Series:
The Call - Lesson 5[HOME] [UP] [WORLDSCOPE] [FEEDBACK] [POST OFFICE] [THE JESUS FILES] [BOOK EXPRESS] [SEARCH]
Series:
The Call - Lesson 5
"There is one body and one Spirit... From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work" Ephesians 4:4, 16 (see also 1:22-23: Romans 12:4-5:1 Corinthians 12:12-27).
The Apostle Paul uses the picture of the human body to portray the spiritual unity of all believers. This spiritual Body is formed by the work of the Holy Spirit. When a person believes that Jesus' death and resurrection was for him and receives Him into his life, the Holy Spirit "baptises" him into the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13). The Spirit not only unites Christians to Christ, but also bonds us to one another. Jesus, in heaven, is the Head and every believer on earth is His Body (Ephesians 4:15).
"Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ WE WHO ARE MANY FORM ONE BODY, and each member belongs to all the others" Romans 12:4-5 (see also 1 Corinthians12:12).
Each believer is a particular part of the Body of Christ. Just as the physical body has organs and systems with special functions to give life to the whole body, so it is with the Church. Each believer has a special function to fulfil so that the whole Body can grow in Christ and be strong.
"But we are meant to hold firmly to the truth in love, and to grow up in every way into Christ, the Head. For it is from the Head that the whole body, as a harmonious structure knit together by the joints with which it is provided, grows BY THE PROPER FUNCTIONING OF ITS INDIVIDUAL PARTS to its full maturity in love" Ephesians 4:15:16(Phillips).
"ls not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf" l Corinthians 10:16-17.
The central factor that joins Christians together is our common faith in the shed blood of Jesus on our behalf. This is the foundation of our fellowship together and of our ministry to one another.
"And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit" Ephesians 2:22.
The indwelling Holy Spirit is the life that fills the Body of Christ. It is the Holy Spirit. flowing through each believer, who ministers life from one to the other.
In 1 Corinthians 12 the Apostle Paul teaches concerning the Church as a Body, its many parts functioning through the gifts and ministries given by the Spirit (see also Ephesians 4:11-12). But in 1 Corinthians 13 he reveals what the HEART of the Body of Christ is, without which all the gifts and ministries will mean nothing -- LOVE.
Just as the physical body is the means of expressing the personality and nature of an individual (which by itself can't be seen), so the Body of Christ is the means of expression, by the Holy Spirit, of Christ's person -- His character, nature, mind and will; His life, love, ministry and power. It is through His Body that Christ, unseen in heaven, is revealed to the world (see Ephesians 3:9-10; 4:13).
Whatever our individual function may be, there are ways that all of us are to minister to one another.
"It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists. and some to be pastors and teachers " Ephesians 4:11 .
These five ministries are particular parts in the Body of Christ with the specific task of preparing God's people to fulfil their functions in His Body (verse 12), and, in doing so, to bring His Body to full maturity "attaining to the whole measure of the fulness of Christ" (verse 13).
Many of the different functions in the Body of Christ are listed in two passages: Romans 12:6-8 and 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 28-29. As we wait on the Lord and open our hearts to be used by the Holy Spirit, He will release us into our own specific function, the part that He has designed for us to play in ministering to others.
"Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, 'Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,' it would not for that reason cease to be a part of the body. And if the ear should say, 'Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,' it would not for that reason cease to be a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be" 1 Corinthians 12:14-18 (read the whole chapter).
Every individual believer's ministry to the Body is of vital important, for it is through each one fully functioning that the whole Body will grow to full maturity and the Lord Jesus Christ will be fully expressed to the world.
"For because of Him the whole body (the church, in all its various parts closely) joined and firmly knit together by the joints and ligaments with which it is supplied, when each part [with power adapted to its need] is working properly (in all its functions), grows up into maturity, buiIding itself up in love... for we are all parts of one body and members one of another" Ephesians 4:16,25 (Amp).
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Copyright © 1981,1996 Paul, Bunty and David Collins. All rights reserved. This study may be freely used and reproduced, wholly or in part, except for profit, provided copyright and contact information is included.
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