Corinthians 12:12-31 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one bod
y, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being 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 stop being 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 placed 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 eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.
In the above verses we see Paul carrying on with the theme of God being in the church and its services richly. There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. (1 Corinthians 12:4-6) As members of the same body, every part works in union with ever other part. As God is one with three parts so is the body of Christ one with many parts. Paul separates supernatural gifting, given by God to manifest the Spirit in the living church from callings or places of service, also directed by God. Regardless, both gifts and callings are given by God to enrich the church on earth. God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. Every member in the church should know he has been given a gift and a position in the church that is necessary for the health of the living church of God. Each member is an integral part of the body of Christ. No member of the church is placed aside in the body without any important role in the functioning of God’s church. Paul tells Christians that they should not be lazy in serving Christ, but that they should be in the fight, displaying God to a sick and dying world. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. Paul emphasizes unity and oneness IN CHRIST, for our desire to function appropriately for the glory of God will be blessed by God. The righteousness of our salvation will cause us to be where Christ is in this world of darkness. At the end time, the Lord will evaluate whether we used our gifts and callings effectively, whether we were in unity with him as a part of his body. “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. (Matthew 25:31-33) This is a time of identification, not how we identify ourselves, but how God identifies us. He knows our hearts and inclinations; He knows us better than we know ourselves. What fruit do our gifts and services provide for the world and for the glory of God? God knows, so the Lord separates at the end of time. At that time the tares are identified clearly from the productive plants of wheat. The tares will face the fiery judgement of a righteous God, but the wheat will be in the store house of God’s love and grace or the kingdom of God. What is the criteria God uses to separate sheep from goats or in the wheat analogy: tares from wheat? How much good fruit has been produced for mankind to sustain life. In the sheep analogy, were they where God is, where the least of these abide? The Lord describes the primary function of a healthy body that is buried in God’s will for people. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. (Matthew 25:35-36) These activities reveal the presence of God in people and make their voices a clarion call to know the God of grace and mercy. If the church ignores the least of these in the human race, they become as the world, dark in serving anything else but their will. In today’s focus, we see all kinds of gifts and callings for members IN THE BODY OF CHRIST. All of these special gifts and functions are to announce that in the last days salvation has come to earth in the form of Jesus Christ, the Son of Man. He alone announces the glory of God. The church’s footprint on earth should be not only service to mankind, but also a calling to the Son of Man on the cross. For salvation comes not through human works, but through the works of God on the cross.
Through and in Jesus Christ man has been delivered from the slavery of sin. The world can never be God-like: perfect, no matter what kind of services they provide for mankind. For all the world has fallen into darkness, strangers to the goodness of God. And darkness cannot be erased from their lives by their own will or effort. They cannot put on the legitimate clothing of the sheep; transformation is God’s work. We were dead in our transgressions and sins, in which we used to live when we followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. (Ephesians 2:1-5) To become right with God is an act of God, not of man. Our faith in this truth makes us right with God. As Abraham, we believe in God’s words rather than the reality of our own lives. Sarah laughed for she thought the Lord’s promise of her bearing a son was an impossibility in her old age. But Abraham believed in the word of God over impossibilities. This is true of our salvation. We might laugh at being perfect like God is, but God is in the business of transformation, changing the goats of the world into sheep, transforming darkness into supernatural light. The gifts Paul is talking about and the callings that Paul is referring to in the church bring light into the world. The body of Christ acting in oneness should be a brilliant light, lighting up every corner in the world and every crevice in the souls of mankind. As lights, we who are members of the body of Christ should understand how holy we are IN CHRIST. Jesus referred to our holiness when He was speaking of John the Baptist's perfection. John was a man from the womb set apart for God. He was baptized in the Spirit before he was born. He lived away from the temptations of the world. He wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. (Mark 1:6) He was as righteous as any man that has ever lived. His life represented total obedience to God’s will for him. Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. (John 11:11) In a real way, John a man of works through honoring God by his lifestyle can never be compared to a person who has won favor with God through faith in God’s words. God’s words promise a blessing to those who live by faith. He promises a future home to people of faith, an eternal life in his household. Part of God’s blessings right now as we dwell on earth is the gifts and callings that God has given each of us. These special blessings transform the church from the inside out. They bring the unity of the body of Christ to all who participate in the body rightly. When we look at the body of Christ as one, we can understand fully why Paul was concerned about quarreling and bickering within the church, for such fleshly attitudes and actions found in the church of the living God are destructive to the light God desires his body to reveal to a dark world. The call of salvation comes from light, not from darkness: bickering and quarreling within the church.
In Zechariah’s prophesy about his son, John, he says that the rising sun, Jesus, will come to shine on a dark world, providing people the opportunity to have lasting peace with God. And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.” (Luke 1:76-79) The church is to carry on with that prophesy since Jesus has departed from earth. We, as the body of Christ, ought to reveal God’s salvation light to a world lost in sin. Jesus ministered to those who need a doctor. He ate with sinners, He fed sinners, He went into the community of the godless Samaritans and brought them the good news that He has living water that will sustain their lives forever. Jesus even ate with those who wanted to kill him: the Pharisees and Sadducees. He saw them as being in horrible darkness, yet He reached out to them, explaining to them how much they needed the light of God in their souls. Jesus was with those who needed him the most: the crippled, the diseased, the hurting, the dead. He brought comfort to those who felt left out in society: the poor in spirit, the sad, the meek, the helpless, the hungry, the weak, the orphans, the widows. These people who needed him desperately, who asked for his blessings, will receive more than they could imagine: heaven, eternal life and the love of God. Jesus brought the light of God’s love to them. We who are occupying the body of God, possessing supernatural gifts of the Spirit, with specific callings on our lives within the church, should carry on with the mission of Christ, to heal a world in darkness. We have been commissioned to go into all the world, to all lands, to all people, to carry the Good News of God’s redemption plan. As the body of Christ, we must appreciate each part in Christ’s body, acknowledging how important each part is to carrying out Jesus' commission. No part of the body of Christ is greater than any other part. So if we say our part is more important than the parts of others, maybe even boasting how well we carry out the mission of Christ on earth, we are in error, not discerning the body of Christ rightly. Accentuating one part over another would distort the body of Christ and limit the effectiveness of the body. If the body was to be made up of only one part, where would the body be? But praise God the body is not made up by only one attribute, one spiritual gift or one calling. No, the temple of Christ is made up of many parts and each one should be appreciated, but no part should be appreciated more that the other parts in the body. The body is not made up of one part but of many. Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being 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 stop being 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 placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. Together breakfast companions we are effective and dangerous to the foes of God. We possess the Spirit of God to make inroads into a sinful world. And many, a whole nation of various people, will be delivered from the bondage of sin. They will walk in light, with the cloud of the Spirit leading them in the day and the pillar of fire at night. The whole body functioning correctly is needed to persuade the world that there is a God of Creation to serve. We will carry out the Lord’s commission, functioning as a whole body, performing the sensitive duties of help and love to the “least of these” in our workplaces, our homes, our communities, delivering people out of darkness into the marvelous love of the Lord. God has made provision for his church through the many gifts of the body of Christ.
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