The Body Of Christ-5

The BODY Of CHRIST-V—1Corinthians 12:12-31

Attention:

The current times in which we live are marked by a continual bombardment by the worldly, by the fleshly, by the man-centered separations that exist in our country.—We have Movements promoting racial division, which ironically encourages racial prejudice & injustice...We have prejudices against the liberties given law enforcement in the performance of their duties...We have rioting protests that perpetrate criminal activity against the innocent...We have historic monuments &/or statues being desecrated, destroyed, & removed.

All those separations, that divisiveness, threatens to bring about the demise of the country we claim to love...the country whose very foundations were laid by Judeo-Christian religious principles.

Likewise the Body of Christ can suffer under the burden of individual & even gathered lusts that are couched in self-aggrandizement.

For some weeks we’ve looked at God’s design for Unity within the Body of Christ, which is the Church.

All the local-to-global manifestations of the Body of Christ are built upon a God-sourced Unity of ‘individual’ Christians. A successful unity of the Body of Christ is seen particularly thru our cooperative successes.

*Remember that the global Church, along with it’s smaller manifestations is the embodiment of Christ Jesus(Col. 1:24).

The apostle Paul maintained the significance of the Church's being the Body of Christ.

What is exhibited by that entity known as the Body of Christ?

Last week we found that ‘The Body Of Christ Exhibits...’

1. An IDENTIFIABLE COMPOSITION(:12)

2. A WILLINGLY EMPOWERED INVITATION(:13)

3. BELONGING(:14-17)

4. A DIVINE PLACEMENT(:18)

5. A REASONABLE UNITY(:19-20)

6. A NECESSITY For DIVERSITY(:21-22)

7. A REASONABLE DIVERSITY(:23-24)

The Body Of Christ Exhibits...

8—A CARING DIVERSITY-Mutual-(:25-26)

Explanation:

:24—“...But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it,”...

:25—“that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another.”

:26—“And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.”

There is an ultimate purpose to God’s composing the body in such a way that “honors” all the ‘parts’/“members” of it(see:24b)...& that purpose is...

:25a—“that there should be no schism in the body,...”

Division(“schism”) in the body is debilitating, devitalizing, immobilizing, incapacitating, etc.! Division in the Body hinders the work of Christ in the world!

Illustration:

My wife, as of the last few years, has complained about an inability to open jars. As a result of that weakness, we have had to come up with an abnormal means of circumventing the weakness. We use a ‘jar opener’ given to us by her 88year old momma, who has the same problem opening jars/

•A “schism in the body” complicates the normal capabilities of a healthy & unified body.

“Be”—w including the oblique forms, as well as--hv, h, etc.—Present X Subjunctive 3rd Sing.—1) Be, may be, etc.?The subjunctive of—eimi—“I am”—1) To be, to exist, to happen, to be present. Strong—I exist(used only when emphatic); the first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary & defective verb.

“Schism/Division”—scisma—Noun Nominative Sing. Neuter—1) A rent; 2) metaph.--A division, dissension. Scisma is actual division, separation. Strong—A split or gap ("schism"), literally or figuratively. Used 8X.

:25b—“that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another.”

*Unity in “the body”(physical) & the Body of Christ(spiritual) includes ‘impartial care’ for one another.

•Unlike a machine, which parts are merely ‘interconnected’, the members of the body are not only interconnected but are also inter-cooperative & inter-communicating...so that not only their physical purpose is achieved—hands grasp, head turn, eyes focus, legs walk, etc.—but they are inter-cooperative in that they are all integral to supplying the need of the other.

The key concept in these verses is that the Body of Christ “should” be involved in a particular work. That which they “should” do is to “care for one another.”

•All parts/members are to mutually respond to their brothers &/or sisters in Christ, in an ‘appropriately’ godly fashion.

*The Greek word translated as “care” carries the nuance of ‘being anxious for’ or ‘to be troubled by.’

•Thus all of the family of God should have a healthy concern for the well-being, the state, or the situation of others of their number who are God’s people.

Php. 2:1-5—“Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection & mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,”