Our church and the Body of Christ, Turn your bibles to Ephesians 1:22-23
And God has put all things under the authority of Christ, and he gave him this authority for the benefit of the church.
And the church is his body; it is filled by Christ, who fills everything everywhere with his presence.
Christ fills the church with gifts and blessings. The church should be the full expression of Christ, who himself fills everything. When we read this section in Ephesians, it is written to the whole church, everyone, not just choice individuals. Christ is the Head and we are the body of His church, the image of the body shows the churches togetherness and unity, each member is involved with each other to perform works of Christ on earth. We should not attempt, to work, worship or serve on our own. We need the entire body.
Col 1:18 Christ is the head of the church, which is his body. He is the first of all who will rise from the dead, so he is first in everything.
Col 1:24 I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am completing what remains of Christ's sufferings for his body, the church.
Christ is the first of all who will rise from the dead. Jesus was raised from death and his resurrection proves his lordship over the material world. All who trust in Christ will also defeat death and rise again to live eternally with him. Because of Christ’s death on the cross, he has been elevated to the status that was rightfully His. Because Christ is spiritually supreme in the universe surly we should give him first place in all our thoughts and activities.
Paul is saying that suffering is unavoidable in bring the Good News of Christ to the world. It is called Christ’s suffering because all Christians are related to Christ. When we suffer, Christ feels it along with us. But this suffering can be endured joyfully because it changes lives, and brings people to God’s Kingdom.
Good morning everyone, as always I have been under severe attack as always, just to have my words in order today, it is what we call the disappearing of columns of words, which might add a great deal to our lesson today, Satan does not want the word of God and truth to get out to the people of the world, He wants it hidden, not to be told, or have peoples ears muffled and not to be able to listen or read the Good News of Jesus Christ, and the Body, the church. We are trying to do a comparison of the Body of believers and the church, how they are one, with of course Christ as the head. He is the importance of our lives and the only true directive of truth towards God, man, and the church. He is the church, the bride of Christ, that is why he brings up relationships about the blend of love between husband and wife, and how they should care for one another, the way Christ loved the church.
Dear Heavenly Father please this day let our people, your people, fully understand the truth of your word, and not what I speak, but what the Spirit of God speaks, and how the Spirit directs us to a worship of learning of the true church of Jesus Christ, and the importance of being whole, with unity, and togetherness within our hearts and souls, to know our church, and the head of the church, and the love of the church and the many members to form a perfect union, as the body of Christ. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Rom.12:4-5 Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ's body. We are all parts of his one body, and each of us has different work to do. And since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others.
Paul uses this concept of the human body to teach and live and work together. Just as the parts of the body functions under direction of the brain, so Christians are to work together under the command and the authority of Jesus Christ.
Eph.2:16 Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.
What this verse also ties into, would be verse 15, Christ wanted to end the angry resentment between the Jews and the Gentiles. Christ died to abolish that whole system of Jewish laws. Then he took the 2 groups that had been against each other and made them parts to Himself, Basically one new person, he wanted to make one body out of the two, In other words he wanted to make one body of believers together, to be one with Himself.
Eph. 4:4-7 We are all one body, we have the same Spirit, and we have all been called to the same glorious future. There is only one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and there is only one God and Father, who is over us all and in us all and living through us all. However, he has given each one of us a special gift according to the generosity of Christ.
All believers in Christ belong to one body, and all are united under one head Christ Himself, Each believer has God given abilities that can strengthen the whole body together Each and every one of us has a special ability, no mater if it is small or large, and we are all useful together for His service. We should all seek the Lord to find our gifts and understand them as we join and contribute to the strength and the health and well being of the body of believers. Each one of us is important to each other as a whole, the body of Christ.
Eph.5:21-30 And further, you will submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. You wives will submit to your husbands as you do to the Lord. For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of his body, the church; he gave his life to be her Savior. As the church submits to Christ, so you wives must submit to your husbands in everything.
And you husbands must love your wives with the same love Christ showed the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by baptism and God's word.He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man is actually loving himself when he loves his wife. No one hates his own body but lovingly cares for it, just as Christ cares for his body, which is the church. And we are his body.
We all have to look at this very carefully, submitting to another person is an often misunderstood concept, it does not mean becoming a doormat. Christ submitted His will to the Father and we honor Christ by following His example. When we submit to God, we become more willing to obey His command to submit to others, in marriage relationships, both husbands and wives are called to submit to each other. Submission is rarely a problem in homes where both partners have a strong relationship with Christ and where each is concerned of the happiness of the other. In other words all parts of the family should submit to each other whether they are slaves, children, wives, or husbands, and even yourself, it all concludes that we are the part of the body and all are a piece of the body, and all must love each part and show respect and love and concern for all of the participating family, which also is the church. It all increases love and harmony within the body of Christ, Just as Christ served his disciples by washing of there feet so thus the husband and wife must act in the same approach to serve one another to help on another to submit to on another. Christ’s death makes the church Holy and clean, He cleanses us from the old ways of sin and sets us apart for his sacred service. Christ cleansed the church by the washing of baptism. Through baptism we are prepared for the entrance of the church. It is Gods word that cleanses us, we are all one body, again we should have special care for all the members and family, Christ loved the church in comparison showing how we should live, and respect each other and compare it with the marriage of Christ to the church as one.
Eph. 4:14-16 Then we will no longer be like children, forever changing our minds about what we believe because someone has told us something different or because someone has cleverly lied to us and made the lie sound like the truth. Instead, we will hold to the truth in love, becoming more and more in every way like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. Under his direction, the whole body is fitted together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.
Christ is the truth, and the Holy Spirit who guides the church, is the spirit of truth, Satan by contrast is the father of lies, We as followers of Christ we must be committed to the truth. This means that both our words should be honest and that our actions should reflect Christ’s integrity, Holding to the truth in love is not always easy, convenient, or pleasant, but it is necessary if the church is going to do Christ’s work in the word . Some Christians fear that any mistakes will destroy their witness for the lord. They see there own weaknesses, and they know that many non-Christians seem to have stronger character than they do. How can we grow up into Christ? The answer is that Christ forms us into a body, into a group of individuals who are united in their love for one another and for the Lord. If an individual stumbles, the rest of the group is there to pick that person up and help him or her walk with God again, if a person sins, he or she can find restoration through the church even as the rest of the body continues to witness to God’s truth. As part of the body, do you reflect part of Christ’s character and carryout your special role in His work?
Rom; 12:4-5 Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ's body. We are all parts of his one body, and each of us has different work to do. And since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others.
1Cor.12:12-20 The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up only one body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into Christ's body by one Spirit, and we have all received the same Spirit.
Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. If the foot says, "I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand," that does not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear says, "I am not part of the body because I am only an ear and not an eye," would that make it any less a part of the body? Suppose the whole body were an eye--then how would you hear? Or if your whole body were just one big ear, how could you smell anything?
But God made our bodies with many parts, and he has put each part just where he wants it. What a strange thing a body would be if it had only one part! Yes, there are many parts, but only one body.
1Cor.12: 22-27 On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary;
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,
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,
so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.
And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
Now you are Christ's body, and individually members of it.
God Bless you all, and may you all this week remember your loved ones and your family and friends, and to love them just as Christ loves the Church, and if you can give a helping hand to someone think about Jesus, and thank Him that you are able to do it. Have a good week, God Bless you all, may the grace of the Lord be with your spirit.
