Body and Blood of Christ
Psalm 36:7-9 NRSV (7) How precious is your steadfast love, O God! All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings (8) They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. (9) For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.
In your light we see light.
Psalm 119:105 NLT Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.
Hebrews 4:12 AMP For the word of God is living and active and full of power [making it operative, energizing, and effective]. It is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as the division of the soul and spirit [the completeness of a person], and of both joints and marrow [the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and judging the very thoughts and intentions of the heart.
I recall a time I was studying the bible, and I came to this verse. I became acutely aware that God's word is alive.
Genesis 2:7 NIV Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
John 1:14 So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.
Jesus told us that we have no life in us unless we drink his blood and eat his flesh (John 6:56)
https://biblehub.com/john/6-56.htm : "In Jewish culture, eating flesh was a metaphor for internalizing teachings or ideas."
John 6:56 CEV If you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you are one with (in) me, and I am one with (in) you.
We eat the bible, Jesus' flesh, and have life/Christ in us. That’s why in the great commission Jesus told the disciples to teach his word/his commands, because we have Christ in us when we ingest these things.
I don't know what it means to actively drink the blood of Christ, so I'll keep studying after I'm done teaching today.
I do know that it was expressly written in the law to not drink blood, and Jesus made this statement to get people to stop wanting him to be king, but I’m sure it has some significant meaning. I’m just not sure what.
UPDATE AFTER TEACHING: Ok, so the blood represents forgiveness of sins because without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins plus Jesus states that it is representative of the new covenant and the forgiveness of sins. What I’m getting from God is that drinking the blood means living in forgiveness.
If I told you to drink what I’m telling you, you’d likely think, OK, so I’m supposed to have this become part of me and it’s going to fill my body with life. We are supposed to live in forgiveness. I tell you right now, I’ve been spending the last month forgiving people that recently hurt me, but I do hope to get to a point where I’m in a perpetual state of forgiveness, and I think that’s what Jesus means when he says drink his blood. “Have forgiveness be a part of you, and live in a state of fluid forgiveness. It should be gushing out of you.”
