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The Church As The Body And Blood
December 16, 2012
When we are baptized into Christ, we are baptized into His death, burial, and resurrection -- into His body. He is the head of the church -- the ekklesia, the called out -- and the church is His body. As His body, we recognize that His body is in our body, and we are in His body. His blood is in our blood, and we are washed in His blood. Jesus will purify His body, and He will save His body.
Bernie Parsons
The Church As The Body And Blood
by Bernie Parsons
Presented to Globe church of Christ on 12-16-2012
Last time, we looked at the Lord’s Supper as the body and blood of Jesus. We
saw that believers take the bread and the fruit of the vine as the body and
the blood. We also saw that this body and blood of Jesus becomes one with
our own bodies and blood. Now, I want to look at the
ekklesia, or the church, the
called out people of God, as relates to that body and blood of Jesus.
Colossians 1:18 “And
he is the head of the body, the
church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all
things he might have the preeminence.”
Ephesians 5:23 "For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is
the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body."
Paul describes the ekklesia, or
church, as the body of Christ. The communion with the body of Christ, means
that His flesh, the bread, is in us. We are His flesh. We are His body. He
is our head, from which the instructions to the body flow, and which
preserves the body in love.
Ephesians 5:23 "For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is
the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to
their own husbands in every thing.
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave
himself for it;
26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the
word,
27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot,
or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without
blemish."
By taking our instructions from the head – which Christ is to the church –
our spots and wrinkles are removed. While baptism in water initially brings
us into contact with the blood of Jesus, which cleanses us of our sins, the
continued receipt of the word of God keeps the body cleansed.
Colossians 1:20 "And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by
him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be
things in earth, or things in heaven.
21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked
works, yet now hath he reconciled
22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and
unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away
from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to
every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;"
The blood that Jesus shed brings all into one body – His body, the church –
and brings us into a pure relationship with God. The blood is what cleanses
the believers in the body of Christ, in a similar way that our own body’s
blood system cleanses the body of toxins and recharges parts of the body
with nutrients and oxygen. When in good health, we can do good work.
Hebrews 9:11 "But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come,
by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to
say, not of this building;
12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer
sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit
offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works
to serve the living God?"
Hebrews 13:20 "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our
Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the
everlasting covenant,
21 Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that
which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory
for ever and ever. Amen."
Our acts of righteousness do not buy for us the blood of Jesus.
Contrariwise, the blood of Jesus buys us back for God, cleanses us of our
sins and puts us in a pure relationship with God.
Titus 2:13 "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the
great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and
purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."
Titus 3:4 "But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward
man appeared,
5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his
mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy
Ghost;
6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;"
We then, being cleansed, produce fruitful works of righteousness. That is to
say, the body of Christ – the church – does the work of God as directed by
our head, Jesus Christ.
Colossians 1:9 "For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not
cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the
knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful
in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;"
Philippians 1:9 "And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and
more in knowledge and in all judgment;
10 That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and
without offence till the day of Christ;
11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ,
unto the glory and praise of God."
Ephesians 2:10 "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto
good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."
We are put here to do God’s work. Just as Adam and Eve were assigned the
work of tending the garden in Eden, we are assigned to do the spiritual work
of God through the body of Christ.
Just as we do not expect the little infant to go to work to support himself
or his family, we must be a robust, mature body for Christ. In order to
grow, as we have stated recently, we have to feed upon God’s teachings and
commandments, that we may grow thereby.
As we learn the ways of God, and teach one another, building one another up
in the most holy faith, the body of Jesus Christ grows strong and mature,
able to do His work.
Ephesians 4:11 "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some,
evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the
edifying of the body of Christ:
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the
Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the
fulness of Christ:
14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried
about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning
craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which
is the head, even Christ:
16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that
which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the
measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of
itself in love."
As we work together to strengthen and increase the body of Christ, we love
one another, speak the truth to one another, and so build up the body of the
son of God. Once strong and mature, that body can then effectively
accomplish the works of God as delivered us through Christ.
We are the body of Christ, and we are cleansed, nourished and detoxified by
the blood of our Lord and Savior. It is He who keeps us growing, and pure.
Hebrews 10:22 "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of
faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies
washed with pure water.
23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is
faithful that promised;)
24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:"
The light of God’s love and greatness shines into the world by the good deeds that we do as the body of Christ.
