The Communion of the Body of Christ 1 Cor. 10:16-17 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

When you think of communion in church, the first thing that comes to mind is the Lord’s Supper.  However, in this sermon we are not going to deal with the Lord’s Supper.   We are going to deal with communion.  Communion is taking two or more things or people and making them one with each other, like combining the ingredients of a recipe and making a meal.  So, we are going to look at communion in the Bible and thereby learn more about the body of Christ.  In the Bible we see the communion of:

God with Man – Gen 1:26 – this is the communion of God with Adam – Adam was made in the image and likeness of God and they had unbroken fellowship with each other.

Man with his Wife – Gen 1:23-24 – this is the communion of Adam and Eve – Adam said that Eve was bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh – their union made one flesh – but notice several obvious observations

• First, a man has to leave his father and mother to cleave to his wife – the formation of the communion with his wife separates him to some degree from his family
• Second, the closer the new union matches the former communion, the better the new union will be – that is when a man and woman marry, they marry into families – his parents are going to be the grandparents of your children
• Third, the union with his wife was not intended to break his communion with God – so the new union needs to be formed in the Lord – and your mate should make your communion with the Lord even stronger, if possible – don’t marry “down” – you know what happened in Gen 3

Man with God – Gen 5:22-24 – here God initiates communion with Enoch, Adam’s offspring, and Enoch walked with God – but in so doing he was separated from his world community – the same thing happened with Noah in Gen 6:7-8 – Noah walked with God and God saved him when he destroyed the rest [all his brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, and nephews and nieces] – the world around you has its own communities that exclude God – and when you have communion with God, you must of necessity separate from these world communities.

God with Israel – Gen 12 – you are beginning to see the pattern – to have communion with God on his terms, you must separate from other communities – here Abram is told to leave his land and his family and go to a land which God promised to give him – in the process, the separation continued to his own children – Ishmael was run out of the house in Gen 21 and the children of Abraham by Keturah were separated from Isaac later in Gen 25 – eventually, Isaac’s children were divided and God said about them, “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated,” [Rom 9:13].

In Exodus 4:22-23, God told Pharaoh through Moses, “Israel is my son, even my firstborn: And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me…”  They had to leave Egypt, a type of the world, in order to inherit the promised land, a type of heaven, where they would have continual communion with God.  Eventually, Israel will be the leading nation of the world and will have uninterrupted communion with God [I will be their God and they shall be my people].  All other nations will have communion with God based on how they treat Israel.  They will have communion with him on his terms, not theirs.

Jesus with the Church – we are called into communion with him and called to separate from the world, consistent with the pattern that we have already seen – the church is a “called out assembly” – 1 Jn 1:3 we have fellowship with the Father and the Son – 2 Cor 13:13 and we have communion with the Holy Ghost – 2 Cor 6:14-18 we are called to come out from among them and be separate – Acts 2:44 they had all things common – Matt 10:36 the foes of a man following Jesus will be they of his own household – Eph 4 we have “one” body, Spirit, hope, Lord, faith, baptism, God and Father – Acts 20:29-30 we are threatened by grievous wolves from the outside and heretics on the inside.

Conclusion: If you are not saved, Jesus desires communion with you – Is 45:22, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God and there is none else.”

If you are saved, when you make life’s decisions, weigh the “communion of the body of Christ” into your decisions – your choice of whom to befriend, your choice of whom to court or date, your choice of where to attend school, and your choice of which church to join should all be made in light of what those choices will do to your communion with the Lord and with the body of Christ.