Thursday, June 8, 2006
1 Corinthians 12:13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.
SINNERS MADE ONE IN THE SAVIOR'S FORGIVENESS
Jesus referred to the pouring out of the Spirit on Pentecost as a baptism. On the Day of Pentecost, God brought the Jews and Gentiles together and baptized them into one new body, the church. This is the true baptism of the Holy Spirit. And from then on they were part of the life of Jesus Christ and members of one another. What would happen to one would affect the others from then on. They could not be separated; they could not live their lives in isolation any longer; they were truly one body. One loaf.
When the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian Christians concerning the Lord's Supper, he noted: "Because there is one loaf, [one flat loaf of bread from which communicants received pieces broken off] we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf" (1 Cor 10:17).
But, unlike the bread of Passover, the loaves of the Old Testament offering on the ancient harvest festival (Pentecost) were not unleavened. At the LORD's express direction (Lev 23:17) they were baked with yeast. Because yeast is often a symbol of sin in scripture, this was highly unusual.
Wasn't thist our God's wonderful way of telling us that the church is not made up of perfect, sinless people? It is made up of forgiven sinners -- saints, believers who are cleansed by the sacrifice of Christ and are daily being changed -- transformed into the image of Christ.
In this beautiful loaf symbolism is the heart of the church. On the Day of Pentecost, right in line with His Old Testament pattern, the Holy Spirit came upon God's people. And what did He do? He took 120 isolated individuals who had been living their lives quite separately, and formed them into one body & the very Body of Christ. "For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body" (1 Cor 12:13).
