Flesh and Blood of the Son of Man
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November 22, 2009 |
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 "Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.'" (John 6:53-54).
Holy Communion is a ceremony where we eat and drink bread and wine which symbolize the flesh and blood of the Son of Man. Communion is the commemoration of the love of Jesus who gave all His flesh and blood by dying on the cross to save us. The communion is also a ceremony which teaches us how we need to live as Christians. Of course just because we eat and drink the bread and wine during communion it does not mean we gain salvation. We need to understand the spiritual meaning behind the ceremony and live according to what we learned, in order to confirm our salvation. Let us take a look at what kind of attitude we must have when participating in communion, and understand the meaning of the bread and wine as we celebrate the biblical feasts God commands us to.
1. God Loved Us to the Point of Sacrificing the Life of His Son Jesus
Jesus is the Son of God the Creator, who is one with God Himself in origin and who dwelt in great glory. This Jesus took on the body of man, His creation, and came down to this earth to suffer hunger, tiredness, cold and heat, and every pain of human life. Furthermore, at the end of His earthly life, He received all kinds of mockeries and sufferings and ultimately died on the cross. Jesus took on all these sufferings completely in order to fulfill God's plan to save mankind. Because Jesus shed His blood, those who believe in this fact are forgiven of their sins and receive salvation.
So why would God want to take us into the heavenly kingdom at the price of turning over the life of His one and only Son? It's because He wants to share His true love with us. God does not want children who simply abide by the Laws in fear of His judgment. He does not want children who believe in Him simply because He answers their prayers and gives them blessings.
The kind of children whom God wants are those who love Him and believe in Him even in trials and sufferings, even if He does not answer all their prayers and always blesses them. God wants those children who live by His word just because they love Him with their hearts, and not because they are afraid of His judgment. God gave the life of His one and only Son, the most precious One, in order to share His love with true children and to allow them to enjoy the glory of the heavenly kingdom together with Him.
2. We Can Have Eternal Life by Eating and Drinking the Flesh and Blood of the Son of Man
Today, there are many believers, but not very many of them are true children of God who feel the heart of the Father deeply and share their love with Him. They just say with their lips, "Lord, I love you." This does not make them His true children. Then, what do we have to do? John 6:54 says, "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."
To eat the flesh of the Son of Man is to take the word of God as spiritual bread. John 1:1 says that the Word is God. John 1:14 says that Jesus is the Word that became flesh, and dwelt among us. Therefore, to eat the flesh of the Son of Man is to take in the word of God. To take in the word of God doesn't mean just knowing it as mere knowledge. It means to change our hearts with that word. In order to take in the word of God this way, we have to eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man together. This means that while we are learning the word of God, our deeds must accompany the word.
When we eat food, we have to drink liquid together with it. If we just eat dry food without consuming any liquid, we cannot digest the food. We can discard body waste and take in new nourishment only when water is supplied. Likewise, when we learn the truth, we have to try to practice the word we learn. When we do this, the untruth in us will be discarded as waste and the truth will replace it. Hatred will go out and love will replace it. Arrogance will go away and humility will take its place.
1 John 1:7 says, "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." Here, to walk in the light means to practice and obey the word of God. Jesus forgave us of our sins by shedding His precious blood. But in order for us to be cleansed from our sins by His blood, we have to walk in the light. This message about eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of Man is not something that forces us to keep our duties. It is an explanation to us that Jesus loved us even to the point of giving His flesh and blood in order to give us eternal life. It also tells us that if we just keep His love in our heart and practice the truth, we will gain eternal life and enjoy abundant blessings.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Romans 8:32 says, "He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all—how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?" God, who gave us the life of His only begotten Son, has given us many blessings as well. I urge you to keep the love of God more deeply in your heart through the Holy Communion and accomplish complete sanctification by diligently eating and taking in the flesh and blood of the Son of Man.
The above message is a summary of the sermon preached during Sunday evening service on November 15, 2009. If you want to read this sermon in more detail, visit our website (www. manmin. org) and click on "Sermon".
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