The Body Of Christ
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Greetings…
God, within the pages of the bible, uses several different metaphors to describe the church.
We such metaphors as the…
Bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:25-32).
Building of God (1 Corinthians 3:9-17).
House of God (1 Timothy 3:15).
Flock of God (Acts 20:28).
However, there is one metaphor that is used more often than all the rest for the church and that metaphor is, “The Body Of Christ.”
Specifically we find this phrase 4 times but it is referred to many other times such as in Colossians 1:18).
If God uses this metaphor so often there must be a good reason for it.
This morning, I want to explore that reason.
A Healthy Body Has All Its Parts
A Healthy Body Has All Its Parts
Finding Our Place
Finding Our Place
As we all know, the physical body that God created for us has many and various body parts and each of them depend to one degree or the other on each other.
Yet, they are all different and have different functions.
The legs depend on the feet, the hands on the arms, the head on the neck and so forth.
Rienk Bouke Kuiper once stated…
As the beauty of the human body is brought out by the variety of its parts, so the glory of the body of Christ appears in the diversity of its members.
Because we are all unique people and we all have our own likes, dislikes, abilities, talents, etc., it can sometimes seem daunting to find our place in the church.
So how do we find our place in the local church i.e., how do we determine which part of the body we are?
First, we determine where our strengths and weaknesses are individually (Romans 12:4-8).
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. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;
7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
Second, we get to work “in the church” where our strengths are so as to bless the church and bring value to it through our role as whatever body part we end up fulfilling (1 Corinthians 12:14-27).
14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.
17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be?
20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,
23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.
26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. 27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
It is important to remember as well, that different body parts are stronger than others, but we are not to despise the weaker parts of the body.
It must be stated as well that “weaker” does not indicate less important, but simply fills a role that is “less known.”
Take the appendix for example, it was only recently that modern science has even determined what it was used for, and now that they know they are far less quick to remove it.
Summary
Summary
When we find where what are strengths are we must get busy building up the church through the value we bring the church in the cause of Christ.
Each person’s contribution cannot be fully quantified because each Christian is indispensable to the body of Christ.
Being a part of the body of Christ means we need to find our place in the church and offer our valuable contributions to the church.
What we also learn from this metaphor is that…
A Healthy Body Needs A Balanced Diet
A Healthy Body Needs A Balanced Diet
We Can Easily Gravitate To Extremes
We Can Easily Gravitate To Extremes
If you allow a child to eat whatever they “want to eat” for each meal their diet will likely, unless heavily influenced by adults consist of ice cream, pizza, and any number of other junk food.
As adults we, typically learn the value of a more balanced diet, whether we adhere to that knowledge is a different story.
In the our spiritual walk with God, we can easily gravitate to extremes as well.
We can focus on subjects that do not contradict and yet we focus on them as if they do such as…
Law VS Grace
Love VS Obedience
Heaven VS Hell
Exhortation VS Correction
I’m reminded of what Moses wrote to the children of Israel in Deuteronomy 5:32.
32 You shall be careful therefore to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
Our spiritual feasting upon God’s word must be balanced.
It is very important to focus on the love of God, without question, because…
8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
However, it is just as important to focus on God’s justice and judgment.
5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 He will render to each one according to his works:
7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.
Summary
Summary
We must hunger and thirst after Christ and his word (Matthew 5:6) without question.
But our hunger and thirst must not be satisfied with only “one aspect” of God’s precious message, but rather the “whole counsel of God.”
What is something else we can learn from this metaphor about the church being the body of Christ?
Cancer In The Body Must Be Treated
Cancer In The Body Must Be Treated
It Cannot Be Left Unchecked
It Cannot Be Left Unchecked
No one thinks it is a good idea to “ignore cancer” when it is discovered.
It might be the case that one doesn’t know they have it and thus by the time it is discovered it cannot be treated, but everyone wishes they had found it quicker so that it could have been treated.
The body of Christ cannot afford to let cancer grow unchecked as well.
In the same way cancer will ravage the body and destroy it eventually, so too will leaven or sin in the church.
6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?
9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
15 And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”
Sometimes the cancer cannot be treated with medication and the only way to treat it is to cut it out.
With the body of Christ this is the case when someone refuses to remove the sin from their lives and they must be cut off to spare the death of the entire body.
15 If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
10 As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him,
13 God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”
Summary
Summary
In the same way cancer cannot be left unchecked in the body without killing the body, neither can sin in the body of Christ.
It must be cured or cut off, these two are the only options.
Lastly, we learn from this metaphor of the body of Christ…
A Body Dies Separated From The Head
A Body Dies Separated From The Head
Christ Is The Head Not The Body
Christ Is The Head Not The Body
Christ has all authority both in heaven and on earth.
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
Christ is the head of the body because he is in charge of the body.
22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
The body of Christ must always be careful not to assume they have any authority over the head.
By that I mean the church has no authority to make any spiritual decision without the authority given it by the head, Christ Jesus.
17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
If the body of Christ ever tries to “usurp its authority” it will be cut off and removed from the head by Christ himself.
To the church at Ephesus Jesus said…
4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.
To the church at Pergamum Jesus said…
16 Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth.
To the church at Laodicea who can forget what Jesus said to them…
15 I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.
Summary
Summary
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Christ and because of such we are all subject to him.
As I saw someone mention the other day, “a sin is a sin whether “i” call it a sin or not.”
Conclusion
Conclusion
The metaphor used in the scriptures concerning the “Body Of Christ” is a powerful one indeed.
Let us never forget the valuable lessons we learn from such a metaphor.
Each person in the local church is a different body part but all are useful and needed.
The body needs a balanced diet to be truly healthy.
If cancer is found in the body of Christ, it must be cured or cut off.
The body cannot survive separated from the head.
Invitation
1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; 2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent
33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
32 Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.
8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
