The Christian idea of an eternal soul

I think that it is fair to say that nearly all Christians believe that each individual possesses a soul but what does that mean? If I were asked for a definition and constrained to answer on the spot I would say that a person's soul is his or her essence created by God. A soul is non-material but uniquely linked to the physical body that a person inhabits through their life on Earth. It is also destined to dwell outside of time and space in that transcendent reality we call eternity. As backing for my answer, I would refer to the Christian beliefs that all people will ultimately be judged by their creator, that the Gospels present Jesus as understanding that his sacrifice on the Cross would enable all mankind to receive forgiveness of sins that would lead to eternal life, and that Christians since the earliest times (as recorded in Acts and the Epistles) have looked forward to 'seeing' God's kingdom come in its fullness -- whether alive in new bodies glorified by God. Science cannot prove or disprove that souls exist since they are non-material therefore, belief in their existence is a matter of faith. However, if one accepts that souls exist and that my definition is satisfactory, then one might ask many other questions. One that I am contemplating right now is....

If nearly all Christians believe that a non-material soul is the real substance (essence) of the flesh and bone of human bodies, than why should a great number of Christians reject the possibility that Jesus' essence inhabits the consecrated bread and wine served at communion? Consider that it is a material reality that a human being's physical life begins at its conception and, from that time, the human is developing and changing. First to a viable zygote, then an fetus, then a complete human baby, and so on unto adulthood. The non-material reality that I think most Christians would agree with, is that a human being is, in actuality, an eternal soul. Is the transformation of the Eucharistic elements any more of a miracle than how, at human conception, flesh and blood takes on an essence vastly superior to the dust from which it is created -- a God-created, human soul. How profound that Christ would require all those who would follow him to "eat his flesh and drink his blood" (John 6:53). If the substance of the wine and bread is actually the Body and Blood of Christ than partaking of it is a deeply intimate unification of our souls with Christ's in both the spiritual and material realms.