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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
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.
1 Corinthians 12:14-20
This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
The church is one body consisting of many parts just like the human body. That’s the analogy we find the Apostle Paul using as he writes to the Corinthian Christians in chapter 12 of his first letter, an analogy we started to look at in the first message of this series.
As we turn to part two, drawn from verses 14 through 20, we find Paul getting a little more specific about what he means about the human body being a good example to explain how Christians should function within the framework of the church. Look again at his words here:
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. 1 Corinthians 12:14-20
In this chapter, we have found God’s word reminding us how we all have been given specific gifts that are to be used for the common good within the church. Unfortunately, not everyone chooses to use the gifts God has provided. They are part of the body, one part of many, but they willingly decide to not do their part, like a hand choosing to not be a part of the human body. Now, a hand doesn’t have its own will like that and even if it did, it can’t divorce itself from the fact that it is still a part of the body.
Further, a person in a church could covet being another part of the body like an ear wishing it was an eye. Perhaps the person sees one part of the body more important than theirs and therefore decides they don’t need to contribute as much or that their part is less significant than another’s, like an ear deciding it doesn’t belong to the body because it isn’t an ear. God’s word drives home the truth that the body needs both the eye and the ear as they both have unique qualities that help the body function properly.
The bottom line within this part of chapter 12 is that God has placed people within a church, each with gifts needed for ministry to not just survive but thrive. In the church, He puts the parts in place with their specific functions as He wants them to be just like He has designed the human body. A foot, ear, and eye couldn’t be more different in what they do but each needs to do their part for the body to work right. The same applies to Christians in the church, one body made up of many parts.
So what is your part? What gift has God placed in you to use for His purposes within your church?
There is no option to stand on the sidelines. We are to see that we are a part of the body of Christ, specifically designed to play an important role in the Lord’s work, and use the gifts He has given to carry out His plan to bring the Gospel to those who need saved.
The call is to do your part, whatever God has deemed for that to be.
Tomorrow, we’ll look into this more in part 3.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com
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