paul said, “For as often as you do eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.” All these verses have that two fold meaning. We either have to partakers of the bread and we have to be partakers of the blood.

John 6:53 Jesus said, “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.” The Bible teaches us in that verse that we have to be partakers of the body of Christ and we have to be partakers of the blood of Christ and if we don’t then we don’t have any life in us. There’s a lot of people that says they are saved today but we have to have the true meaning of what the cross of Calvary is. We’ve got to be partakers of the body and the blood of Christ.

The true purpose of the body and his blood you’ll find in three verses: 2 Corinthians 8:9 “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, for your sakes he became poor., that ye through his poverty might be made rich.” Christ was rich. He was there with his father and he became poor for us. He gave his life. He left the comfort of the father to come down to this earth and he became poor and gave his body and blood for us. He gave up all that he had for you! Romans 6:10 “For in that he died, he died unto sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.” That’s a two fold meaning of the cross of Calvary. 1 Peter 3:18 “For Christ also hath suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.” We didn’t have to get to Him…He came to us. There’s no way we can get to heaven without him.

Number One: Let’s share some purposes of his body. Why did Jesus go through the suffering that he did? Why was he persecuted and mocked? He gave his body to pay our sin debt. His body represented our sins. The Bible says that he who knew no sin, became sin for us. He left a heavenly home and a heavenly body to become sin for us. Hebrews 9:26 “But now once in the end of the world have he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. His body was broken for us…for our sins. 1 Corinthians 11 talks about it. Jesus said, “Take and eat for this is my body which was broken for you. Take and drink of this cup which is the new testament which is my blood which was shed for you.” John 1:29 says “Behold, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.” He came to take away the sins of the whole world. A lot of Christians when they talk about the Cross of Calvary don’t know what the true meaning is. He did it to pay for our sins. Not only our past sins but our future sins. He came to take away sin. Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow. Though they be as crimson, they shall be as wool.” Those Christians that are living in sin everyday and are seeking for sin….I pray for them and they need to learn to stand on the body and the blood of Christ. Hebrews 10:17 “And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.” Tell me that doesn’t represent the body of Christ? When he did it the vale of the temple was rent in twain. He defeated death and hell and he defeated our sins. 1 John 2:2 “He is the propitiation of our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” Why do people keep living in sin? All they have to do is come to Jesus and get rid of them. All they have to do to get to heaven is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and that he gave his body for their sins And he gave his blood for their salvation. His blood represents how he purchased our sins. There’s no way we can get to heaven without Him. When he died there on the cross a soldier came by and he was going to break Christ’s legs but they saw that he was already dead and they pierced his side. There came out water and blood. I believe that water represented the body of Christ. The water was to let us know that our sins were going to be washed away. I believe that blood meant that our sins have been forgiven. If we have the blood of Christ then we have Salvation flowing in us. We ought to know we’re partakers in the body of Christ and we don’t have to live in sin. There’s plenty of scriptures in the Bible to support this. Listen to this one: Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:14 “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” We don’t have to let sin beat us or defeat us. He died for our sins and our sins can be covered by his blood. I know the Bible says we have all sinned and we come short of the glory of God but we shouldn’t seek to serve sin. We’re supposed to live as best a Christian life as we can. We’re supposed to be a light to people. Nothing makes me sicker than to see Christians living like the devil.