While reading in 1 Corinthians today I was struck by 1 Cor 10:17 which says
“Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.”
The “one bread” is Christ – he referred to himself as the ‘bread of life’ (John 6:35) and the church is his body and we are all members of it. (1 Cor 12:27).
Romans 12:5 also says that “…we are one body in Christ and individually members of one another.”
The unity of any church has to be Christ. Our bond in Christ as fellow believers, the gospel, the cross, and the grace demonstrated for us there has to be the strongest thing that binds us together. Not our programs, or our music, or our kids…Christ.
The Bible also says that we demonstrate this at communion. We eat the “one bread” at communion. ESV study note again is great here and it says “The Lord’s Supper, therefore, is an occasion when members of the church declare their unity with each other because of their common unity in Christ.”
When we gather to celebrate the Lord’s supper this Sunday, let’s remember it represents the body and blood of Christ – but also that our unity as the body of Christ the church is Christ himself.
Mike Ruel 