This is My Body

Trust that you will often remind yourself of how the body works together.

!

Other than the fact that it will be informed by the Scriptures.

I want you to look at 1 Corinthians chapter 11, and I'm going to focus just for our time

1 Corinthians 11 · chapter mention

before we come to the Lord's table on one particular verse, and more specifically, on

one part of that verse.

One of the things that characterizes…now listen to me carefully, if you would, please.

One of the things that characterizes the believer in his worship is that it is informed by the

Scriptures, and it is guided and governed by our attention to this particular book.

And that's one of the reasons that a characteristic of people who are genuine believers in the

Lord Jesus, they've got a Bible with them.

Do you know why we have a Bible?

Because God has spoken to us through this book, and He has given us all that we need

for life and godliness in this book.

And we hold on to it because we prize it, and we value it, and we want to know what God

has to say to us regarding Himself.

You know, our hearts and our minds are profoundly deceitful.

Would you agree with that?

I remember hearing Paul Tripp say it, and it was like, huh, boy, is that true.

I remember hearing Paul Tripp say that the biggest problem I have is me.

And he was referring in general terms because he was not speaking about Tim Knoyer.

He was just talking about the heart of man.

And I remember thinking, duh, I have a problem.

Thankfully, I also have a Savior.

And I also have the Spirit.

And I also have the Scriptures.

And I may rely upon the Scriptures and the Spirit of God to inform my thinking and to

lift my thinking away from the natural tendency of my heart to pervert all things towards idolatry

and draw me to see the supremacy and the glory of Christ.

And that's what I want us to do this morning.

As you look at this passage, we're going to be there in verse 24, and it says,

And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said,

This is my body, which is for you.

This do in remembrance of me.

Before we actually get into the text itself, I want you to stop just for a moment and think with me

about some of the things that have to be pushed aside lest they end up influencing our thinking

and they take us where we shouldn't go.

I want you to understand for one thing, when we take this bread and this cup,

when we come to the Lord's table, we are not engaging in anything that adds spiritual merit to us.

If you look in the Bible and you look right there in the passage in 1 Corinthians,

it said, Do this in remembrance of me.

Why are we doing this?

Well, the Bible informs us that the reason we're doing it is to remember something.

We're not doing it to get extra credit.

How many of you remember in school when you got a bad grade,

if the teacher was exceptionally merciful, what would the teacher do?

You have an opportunity to take a little extra credit on the side and bring your grade up.

Am I right?

I want to dispel the false theology that would suggest that when we take the bread and we take the cup,

that we actually add some merit to the finished work of Christ.

That is a lie from hell.

Because the Scripture is explicit that Christ Jesus died for sin once for all.

I am not here to do anything to make bread anything different than bread,

or the cup any different than what it is.

It is merely here as a reminder to you of what Jesus has already done.

Now, do we need to be reminded?

What's the fact?

In fact, we need reminders all the time.

We need reminders every day.

One of the things that I have to confess in my own life,

I have been marked by or affected by lately.

I found myself several months ago as I was in my devotional life,

I found my reading, and I generally take an hour and a half in Bible reading and prayer,

and I remember I was kind of cranking through it,

and it just kind of dawned on me,

Hey, Tim, you're just doing this out of routine.

How many of you understand routine?

We're pretty good at routine.

And there I was just banging through the book,

and you know, you get on yourself, you get a schedule,

I'm going to read through the Bible in X number of months or whatever,

and what are you doing?

Anybody else know the frailty that comes with that?

You are all about the agenda and not so much about the book.

Am I right?

Can you do that with me?

That's not what we ought to be doing.

And I found myself thinking, Tim, where's your love for Jesus?

I had to stop and just say, this is not what it's all about.

At the heart of the Bible that I read is the glory of a personal relationship with the God of this universe

and a love for the Lord Jesus Christ who is the lover of my soul.

And so when I come to this table, this table serves to remind me of Jesus Christ

and the sweetness of my personal relationship with Him

and the supreme satisfaction I have in that relationship

and the confidence that someday I am going to see Him face to face.

And so when we walk away from here,

we ought to walk away, truthfully,

if we are dependent upon the Spirit of God and the Spirit of God dwells in us.

Now what do I mean by that?

There wouldn't be anything wrong with you who know Christ this morning saying,

Hey, listen, I know that my heart is inclined towards being a little cold and indifferent

towards spiritual things and the glory of the Lord Jesus.

I need your help this morning to help me connect with the sweetness of Scripture

that my affection for Christ is increased.

Is that a fair prayer?

Can you say that with your eyes open?

Yeah, okay, it's all right.

And so we're praying, Lord, I want to grow in my love for you

and I want the bread and the cup to be something that helps me with that.

Well, it doesn't happen automatically.

It happens as we, through the power of the Spirit of God,

think carefully about what the Bible teaches.

And so we're looking at a passage here

and Jesus makes a very interesting statement.

He says,

This bread,

He says,

This is my body.

Now, in some of your translations,

you have,

which is broken for you,

okay?

And I want to tell you in the,

and I don't want to get caught up in all the details of the Greek and manuscripts, etc.

But for two reasons,

I don't believe the accurate translation is broken for you

because, number one,

it's not in the earliest manuscripts,

but secondly, more importantly,

it tells us in the Scriptures prophetically

that not a, what?

Bone of Jesus would be broken.

This is my body,

which is for you.

And so I want us to,

I want us to think

about what Jesus meant.

Number one,

Jesus was speaking about His incarnation.

Jesus was speaking about His incarnation.

And I want you to think with me

just for a moment

about His pre-incarnate glory

and the joy and the delight

that He enjoyed

in the presence of His Father

in the glory of eternity

where He was worshipped

and adored.

I appreciate

the passage that was read from Philippians,

and so I want you to turn there,

if you would at this time,

from Philippians chapter 2

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

as the apostle

is reminding us

of both the humiliation

but also of the incarnation

of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And as we think

about this text,

we understand that

in His birth and incarnation,

what Jesus did

was take on human flesh.

Look at Philippians chapter 2.

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

It says,

Have this mind in yourselves,

among yourselves,

which is yours in Christ Jesus,

who though He was

in the form of God,

did not count equality with God

a thing to be grasped.

What's that saying?

It's saying, in essence,

that Jesus had

and has the right

to see Himself

entirely

as equal with the Father.

He is

the second person

of the triune Godhead.

And it wasn't

a stretch

or a grasping

to possess something

that was not rightfully His

for Him to say,

I recognize my deity

and the glory

of who I am.

Just an objective fact.

And He says here,

He wasn't just trying

to hold on to something

that wasn't His.

It was His by fact.

But being willing,

as it says there,

He made Himself

nothing,

taking the form

of a servant

being born

in the likeness

of man.

I don't know

whether you

have thought about

just how

unbelievable

that truth is.

I found myself

last week

as I was meditating

upon

this passage

to track,

my mind was going off

in a little parallel track

of the many different

both ands

in the Bible.

You know what I mean

by both ands?

Where the Bible

forces us to think about

more than one thought

at the same time.

And is that a little confusing?

What's the answer to us?

Yeah, it is.

How can God,

the Son,

be absolutely

100% divine

and also

100% human?

We deal better

with what?

Either ors.

Isn't that right?

Except when we're doing

rolling stops.

I got you,

didn't I?

Okay.

We're in the

either or camp.

It's light or dark.

When is it really dark?

No.

No.

In the Bible,

there are lots of

both ands.

And that's what we're

dealing with here.

It says that he

took upon himself

the form of a servant

being born in the likeness

of man.

And I want you to understand

that in the incarnation,

what Jesus did

was take upon himself

human flesh,

not because it was

to his advantage,

but he did it

because of us.

Remember it says,

this is my body

for you.

I,

Jesus is saying,

became

human flesh

for your

sake.

And so this morning

as you take

that bread,

one of the things

that I would appeal

to you

to think about

is that the Lord

Jesus Christ

has for all

eternity

taken upon himself

the flesh

of mankind

and he did it

for you.

I wonder

whether or not

on occasion

you feel

that your flesh

is not very

wonderful,

valuable,

significant.

Let me tell you

something.

Hello.

As we get older

we begin

becoming

more and more

painfully aware

of the fact

that the flesh

we have

is not all

that we wish

it were.

How many of you

understand what

I just said?

I was pondering

the fact

that I think

the prime

of life

physiologically

is probably

between about

20 and

28 or 30.

After that

it just begins

to metastasize

or I shouldn't

say metastasize

but it begins

to kind of

go downhill

and I don't

care how hard

you work at it

it is all

marked by more

increased difficulty

and pain

and suffering

etc.

And if you're

really wondering

how it plays

out

all you have

to do

is read

Ecclesiastes

chapter

what?

12.

And yet

Jesus

took upon

himself

flesh

for our

sake.

I want you

to recognize

secondly

that when

Jesus said

this is

my body

he was also

speaking about

his crucifixion.

Not only

did Jesus

take upon

himself

human flesh

and that

human flesh

remains to

this day

when we

see him

in heaven

we are

going to

see him

with our

eyes

and we

will know

that he

is who

he is

by virtue

of his

human form

not just

an apparition

or a

vague shape

but the

reality

of his

form.

Remember

after the

resurrection

Jesus said

to Thomas

what?

Behold

my hands

and my

feet.

Go ahead

put your

hand

in that

place.

Remember

he took

something to

eat

and he

says hey

I'm flesh

and blood

because you're

seeing me

eat.

can you

imagine

just a

little piece

of chewed

fish

going down

no

he ate

flesh

and I

want you

to understand

when we

think about

Jesus

and we

think about

the reality

of his

body

we're

thinking

not only

of the

incarnation

but also

of his

crucifixion.

He died

for us.

It was

his body

that suffered

the terrible

abuse of the

Roman soldiers.

It was

his body

that suffered

the torture

of crucifixion.

I want you

to look at

a couple

different passages

in relationship

to this

to clearly

fix in

your mind

what happened

to his

body and

its significance.

Turn in

the book

of Hebrews

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10

and incidentally

as you're

going to

Hebrews

I want you

to understand

that the

book of

Hebrews

is

listen to

me

carefully

it is

predominantly

a

Christocentric

book.

It's all

about Jesus

and what

it does.

Hebrews

I think

is kind

of a

summarized

Old Testament.

Now what

do I mean

by summarized?

It's cliff

notes on

the Old

Testament.

Now some

of you here

know cliff

notes better

than you

should.

What I

mean by

that is

that the

book of

Hebrews

just gives

us this

grand

overview

of the

glory of

the Lord

Jesus

Christ.

And I

want you

to look

at several

different passages

where the

issue of

Christ's

sacrifice

for us

comes to

light.

Hebrews

Hebrews 10:5–7

chapter 10

verse 5

through 7

Consequently

when Christ

came into

the world

he said

sacrifices

and offerings

you have

not desired

but a

body

have you

prepared

for me

in burnt

offerings

and sin

offerings

you have

taken

no

pleasure.

Now was

God

overly

impressed

when the

Old Testament

saint

brought a

goat

or a

sheep

or a

bull

or something

like that

and offered

it for

a sin

sacrifice

no

that

sacrifice

was accepted

on the

basis

of Christ

someday

coming

and being

the perfect

sacrifice

and Hebrews

reminds us

of that

it says

there in

verse 7

then I

said

behold

I have

come

to do

your

will

O

God

for

it

as

it

is

written

of me

in the

scroll

of the

book

when he

said

above

you have

neither

desired

nor

taken

pleasure

in

sacrifices

and

offerings

and

burnt

offerings

and

sin

offerings

these

are

offered

according

to

the

law

then if

you

will

move

ahead

there

to

verse

10

through

14

and

by

that

will

we

have

been

sanctified

through

the

offering

of

the

body

of

Jesus

Christ

once

for

all

now

how

many

of

you

value

actual

words

in the

Bible

they

mean

something

to

you

what

does

once

for

all

mean

help

me

here

what

does

once

for

all

mean

twice

again

again

what

you

might

do

is

actually

underline

the

words

once

for

all

in

your

Bible

so

you

understand

that

the

sacrifice

of

Christ

only

happened

once

you

read

what

it

says

there

and

every

priest

stands

daily

at

his

service

offering

repeatedly

the same

sacrifice

which

can

never

take

away

sins

the

Old

Testament

priest

every

day

he

would

offer

a

sacrifice

and

that

sacrifice

essentially

really

did not

have any

salvific

basis

or benefit

in other

words

it didn't

actually

in itself

accomplish

anything

what it

did

was it

reflected

to the

day

that

someday

God

would

provide

the

perfect

sacrifice

namely

his

own

son

the

Lord

Jesus

Christ

who

would

die

for

our

sins

and

how

many

times

would

he

die

for

our

sins

what's

the

answer

once

for

all

but

when

Christ

had

offered

for

all

times

a

single

sacrifice

by the

way

why

do

you

think

it's

repeated

like

this

over

and

over

again

any

idea

when

God

repeats

something

close

together

he's

probably

trying

to get

our

attention

would

you

agree

!

that

how

many

of

you

have

ever

dealt

with

your

children

you

really

wanted

to

make

a

point

don't

play

in

the

street

really

I'm

telling

you

do

not

play

in

the

street

in

fact

if

you

you

could

go

off

and

you

will

make

this

point

very

clear

and

we

find

there

first

of

all

once

for

all

in

verse

10

and

then

we

find

there

again

it

reminds

us

in

verse

12

offered

for

all

times

a

single

sacrifice

for

sins

he

sat

down

at

the

right

hand

of

God

waiting

for

that

time

until

his

enemies

should

be

made

a

footstool

for

his

feet

for

by

a

what's

the

next

word

look

at

it

a

single

offering

he

has

perfected

for

all

times

those

who

are

being

sanctified

everybody

smile

at me

so

you

follow

this

hey

are

you

actually

going

to

get

better

as

you

get

older

in

Jesus

what's

the

answer

from

that

passage

I'm

as

good

as

it

gets

now

that's

a

little

frustrating

when I

know

me

privately

right

but

what

does

it

say

let's

read

the

passage

so

we

don't

miss

it

okay

for

by

a

single

offering

he

has

perfected

for

all

times

those

who

are

being

sanctified

when

we

come

to

faith

we

receive

the

righteousness

of

God

placed

on

our

account

and

that

righteousness

is

all

that

we

ever

will

need

am I

right

are

we

as

good

as

we

will

get

once

we

are

in

Christ

Jesus

the

answer

from

that

text

is

yes

he

has

done

his

work

and

we

have

been

blessed

by

that

I

want

you

to

look

now

at

another

passage

in

relationship

to

this

matter

of

his

crucifixion

and

you're

in

the

book

of

Hebrews

turn

back

just

a

little

bit

to

Hebrews

Hebrews 2:14–16

chapter

2

verse

14

through

16

Hebrews

Hebrews 2 · chapter mention

chapter

2

now

by

the

way

don't

you

like

being

able

to

turn

in

your

Bible

and

actually

see

where

it

is

for

yourself

do

you

follow

that

it's

not

up

here

you

know

I'm

going

to

tell

you

something

that

I

read

today

on

the

newspaper

it's

in

the

Bible

right

or

there

were

men

500

years

ago

that

thought

no

it's

in

the

Bible

and

so

you

look

here

it

says

!

who's

the

children

who

are

the

children

you

me

we're

flesh

and

blood

are

we

not

since

therefore

the

children

share

in

flesh

and

blood

he

himself

likewise

partook

of

the

same

things

what's

that

a

reference

to

his

incarnation

right

partook

of the

same

things

that

through

death

he

might

destroy

the

one

who

has

the

power

of

death

that

is

the

devil

and

deliver

all

those

who

through

fear

of

death

were

subject

to

lifelong

slavery

for

surely

it

is

not

angels

that

he

helps

but

he

helps

the

offspring

of

Abraham

I want

you to

recognize

this

morning

as you

think

about

what

Jesus

has

done

for

you

I

want

you

to

understand

that

when

he

made

that

statement

there

that

was

passed

on

to

Paul

and

Paul

gave

to

the

church

at

Corinth

and

we

take

my

body

you're

thinking

about

the

fact

that

Jesus

Christ

became

flesh

for

you

you're

also

thinking

about

the

fact

that

Jesus

Christ

died

for

you

his

body

sacrificed

for

your

sins

and

in

your

place

and

so

when

we

take

the

bread

we're

thinking

about

the

fact

that

not

only

was

Jesus

incarnate

in

the

flesh

but

also

that

Jesus

died

in

my

place

one

of

the

things

that

I

have

often

said

when

I

am

at

a

funeral

for

a

person

who

is

a

believer

and

here

is

this

person

who

is

their

spirit

has

gone

to be

with

the

Lord

Jesus

and

what

remains

is

just

this

body

that

is

going

to

be

resurrected

at

the

resurrection

of

the

dead

great

fact

the

body

will

actually

come

out

and

be

restored

isn't

that

going

to

be

great

I

think

I

that

Jesus

was

willing

to

become

flesh

and

to

die

in

my

place

and

his

death

means

that

my

death

is

not

like

it

could

have

been

at

the

funeral

I

will

say

for

those

who

are

believers

Jesus

died

his

or

her

death

do

you

know

what

that

means

the

eternal

consequence

and

terror

that

comes

to

the

unbeliever

with

death

has

been

cared

for

on

the

cross

and

Jesus

died

in

my

place

and

in

that

other

person's

place

who's

now

with

Christ

I

want you

to think

of a

third

thing

that

Jesus

meant

when

he

said

this

is

my

body

he

was

referring

also

to

his

resurrection

he

was

speaking

of

his

resurrection

when

Jesus

took

on

human

flesh

and

remains

human

flesh

and

when

Jesus

offered

his

body

for

our

sins

there

is

something

that

happened

following

that

in

that

he

rose

again

from

the

dead

we

celebrate

resurrection

Sunday

when we

just

absolutely

have a

blast

recognizing

the

fact

that

Christ

Jesus

is

not

in

the

grave

he

is

risen

from

the

dead

and

his

resurrection

means

a lot

to

us

death

and

corruption

are

a

horrible

fact

that

remind

us

that

sin

has

come

into

the

world

isn't

that

true

all

you

have

to

do

is

you

have

to

go

and

see

what

has

happened

as

individuals

are

dying

and

you

can

remind

yourself

this

is

happening

because

of

sin

and

yet

we

take

comfort

in

the

fact

that

after

death

for

the

believer

there

is

a

resurrection

to

life

he

rose

again

and

his

resurrection

has

wonderful

implications

for us

who know

the

Lord

Jesus

turn in

your

Bible

you

are

there

in

Hebrews

but

I

want

you

to

go

back

now

if

you

will

the

first

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

Corinthians

chapter

15

first

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

Corinthians

chapter

15

if

you

look

at

1

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

Corinthians

chapter

15

picking

up

there

in

verse

20

it

says

but

in

fact

Jesus

has

raised

from

the

dead

the

first

fruits

of

those

who

fallen

asleep

for

as

by

a

man

came

death

by

a

man

also

come

has

come

also

the

resurrection

of

the

dead

for

as

in

Adam

all

die

are

we

going

to

die

if

Christ

Jesus

does

not

return

first

in

the

rapture

then

I

guess

the

fact

of

the

matter

is

is

that

every

one

of

us

here

are

eventually

going

to

die

and

here's

what

it

says

look

at

the

passage

it

says

for

as

in

Adam

all

die

so

also

in

Christ

shall

all

be

made

alive

but

each

in

his

own

order

Christ

the

first

fruits

then

at

his

coming

those

who

belong

to