Significance of Christ

A. The Rapport for the Time

This past Sunday we looked at these verses from Philippians

Philippians 2:8–11 ESV

8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

As we dove into the passage we talked about what Christ truly gave up for us in coming to born in the likeness of Man. Putting on flesh and leaving behind the fullness of the Glory of God in the heavens.

This morning we will follow up those verses with the question.

What is the significance of Christ to you as a believer?

In our church setting each week we gather to speak of who Jesus is and what he accomplished for us. We also take scripture and apply it to our lives in this setting as Christians we seek to live according to the Spirit and not the flesh. But how Jesus really change our lives? What did he do?

B. The Reading of the Text

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 ESV

23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 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.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

As for you and me have so much more than we could ever hope or imagine to look forward to both in this life and the one to come.  The truth of the Gospel is not that you and I have accomplished anything special that Got us into an exclusive club, the truth of the gospel is that I have received that which I did not deserve and it has made all the difference in the world to us all.  It’s not base religion but on the completed work of Christ that we remember everyday. 

C. The Review of the Text

Paul is writing to the church at Corinth that is having some problems in the early years of their church. He writes them letters that are trying to shape them as God’s people. Paul loves the church and understands that christ died for the church so that they would have this new life.                 

   D. The Relevance of the Text

The relevance of this text this morning is found in the very first part of vs. 23.  For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you.  The message that Paul is sharing with us this morning is not something that he himself made up by himself. It is not a religion based upon man’s direction or goals. Paul is delivering what he himself never earned on his own but instead he recieved the message from the one true God.

T.S.  We are going to walk through an explanation of text together starting in vs. 23-24

I. The Lord Supper Explained

A. This is My Body (Saving Sacrifice)

1 Corinthians 11:23–24 ESV

23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 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.”

On the night that Jesus was arrested and betrayed by one of his close followers to the Jewish and Roman authorities, he broke bread.  He said, This is my body which is being given for you

In the Jewish Passover feast, bread was eaten that was made without yeast.  It had been made in haste because the Israelites were leaving Egypt in a hurry.  Also, a lamb was slaughtered to avert the angel of death. 

Exodus 12:1–13 ESV

1 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. 3 Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household. 4 And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, 6 and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight. 7 “Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8 They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. 10 And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. 11 In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover. 12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. 13 The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.

Exodus 12:17–20 ESV

17 And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever. 18 In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. 19 For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land. 20 You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwelling places you shall eat unleavened bread.”

The birth and death of Christ our King is not a mistake. Instead we see it had been planned that at just the right time Christ would come and die for you and me. The book of exodus tells us that the time was coming when this sacrifice would be fulfilled in the hand of our King.

1 Peter 3:18 ESV

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,

The body sacrifice of Christ was for you and I the unrighteous. That we would have a relationship with God.

We owed a debt to God for our sin and that sentence was death and separation from God for eternity.  And Christ comes and dies in our place being the Passover lamb for you and I. 

“This is my body which is for you”  It was suppose to be our body that was to pay for our sins but instead Jesus Christ steps in our place that we who are in Christ no longer in condemnation for our sins.

B. This is My Blood (A Holy Covenant)

1 Corinthians 11:25 ESV

25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

At mount Sinai in Egypt in the book of Exodus God makes a covenant with his people.  He would be their God and they would be his people and live in a relationship of love, loyalty and trust.  The covenant itself was initiated by a sacrifice of blood in Egypt to protect those that belonged to God.  But Israel would fail the covenant over and over and sin against God and need to make yearly sacrifices to God for their households.  The death of Christ Jesus establishes a completion of the covenant and the perfect sacrifice that would be a final sacrifice.  We could never keep our side of the covenant with God.  Yet in Christ Jesus because he has walked in obedience to the will of God walked in perfect obedience.  He pours out his blood for you and I as the perfect sacrifice that his life would take the place of our sinful life.  Christ fulfilled the covenant with God perfectly so that you and I and our inability would not have to.

Remember “I will be you God and you will be my people”

Exodus 6:6–8 ESV

6 Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. 7 I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.’ ”

Ezekiel 34:24 ESV

24 And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the Lord; I have spoken.

C. Do this in remembrance of me (We Remember our Savior)

1 Corinthians 11:24–25 ESV

24 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.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

As we eat the bread we remember the body of Christ that came and was born as a baby in the manger.  When we eat the bread and drink the juice, we remember the perfect sacrifice that was made for us.  We understand that the bread is not the actual body of Christ but is symbolic of his body.  Also the juice is not the actual blood of our savior and is a symbolic representation of the blood of our savior.  In remembrance of our Lord.

          We need to be reminded of what Christ has done for us to remind ourselves of the completed act of my Lord for my life.

John 20:31 ESV

31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

D. Community (Participate in Community)

1 Corinthians 11:21–23 ESV

21 For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. 22 What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not. 23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread,

Paul says that the Lord’s supper is a teaching given by Christ and handed on to you v. 23 plural).  The commands “to eat” and “to drink “ are in the plural (v. 26).  This instruction is given to a community, a community of believers, those who are the followers of Jesus.

          The covenant binding us to God through the death of Jesus creates a community.  By participating in the communal meal, we are bound not only to the Lord Jesus, but also to one another.  We have fellowship with Christ in a deep and mysterious way (1 Cor 10:14-21)

E. Future hope (We have a future hope)

As a Christian, we do not live without hope and without a future.  In fact, our hope is assured of in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

1 Corinthians 11:26 ESV

26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

We are commanded to participate in the Lord’s Supper until our savior returns.  We have a celebration of hope and it is not one of wishful thinking but instead is a certain hope.  Jesus Christ will return to this earth bodily and physically.  When he returns he will judge the earth.  He will reward the righteous and punish the wicked.  Wrongs will be set right.  We will no longer need this reminder when we see him face to face. 

1 Corinthians 15:50–58 ESV

50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

We serve a living savior and Lord one that knows how we feel and cares for us and will return one day so that we may be with him.  We remember the past in the Lord’s supper, but we also look to the future completion and look forward to the day when our savior returns.

F. Proclamation (We proclaim our Lord) 

1 Corinthians 11:26 (ESV)

26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Paul says that by performing this ceremony, we proclaim the death of the Lord Jesus.  The Lord’s Supper dramatizes in symbolic fashion the central facts of the Christian faith and announced these facts to all who observe.  In a very simply way, those who do not belong to Jesus can see and understand through these simple actions that the Lord Jesus gave his life for us.

          Since the Lord’s Supper is an expression of continuing in the faith, it follows logically that only baptized believers should participate.  By eating the bread and drinking the cup, we identify with Jesus Christ as Lord.  We are saying that when he died, he died for my sins.  When he poured out his blood, it was the sacrificial death which initiated a new covenant; a new relationship between us and the creator God.

          We must recognize or distinguish the body of the Lord.  By participating in this celebration, we enjoy deep fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ and with each other.  This ceremony is a way of saying “I am continuing in my relationship with Jesus Christ.”  We acknowledge our sins before a Holy God and what our Lord has done for us.