The Daily Word of Righteousness

The Development of Eternal Life, #7

Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:54—NIV)

But how do we eat His flesh and drink His blood?

The Communion service in which we eat the bread and drink the cup is an act of faith in which we call to remembrance the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. By so partaking we "show the Lord's death until he come" (I Corinthians 11:26). Also, we bring to mind the fact that He is our life, His body and blood being the eternal life in us.

The Word of God comes into our soul as the body and blood of Christ, which is the Substance of Christ. The Substance of Christ is created in us as the Holy Spirit brings the Word of God to the inner man.

We all have had the experience of coming away from the preaching of the Word of God feeling we have been fed in the inner man. In addition to the information and revelation that have enlightened our mind there is also a sense of something having been added inside of us. This is the body and blood of Christ, the Substance of the living Word of God, added to our inner man by the Holy Spirit.

The Word of God as the body and blood of Christ is typified by the Table of Showbread (Exodus 25:30). The Table of Showbread, and the wine that was poured out (Numbers 28:7) when sacrifices were offered for the nation of Israel, represent the body and blood of Christ. It is the Word of God in the form of the Substance of Christ. The Word of God anointed to our inner man adds to the formation of Christ in us (Galatians 4:19; I Peter 2:2).

The light in the Holy Place of the Tabernacle of the Congregation came at night from the golden Lampstand. We see the shining of the Holy Spirit on the Table of Showbread. This symbolism speaks to us of the manner in which the Holy Spirit radiates from Christ, revealing the showbread, the body and blood of Christ.

As the Holy Spirit of the new covenant shines through the ministries and gifts of the Spirit, the Christian people are able to behold the Glory of Christ. As we witness the Glory of God we are changed eternally; we are transformed in our personality; the eternal Life that is Christ is formed in us.

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (II Corinthians 3:18)

He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. (John 6:56)

As Christ is created in us we find we are becoming increasingly dependent on Him for all we are and do. As His likeness is created in us He Himself begins to "fill the temple."

As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. (John 6:57)

There is no gap between Christ and His Father. The union is complete and perfect in every respect. As we receive Christ into ourselves we begin to close the gap between Christ and us. No longer is He merely doing things for us. Increasingly it is true that He and we are becoming one in being, in thought, in action. This condition is more than just being saved. It is absorption into the Divine Godhead, a marriage, a oneness, an immersion in the river of eternal life.

To be continued.