Broken to make us united…

 

The term “broken” is often used by Christians to describe the way God deals with our selfishness. Instead of letting us be the boss of our lives, He ‘breaks’ that old nature using circumstances and other means to show us that the old person is dead in Christ and useless to God. However, when the NT speaks of Christ being the “Bread of life” and His body being broken for us, He had no sin to be dealt with.

In the NT, this metaphor is not literal nor about Jesus. His body was not broken, not one bone. Some decide this is an argument for Transubstantiation. Others say it signifies something about the church because the Bible also uses the term “body of Christ” when speaking of the church.

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, (Colossians 1:24)

When our church celebrates communion, Jesus is often quoted: “And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’” (Luke 22:19)

Each time I hear it, I tend to think of brokenness as first described — the way God deals with the old nature to ‘break’ our stubborn self-rule and bring us into a yielded body of believers. He wants us to be useful and fruitful to Him, united in our spirits.

As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:4–5)

The old nature cannot do any of this. “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned…” (1 Corinthians 2:14–15) Other verses describe this:

For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human? (1 Corinthians 3:4)
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19–20)

There is no way we can be the church without this experience of a changed life. The call to deny myself for the sake of love, to return good for evil, to forgive seventy times seven, to endure one another, and to keep on doing this with joy for fifty or sixty or eighty years is not possible to the natural human. It is only possible supernaturally as Jesus said:

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)

All of this says that this breaking of bread is more about the church than it is about the physical body of Jesus. One verse puts it this way:

The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? (1 Corinthians 10:16)

But what about the brokenness? Is it the process of becoming yielded? Or something else? Is it about the unity of many different members? Or about Christ giving His body so that the many could be one?

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.  For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.  For the body does not consist of one member but of many. (1 Corinthians 12:12–14)

Whatever Jesus meant, it was for us to remember. He died so that we could be His Body and when we take the bread, we need to remember that we are united to Him and to one another. As He said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” (1 Corinthians 11:24)

PRAY: Jesus, I do think of Your shed blood and Your battered body on that cross when I take communion. You prompt me to think also of those who take it along with me. We are one, unified because of You. I feel it and need to always remember it — as I remember all that You have done to make that unity possible; breaking sin’s hold on us by allowing Your own body to be nailed to that cross and allowing Your life to flow out that we might have life everlasting. 

Union with Christ

 
It is an amazing thing that God should unite Himself to those who believe in Him. It is a difficult and life-long process to learn that this is not only true but how to put it into practice — by living in His power instead of my own.

My friend LS said last week that our problem is discernment. Knowing the difference between ‘my will’ and His voice. For both of us, being a Christian most of our lives means that we have many good thoughts and ideas, yet we realize not all of them come from Jesus. Sometimes our ideas are just our ideas, not something the Lord is saying to us. Discernment between what is flesh and what is Spirit becomes more difficult as we age. He weeded out the obvious but that sinful self combined with the enemies lies seems to become more subtle.

That said, the Scriptures are so necessary. My old self will even try to twist them if I don’t keep  checking my ‘good ideas’ out before acting on them. On the other hand, there are some occasions when the difference is obvious. The will of God is so impressive and I know that I could never have thought the amazing ideas that He puts in my mind.

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:14–16)

Learning the difference — that is discernment, but having the mind of Christ and the Word of God makes the difference.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:12–13)

God did not leave me to figure this out with my own resources. Otherwise, clueless me would never know what is from Him and what I dream up. In my union with Christ, I can draw on His mind to help me discern what is what. Not only that, He already knows. I cannot hide anything from Him. I simply need to let Him and His Word do their job.

If this sounds like something only for mature believers, today’s reading points out that the following passages were spoken to new believers who were still very fleshy…

But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? (1 Corinthians 3:1–3)

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19–20)

This indwelling God is the possession of even the weakest and most immature believer in Christ. It is for babes in Christ as well as those who have been Christians for decades. Every believer is a “temple of the Holy Spirit” and all of us have access to the mind of Christ and to the Word of God to help us understand His will.

I’m thinking, the problem is not in having the ‘tools’ but not having the desire. That old sinful nature is dead, separated from God, yet it still tries to run my life and be glorified instead of yielding to God. Sin wants to be comfortable not disciplined, and do its own thing rather than the will of God. This is why we say our enemies are the world, the flesh, and the devil.

PRAY: God, I can resist the world, and I can realize the devil’s schemes, but my old flesh is somethings more subtle. Thank You that You gave me Jesus, the Holy Spirit and Your Word to help me discern the flesh and also say NO to it.

A temple for the Holy Spirit . . .

 

READ 1 Kings 6–9

The NT says that each Christian is a temple of the Holy Spirit, a place where God dwells. The OT describes the temple that Solomon built. Today’s reading sparks my imagination; I see parallels between the old literal builfing and the new spiritual reality.

For instance, when the house was built, it was with stone prepared at the quarry, so that neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built. (1 Kings 6:7) Similarly, God’s work in the life of a Christian is quiet. He does not broadcast our sin to the world nor His transforming work of cleansing — unless I make this known! Obedience is important to keep the work moving along (6:11–13) yet the focus is always on the inner person. God wants my heart beautiful, just as Solomon focused first on the inside of that OT sanctuary and covered it with pure gold. (6:21)

My life is guarded by unseen angels that touch every part of what I do, just as the cherubim in the temple touched all of its walls and each other. They too were overlaid with gold. (6:27–28) However, the outer court was full of windows, suggesting that I’m also to be open, transparent, a person of integrity easily seen, without deceit or pretense. (7:4–5) Costly materials were involved suggesting value and a sacrifice made to purchase them, a reminder of Christ and salvation. (7:8–9)

The OT tells of a workman and his helpers who were “full of wisdom, understanding, and skill for making any work” and who “did all his work.” These helpers were involved in the practical stuff as well as the ornate and beautiful décor (7:14; 40–47), pointing to the work of Jesus through the Holy Spirit to make my life useful and beautiful for His glory, even to the other people He uses to accomplish that!

Solomon’s temple stored all the treasures of the king and was dedicated to the Lord. Certainly this speaks of His NT people also. We are perfected by the presence of Christ in our lives and our total dedication to Him. He is our treasure. (7:51)

The ark of the Lord and all former activities of worship were sacrificed to God and put under the wings of the cherubim, a wonderful picture of a NT life dedicated to the God who creates and sustains it. While much of that life is unseen, what is seen is intended to evoke worship in His people. “King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered.” (8:4–9)

Yet we know that our bodies cannot contain the fullness of Almighty God, just as Solomon said: “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!” (8:27)

Even so, Solomon prayed great truths that are repeated in NT teaching. We know when we sin, we can turn to our Savior, acknowledging our sin and His power, and He will hear us and forgive our sins, whether they bring defeat, lack of fruit, emptiness, sickness, or unanswered prayer. (8:33–48) We also know that God gives us rest, keeps His promises, is always with us and He will “incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his rules . . . . that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God” just as Solomon prayed. And as happened back then, we will also bless our God and King for all his goodness. (8:56–66)

The Lord also says to us, “I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made before me. I have consecrated this house that you have built, by putting my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time” (9:3) He will never leave us or forsake us!

Like the OT, the NT warns about disobedience, not that we will lose our relationship with God but that the consequences of sin always detrimental to the joy He gives. This is where the OT story does not parallel NT reality. Those OT saints who failed to defeat some of their enemies were able to make slaves of them (9:20–21), but if I choose to live with sin, it becomes my taskmaster . . .  

Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. (Romans 6:16–18)

Praise God that He is building this temple where He has chosen to dwell. It is humbling to realize that He allows and enables me to participate in His work!