The Blood of Christ

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What happens when you take a hand saw and cut a branch off of a tree? The branch dies. It dies because it has been separated from the main tree which brings the branch the water and nutrients that it needs to grow and survive. The water in the tree sort of acts like the blood in a person, delivering that necessary life force throughout the body. 

Just like a tree branch, the same will happen to an arm, hand, finger, or foot of a person. All of these limbs and appendages are connected throughout the body through a series of blood veins and vessels, as the heart pumps that oxygen rich blood from your head to your toes. In the unfortunate event that a hand, finger, foot etc becomes and remains disattached from the rest of the body, it will die just the same as a twig or branch would. 

Once again, these things die because they need to have that thing which gives them “life” so that they can live. Without it they will die, and it is through these examples with which we can understand the importance of one of the greatest things of our faith, in the partaking of the body and blood of Christ during Holy Communion.

John 6:53-58  “Then Jesus said unto them, 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.

Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.

As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.

This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.”

In this passage Jesus was explaining to the Jews to whom He was speaking that it was through Him that everlasting life was found. They seemed to have a difficult time understanding this however, not understanding what Jesus meant. But you see, a body without blood is dead, and without partaking in the body and blood of the soul is dead also.

Without the blood of Christ no one is saved. Without partaking of the life that is in His blood during Holy Communion we can have no life in ourselves, and will die. We will not have everlasting life unless we have Him in us. Jesus is the life (John 14:6) and to have His life in us we need to believe in Him during Communion.

John 15:1-8  “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.”

In Christ we have life, eternal life. There is nothing else that can make you live forever. It seems like every year they come out with some kind of “miracle” drug that is supposed to help you live longer, be stronger, and more healthy. Every year more people bend their ears to a doctor who tells them that they absolutely have to take this little pill twice a day, or if they don’t they will die. People are so focused on trying to live longer in their physical bodies that they fail to realize that what they should be doing is making sure that they are getting ready for the real life that matters. Eternal life. 

Do you want this eternal life? It is only found in one place, the blood of Christ.

In Christ

Andrew