Existing for the Whole

Romans 12:4-5 ESV

4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

I think that the goal of every person in this world is to somehow feel whole, or complete. We all want to feel as though we are fully experiencing what it is that we want to experience, because we don’t want to miss out on anything that we think we may like.

Now, the reason why this is, is because of what Solomon tells us in the book of Ecclesiastes; God has placed eternity in the heart of man. In other words, in all areas of our lives, we naturally long for an eternal aspect of what it is that we desire to experience.

So, for example, if I want to go on a vacation, my ultimate goal is for that vacation to be so grand, so marvelous that that vacation satisfies every last longing in my heart.

Now, obviously that cannot happen, no vacation could ever satisfy every longing of my heart, but though that is the case, I can still take advantage of what is available in order for me to experience the best vacation that I could possibly experience.

I could turn my phone off, relax somewhere quiet and peaceful, take a nice nap, do the kind of things to make my vacation as good as it can possibly be for me, because having the vacation be as good as I want it to be just isn’t possible. But to not do the things that can make my vacation as good as it could possibly be, defeats the purpose of trying to enjoy my vacation.

Now, like I said, because God has placed eternity in our hearts it is natural for us to desire those things that we enjoy, to satisfy us eternally. But there are two problems with that.

The first problem is that there is nothing in this world that could ever satisfy us eternally. The second problem is that even if there was something in this world that could satisfy us eternally, we could not experience the eternal satisfaction that it offers with the world being in the imperfect state that it is in.

There is only One Who can fully satisfy and do so eternally, and that One is He Who eternally is. That One of course, is God. Thus, it only makes sense that we seek God to fulfill our eternal desires.

But being in the imperfect state that this world is in, we cannot even experience God to the full. We won’t experience that until we leave this world as it is.

But while that is the case, we should take advantage of everything that God has made available for us to experience Him as much as we possibly can, because to not take advantage of what He’s given us for this purpose robs us of the sanctifying grace that God offers us through it.

And one of the greatest advantages that I see so many who claim to be Christians neglecting is the regular gathering of saints for the corporate worship of God.

I hear it all time; “You don’t have to go to church to be a Christian! I can read the Bible at home all by myself! And I do all the time!” or “The Bible doesn’t say that I have to go to church!” to which I will say, “Well, it actually does say that you have to go to church.” Then every once in a while, after I say that, I’ll throw in there, “And yet you say you that you read your Bible all the time?”.

I tell people, “Sure, you can not come to church and be a Christian, but why would you want to do that?” That’s like being able to eat a New York strip and choosing to eat a bologna sandwich instead.

God gave the Church first of all, for His own glory, but also, for our own benefit. That we might come together in the assembly of the saints and experience Him in a way like no other.

The Church is for the good of the believer, and therefore the believer is not only to attend worship with devoted regularity, but he is to also freely give to God’s Church that which God has freely given to him, so that together, God’s Church will function more and more effectively as the body that it is.

Throughout this series, we have discussed how we are to sacrifice our entire selves to God for His service. We said that this is accomplished throughout time as our minds become more and more renewed in the things of God.

Then last week we said that as those who have been born again, those who have freely been given what we have received, we must never act as though we are better than other believers who may not have received what we have freely received. It was God’s will to give, and He gave what He has given to who He has been pleased to give it to, not because of who we are, but in spite of who we are.

In our reading for today, we see Paul continuing with this line of reasoning when he says, first of all, in verse 4:

Romans 12:4 ESV

4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function,

So, this verse starting with the word “for” lets us know that what Paul is going to be saying here is in connection with what comes before it.

Now, last week in our message we covered what comes before this verse. In our message last week, we talked about the humility that a genuine Christian must possess and how the individual Christian is to use what God has freely given him for the mutual edification of the entire church.

God freely gives us what He gives us not so that we can brag about what God has freely given to us as individuals to those whom God has chosen to freely give a different gift to. No, God gives us what He gives us for the good of everyone in the church.

The example that Paul gives of this in this verse is the body, and the members of the body.

Each person has one body. But the body, though it is one, it consists of many different members. You have one body, but in that body you have a nose, arms, legs, hands, feet, elbows, knees, and many other members. These are all different members that share the same body.

And not only is the one body made up of many different members, but each member has its own individual function that the other members do not have. And each member is equally important to the functioning of the entire body.

For example, because of my nose, I can smell all kinds of things, that is the function of my nose. My eyes though, can’t smell anything. But what my eyes can do is see, which my nose can’t do. Thus, I need my nose to smell, and I need my eyes to see. Both members are of the one body, yet each serves a different function.

Obviously, this can and should be said about every member of the body. Every member of the body, whether it be our ears, our toes, our fingers, our hands, our legs, our knees, whatever they may be, they have their own function that they are responsible for, a function that no other member can perform.

Well, Paul then compares the body and the many members that it possesses to the Church, when he says in verse 5:

Romans 12:5 ESV

5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

Paul begins this verse with the words, “so we”. The “so” here signifies that he is going to compare what he had just said with what he is going to say now. And the “we” in this verse refers not only to the universal Church, but it also refers to individual orthodox Christian congregations.

Thus, Paul says that “we, though many”. Thus, the “we”, individual churches are many in that they always consist of more than one member. But though we are many, we “are one body”. Thus, just like a body, though we are one, we have many members of the one body.

But most of all, Paul says that we as individual churches are one body “in Christ”. To be “in Christ” signifies union with Christ. In other words, we are one body of many members who have been saved by Christ and brought into relation with Christ. It is our union with Him that ties us together; we exist because of Christ’s work and for Christ’s purpose.

But look at what else he says. He says that we, though many members, are one body in Christ, “and individually members of one another”.

So here we see Paul returning to the aspect of individual members. He says that though we are many members, we exist to belong to the single body so that we may assist one another.

Going back to what was said before, though we have one body and many members in our individual bodies that serve their own functions, the members of our individual bodies nonetheless work together to serve one another.

For example, it might be my desire to smell a rose; that’s something that my nose has to do. But in order for my nose to do that, I need to use my feet and legs to walk to the rose, then I need to use my hands to pick the rose up, then I need to use my neck to bend my head down to the rose, then my nose can finally smell the rose.

So, while my legs, my feet, my hands, and my neck can’t smell, they all need to be used in order for my nose to smell the rose in this scenario.

In the same way there is something that only you can do or that only I can do in the collective body of believers, but we need each other in order to do it.

Now, I’m sure that you have probably heard a ton of sermons in the past about how everybody can do something in the church. Somebody can preach, somebody can sing, somebody can cook, somebody can sweep, somebody can take out the trash; but that’s not what I’m talking about here.

We may not always see it, we may not always recognize it, but we need one another.

It’s just like I talked about when I described smelling the rose a few minutes ago. I use all of those different members to accomplish the one task of smelling the rose. And though I use all of those members to accomplish that one task, I will probably take for granted all of the other members that were used to accomplish it.

All that I will probably focus on is what my nose done there; it smelled the rose. But without my other members doing what they are assigned to do, I would have never been able to smell the rose. Chances are though, I won’t even think about what those other members have accomplished.

We may not see it here, we may not recognize it here, but each and every one of us, every member of this body is needful. I may not see it for everything that it is worth, you may not see it for everything that it is worth, but we need every one of us. We are all needful, even if it is only fully recognized and apprehended in the spiritual realm.

Thus, we are called to offer our entire selves as a living sacrifice to God. We do this through the renewal of our minds as a result of consistently delving into the things of God. That then results in a humility that recognizes that everything that we have has been freely given to us by God.

And recognizing that everything that we have has been freely given to us by God causes us to recognize that what we have is not and never has been ours to begin with. What we have is what God freely gave to us, not because we are more impressive than others or because we asked, and others did not ask. Rather, we recognize that we have what we have because God willed to give us what we have. And what others have, they have because God willed to give them what they have.

Furthermore, everything, everyone in the body is needful for the full functioning of the body. This is something that we must all humbly recognize.

You may wonder why you have this and someone else has that… I don’t know why. But what I do know is that God has willed for us and fitted us to need one another to maximize His glory.

So together, let us maximize His glory!

Amen?