Tuesday, March 25, 2008

The Incarnation of Christ Through His Body, The Church

We may be a good church, but we still "represent Christ badly often". How do we handle it with unbelievers when we don't represent Christ the way we should? Romans 12:

1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.



What was the purpose of Christ's actual human body?






So what does the metaphor of the "Body" of Christ mean for us?

Romans 12:

3 For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.
4 For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function,
5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
6 Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith;
7 if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching;
8 or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

I Corinthians 12:

12 For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.
13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
14 For the body is not one member, but many.
15 If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body.
16 And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body.
17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?
18 But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.
19 If they were all one member, where would the body be?
20 But now there are many members, but one body.
21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”
22 On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary;
23 and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable,
24 whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked,
25 so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.
26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
27 Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.



Perhaps the most important observation from the metaphor is that the body must be subject to the head. You want to know how to have unity in the church? Listen to this next clip. If we shouldn't think to highly of ourselves and be in submission to one another, how much more should we be in submission to Christ?



Labels: , , , ,

2 Comments:

Blogger Mark Pemberton said...

Powerful stuff bro. Praying for our pastor to throw us some meat like this. Still getting cookies and milk...

Wed Mar 26, 11:06:00 AM GMT-5  
Blogger Jim Pemberton said...

"...throw us some meat..." LOL! You sound like ravenous lions. Our pastor does throw us meat like this - you can listen online. Sundays are usually posted by Tuesday: Sunday evenings also. This is just Sunday School.
BTW, they've also been posting some of our Equipping University classes. I've been taking Brian Burgess' class this past quarter and auditing Jeff Spry's and Brian Pestotnik's classes while I'm at work.

Wed Mar 26, 11:29:00 AM GMT-5  

Post a Comment

<< Home