God’s Best for One Another
Part 4: Living Together in Christ
1 Corinthians 12:12-27
Sermon by Rick Crandall
McClendon Baptist Church - Sept. 20, 2009
*How do you feel about my body? -- I’ll have you know it takes almost 60 years to get a body like this!
*How do you feel about your own body?
-Denn Guptill says: “Most of us would rather not think about our bodies and if we do we probably don’t think very complementary things. It’s too fat or too skinny, too short or too tall, bumpy, lumpy or just plain ugly. . . At least that’s the way we think about it. So it’s kind of strange to hear Paul say that Christian, right now, you and all believers are part of Christ’s body.” (1)
*God’s Word stresses this truth here in 1 Cor 12, but also in other places like Rom 12:4-5, where Paul tells Christians: “As we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.”
*In 1 Corin 12:12-13, Paul said:
12. For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being 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 have all been made to drink into one Spirit.
*This truth of the Body is vitally important because it helps us to understand how God wants us to treat one another.
-Christians, we are living together as the body of Christ.
1. This means that we find our worth together.
[1] God wants you to see your own value to His Body. And this helps us avoid the error of low self esteem. That’s a problem many of us have. A lot of people feel inferior because of their background, their education, their income or their looks.
*One of the things that disturbed me about pop star Michael Jackson was the way he kept having surgery on his nose. It was grotesque at the end. Have you ever wondered why he kept having those plastic surgeries?
-Kent Crockett tells the sad story that when Michael was a little boy his abusive father constantly mocked him, telling him that he was ugly because his nose was too big. (2)
*Maybe someone in your past has hurt you and made you feel worthless. But God doesn’t want you to feel that way! Christian, God wants you to see your value in His Body. This was Paul’s message in vs. 15-19. Listen to these verses from the New Living Translation:
15. 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.
16. 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?
17. 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?
18. But God made our bodies with many parts, and he has put each part just where he wants it.
19. What a strange thing a body would be if it had only one part!
*God wants you to see your own value. He wants you to know how important you are. Think about your physical body.
-Nobody in their right mind would trade a finger for a thousand dollars.
-Would you trade your arm for $100,000?
-Would you trade your tongue for a million? -- Of course not.
*And these are just parts of the temporary body God gave us for this world, things we can really live without. Your real life, your soul is worth more that all the riches of the world.
*Think of the incredible value of your life. Jesus wants you to know, and so in Matt 16:26, He asked this question: “What is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”
*Your life, your soul is worth more that all the riches of the world.
-Your soul is worth more than every dime, every diamond and every drop of oil.
-Your soul is priceless. There is nothing worth more.
*On top of that, think of the incredible value God has put on your life.
-God the Father values you so much that He was willing to send His only Son into the world to die on the cross for your sins. That is why Peter tells believers that we should live our lives in Godly reverence, “Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” (1 Peter 1:18-19)
*Your life has incredible worth. But you cannot find the ultimate value of your life, until you trust in Jesus and take your place in the Body of Christ.
[2] God wants you to see your value in His Body, but He also wants you to see the value of others. So in vs. 20-22, Paul says:
20. Yes, there are many parts, but only one body.
21. The eye can never say to the hand, "I don't need you." The head can't say to the feet, "I don't need you."
22. In fact, some of the parts that seem weakest and least important are really the most necessary.
*Every part in the Body of Christ has importance. We all matter. We all need each other!
*We find our worth together in the Body of Christ. -- This is why we need to be together. As Heb 10:25 says in the Living Bible: “Let us not neglect our church meetings, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near.”
*We find our worth together in the Body of Christ, so God’s Word gives us some specific instructions about how to act around each other.
*For example, the Bible tells at least 3 times to greet one another.
-In 1 Cor 16:20 the Apostle Paul said, “All the brethren greet you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.”
-Again in 2 Cor 13:12, “Greet one another with a holy kiss.”
-And 1 Peter 5:14 says, “Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to you all who are in Christ Jesus. Amen.”
*God’s Word also tells us to receive one another.
-Rom 15:7 says, “Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.”
*God also tells Christians to be hospitable to one another, and to do it with a good attitude.
-1 Peter 4:9 simply says, “Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.”
*Then God’s Word speaks about us having fellowship with one another.
-In 1 John 1:7 the Apostle John said, “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
*In all of these ways God wants us to live together as one in His Body, overflowing with the same kind of love that He has for us.
-In the Body of Christ, we find our worth together.
2. And we work together.
*We see God’s Body working together in vs. 23-25. Again, this is from the New Living Translation:
23. The parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect from the eyes of others those parts that should not be seen,
24. While other parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together in such a way that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity.
25. This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other equally.
*All the members care for each other equally. There are countless examples we could give about parts of the Body of Christ working together.
-Serving in Sunday School.
-Helping in the Nursery.
-Helping us move into our new building in just a few weeks!
-Checking on the sick and home bound members.
-Singing for the Lord.
-Praying for the sick, our families and lost people.
-Giving to help missions around the state and around the world.
*I like what King Duncan said about us working together in the Body of Christ: “There is another reason God created the church. It is so we can work together for God's glory.
*Do you ever get a sinking feeling when you watch the evening news?
-Another suicide bombing in Iraq, civil war in parts of Africa, death squads in Pakistan, the drug problem in the United States, families rocked by problems.
-We don't have to look farther than our own neighborhood to see the results of sin, self-centeredness and destruction.
*Where do you start if you want to make a difference? -- There are so many needs, so much brokenness, and you are just one person. It's enough to overwhelm even the most gung-ho among us.
*But God made the church to answer that need: The Body of Christ was created and set apart to do the work that Christ did in the world.
-To go where his feet went, to the lost and poor and hurting of the world.
-To teach as Christ taught, about love for God and love for our fellow human.
-To see as Jesus' eyes saw, finding redemption and grace in a prostitute, a leper, a tax collector.
-To touch as Jesus touched, with gentleness and love and healing power.
*God didn't call on a few Lone Rangers to save the world. Don't look for Superman to come to save the day. Instead, God called together a whole bunch of Clark Kent’s and Lois Lane’s, -- ordinary, humble, average folks to preach and teach and heal and restore and tear down and build up and redeem a broken creation.” (3)
*We are the Body of Christ, able to work together to do great things for our Lord!
-We work together.
3. And we are wounded together.
*As Paul explained in vs. 26: “If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it.” If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts suffer with it.
-In God’s Body, the church, we hurt together.
*Isn’t that the truth with your physical body? -- When you have a bad toothache or a bad headache, your hand sure doesn’t think, “So what, -- I don’t care!”
*When I had my kidney stone, let me tell you, my whole body was along for the ride! And that’s the way God designed it for His Body, the church.
-When you are part of His Body, you don’t ever have to suffer alone.
*We hurt together, and we can help one another, if we will pay attention to one another. Hebrews 10:24 in the Amplified Bible says, “Let us consider and give attentive, continuous care to watching over one another, studying how we may stir up (stimulate and incite) to love and helpful deeds and noble activities.”
*When we are paying attention, there are many ways we can help one another.
*For example, in 1 Thess 4:18 God tells us to comfort one another, and by the grace of God, we can, for in 2 Cor 1:3-4 Paul said:
3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
4. who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
*God wants us to comfort one another. He also tells us to build one another up.
-Rom 14:19 (HCSB) says, “We must pursue what promotes peace and what builds up one another.”
*God also tells us to warn one another when we need it.
-As Paul said in Rom 15:14, “Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another (i.e. warn, caution or gently reprove one another).”
*In Col 3:16, God also tells us to teach one another.
-“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”
*And God certainly wants us to encourage one another.
-As Heb 10:25 says in the Living Bible: “Let us not neglect our church meetings, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near.”
*Do you remember those days when you needed extra encouragement? -- Some days are much darker than others.
*Arthur Gordon once found a bundle of letters in an attic, letters written by a grandmother to members of her family and friends shortly after the Civil War. Those were hard and bitter days, filled with a great deal of alienation and animosity. Many people’s lives were dark and depressing.
*But Gordon discovered that every one of those letters ended with the same phrase: “Have I told you lately what a wonderful person you really are!”
-Think of what that must have meant. Think what it must have done to encourage and lift the spirits of those who read those letters. (4)
*That’s the way God wants us to help one another, comforting, encouraging, inspiring, enlightening, even warning one another when we need it.
-And we can do these things, because of this special oneness God gives us in His Body, the oneness of understanding and sharing one another’s pain.
*As Paul said: “If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it.”
-In the Body of Christ, we are wounded together.
4. And we win together.
*In vs. 26&27, yes we hurt together, but we are also honored together:
26. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
27. Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.
*Christian, when you win honor we all win with you. We win together in Christ!
*On July 24, 2002, nine miners in western Pennsylvania got trapped 240 feet below ground in a flooded mine shaft. Think about a building 20 stories high. That’s how far down they were!
*Rescue efforts began right away, but the rescue crews knew the odds were against them saving those men. Almost everybody in the country had their eyes glued on the news from the mine. Those 9 miners were trapped for 3 days, then miraculously rescued.
*Even the mainstream media called it a miracle, because there was such a slim chance that anyone could survive in that flooded mine. The 55 degree water threatened to kill them slowly by hypothermia. And the rescue shaft had to be drilled in just the right place, 250 feet down in time for the men to be saved.
*Those miners were gasping for air, as floodwater rose to their chins. Blaine Mayhugh asked his boss for a pen when the water in the shaft kept rising, saying, “I want to write my wife and kids to tell them I love them."
*They tied themselves together so that no one could float away or slip under the water. But they also tied themselves together so all their bodies would be found if they died. They shared food from a lunch pail that floated by.
*After they were miraculously saved, the men said that it was their decision to bond together that saved their lives.
-From the outset they watched out for one another.
-If one man got tired, his bond to the other men kept him afloat.
-When one got cold, the other eight would huddle around him and warm him up.
*They vowed that whether they lived or died, they would do so together. (5)
*What a picture of the Body of Christ!
-But there is another great lesson from that miracle in the mine, because even together those men were hopeless without help from above.
-And when their rescue came, all they had to do was receive it, just climb aboard that yellow rescue cylinder and be lifted up to safety.
*That’s what Jesus Christ does for all who will trust Him and call on Him.
-He will put you in Him, and you will be saved forever.
*But this salvation didn’t just take 3 days of non-stop work. It took 3 days in the grave, and Jesus Christ was the only one who could die on that cross for us.
-Now the Risen Savior is more than able to lift us up to everlasting safety!
*Put your trust in Jesus. He will save you! He will also make you part of the Body of Christ so that together we can live the best possible life both now and forever.
1. Adapted from SermonCentral sermon “What Part Are You?” by Denn Guptill - 1 Cor 12:12-27
2. http://kentcrockett.blogspot.com/2009/05/do-you-like-way-you-look.html
3. Adapted from ChristianGlobe.com sermon “I Can Make It by Myself “- Series: “Five Things Christians Should Never Say, #2” by King Duncan - 1 Cor 12:1-11 - Dynamic Preaching Jan 2004 - sermon 5
4. ChristianGlobe.com sermon “The Gospel” by Maxie Dunnam - Col 1:1-8
5. Adapted from sources:
-Bill White, Paramount, California; Citation: adapted from "Teamwork Helped Miners Survive Underground," CNN.com (7-28-02) from preachingtoday.com. Quoted in "Living The Call" by Joel Smith on www.sermoncentral.com.
-"Miners took vow to live or die together" by Larry Neumeister, Associated Press, The Knoxville News-Sentinel July 29, 2002, p. A1.
-ChristianGlobe.com sermon “I Can Make It by Myself “- Series: “Five Things Christians Should Never Say, #2” by King Duncan - 1 Cor 12:1-11 - Dynamic Preaching Jan 2004 - sermon 5
