Christ Jesus' Great Offering

Welcome, today we had a Lord's Supper or Communion service. The post tonight is from that service, I pray you are blessed. 

 

 Hebrews 10:10 ~ And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 

Heb 10:19-25
19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

The body of Christ Jesus, the blood of Christ Jesus. Every time we spread the table and set the emblems of the Lord's Supper we focus our attention on both these.

Who can measure the value of the body and the blood of Christ Jesus? God prized the body of Christ Jesus so much that He refused to let the corruption associated with death to touch it in the tomb. After such a horrific death at the hands of the Jewish leaders and the Romans, it was loving hands that placed it in to the tomb and quickly prepared it for burial.

God prized the blood of Christ Jesus. He said of it, “ the precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.” (1 Peter 1:19)

When you hear the phrase, “the body of Christ,” what comes to mind?

1. The Body of Christ (vs. 10)

Have you ever thought about that term, “the Body of Christ?” What kind of body is “the body of Christ?” This morning I want address that question.

I would say “the Body of Christ” is:

1. A Mystical Body – The Church

1. "I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” Matthew 16:18
   
   
2. In John 21:15-17, Christ Jesus tells Peter to tend and shepherd His lambs and sheep. What Christ Jesus was telling Peter was to take care of the fledgling church body.
   
   
3. In the Book of Acts, Paul says this to the leaders of the church in Ephesus, "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.” Acts 20:28

2. A Memorial Body; The Loaf on the Table

1. Luke 22:15-16; 19 ~ And He said to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." 
    
   And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." 
    
2. In 1 Corinthians 11:23-24, Paul address the Lord's Supper with these words, “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me."”

3. A Material Body: Christ Jesus had a physical body in which He suffered and died. And He has a resurrected body, and sit at the right hand of God.

1. John 18:22 – struck by a Temple officer
   John 19:1 – scourged
   John 19:2 – crown of thorns
   John 19:3 – slapped in the face by the Romans
   
   
2. John 19:18 – crucified
   John 19:30 – died
   John 19:34 – side pierced with a spear
   John 19:40-41 – body wrapped and placed in a tomb
   
   
3. Luke 24:5 ~ and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living One among the dead?

Matthew 28:9, Mark 16:14, and John 20:19 and in Luke ~Christ Jesus appeared to the disciples in His resurrected body "See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have."... While they still could not believe it because of their joy and amazement, He said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" They gave Him a piece of a broiled fish; and He took it and ate it before them. (Luke 24:39; 41-43)

Mark 16:19 ~ So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. (John 6:35).  Will you believe in Christ Jesus today?

I have spoke at length about the bread, but what about the blood?

2. The Blood of Christ (vs. 19-25)

We sing about “power in the blood,” but what is the power of the blood? Moreover why do we need the power that is in the blood?

The blood I am talking about here is the blood of Christ Jesus. But first, why did He have to shed His blood?

Look at Genesis 3:6 ~ When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. The consequence of Adam and Eve's action. Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned – Romans 5:12

Because of sin and its consequences God instituted the blood sacrifices. In Leviticus 4:7, 18, 25 God tells Moses, "The priest shall also put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense which is before the LORD in the tent of meeting; and all the blood of the bull he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering which is at the doorway of the tent of meeting.” These offerings had to be made over and over, year after year. 

Then came Christ Jesus, who went to the cross to shed His blood for you and me. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.” John 3:14-15 

How does Christ Jesus being lifted up on that Roman cross give you eternal life? Listen to 1 John 1:7 ~ but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 

Christ Jesus only needed to shed His blood once and that one time covers all who will come to Him. By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, Hebrews 10:10-12

Conclusion: We are told to remember Christ Jesus and all He has done for us every time we take the Lord's Supper.

But there is coming a day when we will no longer take Communion in remembrance, but with Christ Jesus, Himself! so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him. Hebrews 9:28

Have you found the power in the sacrificial blood of Christ Jesus yet?