Question 76: What does it mean to eat the crucified body of Christ and drink his shed blood?

 

Question 76: What does it mean to eat the crucified body of Christ and drink his shed blood?

Answer: It means to accept with a believing heart all the sufferings and death of Christ and, through faith, obtain forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Moreover, it means that we are united to Christ's blessed body through the Holy Spirit who dwells in Christ and in us. So, although the Lord is in heaven and we are on earth, our bodies are the Lord's flesh and bone. Thus, just as each part of our body is governed by one soul, so we too, governed by one Spirit, live forever.

"Eating the crucified body of Christ and drinking his shed blood" means that believers are united with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This unity means believing that believers have also accomplished the same work as Jesus Christ.

First, the death on the cross included Jesus Christ's suffering, physical death, burial, and descent into hell, a fate that the saints also experienced. Regarding the descent into hell, the saint's physical body is hell itself, and his spirit is freed from the flesh.

Second, it is a union with Jesus' resurrection and ascension. The saints were also resurrected with Jesus and seated in heaven at the right hand of God.

Ephesians 2:5-6 “Even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

The doctrine says, "The Lord is in heaven, and we are on earth, yet our flesh is the Lord's flesh and bone." But the Bible says, "The saints are seated in heaven." We must consider whether doctrine precedes Scripture.

What is seated in heaven is not the physical body, but the spiritual body. Resurrection is the death of the physical body (fresh) and the birth of a spiritual body from heaven.

Ephesians 2:6 speaks of being raised together with the dead spirit, meaning that the spirit, now alive, is given a spiritual body and seated in heaven. Here, heaven is the third heaven, signifying the kingdom of God within the soul. Since the spiritual body is described as being seated in heaven, it should not be considered a spatial concept.

Our flesh cannot become the flesh and bones of the Lord. The flesh must die. John 6:63 says, "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing." Jesus' flesh and bones signify his spiritual body in heaven. This spiritual body becomes Jesus' flesh and bones.

The resurrected body of Jesus is different from our earthly bodies. His body is transformable and transcends space. After his resurrection, Jesus suddenly appeared to his disciples through a wall, and he also appeared to them as they cast their nets on the Sea of ​​Galilee. And before their eyes, he ascended into heaven.

This statement arises because the doctrine views resurrection as a mixture of spirit and flesh. Therefore, it holds that the resurrection will occur after the body dies. However, according to Ephesians 2:6, the resurrection does not occur after the body dies, but rather occurs now. Therefore, those who believe in the resurrection of the flesh cannot be considered to be in Christ. They do not currently possess resurrection life.

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