1 Corinthians 12:13-20 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body — whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free — and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
The human body needs every body part to make us a whole, well-functioning being. If any part is missing or dysfunctional, the human body will not adapt well to its environment. In the above focus, Paul compares the spiritual body of Christ to our physical bodies. As the body of Christ, we are made up of many parts as with our human bodies. No one part can say it is more important than the other parts or does not need the other parts. Every part of the church of God has a necessary duty; and for the body to function healthily, all parts must be operating effectively. If one part is dysfunctional, the whole body will experience disharmony or pain. Now Paul says that even though the body of Christ is made of many parts, we do not function alone, separate from every other part. The unifying element that flows through every part is the Holy Spirit who brings harmony and unison to the whole body. The Holy Spirit's vibrant, energetic power is the key element to every part, to every cell, in the body of Christ. Without his harmonizing work, we will not illustrate God to the world. Neither will the church know completely who God is, for the Holy Spirit causes every part of the body of Christ to function at its best, allowing believers to see God in this world through his body, the church of the living God. We often say that the body of Christ reveals Jesus to the world, but do we realize that through the body, we fully see him at work in the world. The writer of Hebrews tells believers not to neglect their salvation and reminds them of the Holy Spirit's part in Christ's work: This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. (Hebrews 2:3-4)
Paul clearly explains that the body cannot consist of just one part of the body. We cannot all be an eye, a nose, a mouth, a heart, and so on. How can we hear God speak if we are all noses, or all mouths? No, the voice of God would not be heard. We would not know the direction that God wants us to walk in if we were just specific parts that could not hear. We definitely need ears in the body of Christ. Dad was praying the other day, and he heard these words from the Spirit. "I have given you words to hear." He thought that was a strange idea. What does the Spirit mean when He says, "I have given you words to hear?" Then he realized, without words, how could we communicate with God? How would we know what He desires of us? How could we praise him? How could we really know his heart? Now, in heaven, maybe words are not needed. Maybe language is not needed. Maybe we can communicate with God without language. But, here on Earth, we need language to communicate our desires, our thoughts, our hearts. So, yes, God has given us words to hear. We do have language, and we do need to hear what God is saying to us. The body has ears for sure. Mom sometimes says the Holy Spirits gets her attention by saying, "Listen to me, Jacqueline." Of course, she has been listening all the time. But God wants her full attention. He wants her completely focussed upon him, his will, his voice. The body also has eyes to see. We can see the marvelous works of God around us. We know instinctively that there is a God because of what we see. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. (Romans 1:20) We have mouths to praise God and to sing. The entities in heaven sing, the angels sing. Maybe God sings, for sure Jesus sang a hymn after the Lord's Supper. God asked Job where he was when God laid the earth's foundations while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? (Job 38:7) The body has hands to discover the world and to reach out a healing touch to someone. The body of Christ has many parts and every part must function well, must have the dynamic power of the Holy Spirit. Without his presence in every part of the body, the image of God will not be revealed to the world or to us in the Christian community.
The body of Christ on Earth is in full bloom when the church is completely immersed in the Holy Spirit's power and authority. When He is in control and flowing through all of the body as with the blood within our biological bodies, He will manifest his characteristics freely in the whole body: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23) The Spirit's presence in the body of Christ brings the peaceable fruits of righteousness into our lives and into the church. When the body is not operating correctly, the church will reveal the acts of the sinful nature: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. (Galatians 5:19-21) Of course, the product of sin is division, disharmony, anger, and the like. Such attitudes within the body of Christ have caused much separation, even to the point of persecuting and harming others who have different views. If we who are in the body are to see God as He is, the body of Christ must function well according to his purposes ordained in heaven. Christians cannot know who God is if only one part of the body is emphasized or honored. We will not see God if only the hand or the eye is functioning in our church. We must have all parts of the body of Christ to know God. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. Where would Christ be if we were all one part? He would be lost in our awareness of who He is in reality. What Paul is saying, is that we need every part to see God clearly and completely. No part should take a back seat, believing it is not significant. The church cannot see God's perfect will and adequately serve him if they are not functioning as a whole body. They will have a distorted view of God if only a few parts are functioning. Let us all do our part in the body of Christ, and may we give all the parts the place God intended for them. When Paul tells the believers in Ephesus about the different callings in the body, he explains that God provided the various giftings to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:12-13) Amen.
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