Body of Christ, Doing His Work!
Thank you for joining me today. This week we are following up on last week’s post, and will be looking further into what being the ‘Body of Christ’ entails. Then, we will examine how sharing the Divine Nature affects us as our being members of the Body of Christ. Praying that the Lord will cause His Word to come alive for you as you read and study it! Eric
In my previous post, ‘Marvelous Transformation!’ (Sep 4), I taught the dynamic truth found in the Scriptures which reveal that God transforms us from those born, being filled, with our human or sin nature to those who share His divine nature! I shared, “It is only through His divine nature working in us that we will accomplish His work in the world around us.” I also stated that “every believer is a part of the body of Christ.” If you have not had the chance to read that post yet, I encourage you to do so before reading today’s.
I would like us to begin by further examining what the Scripture reveals about our being a part of the body of Christ.
As we come to know the Scriptures, we realize that a number of titles are used representative of ‘believers,’ including: the ‘body of Christ’ and the ‘church.’ The Greek word translated, ‘church’ is ekklesia and it refers to all who worship and honor God and Christ in whatever place they may be.
Ephesians 1:22 and 23 are dynamic verses for the Body of Christ, or the church. They read, “God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. 23 And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.”
Our take aways from these verses are: God established Christ as the head of the Church and the Church is His body. We learned last week that when we accept Christ as Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit indwells us and we begin to take on the divine nature of God.
Let’s talk a bit about Christ being the Head of the church and believers being His Body. Have you ever seen a body being fruitful without a head? Have you ever seen a head being productive when it has no body? They seem like silly questions don’t they? Actually, as members of the Body of Christ, we must come to know the proper relationship we must have with our ‘head.’ You see, we cannot be two separate entities and live! A body without a head would be dead and a head without a body would also have no life.
Pastor Colin Smith in Open the Bible shared these insights regarding our being the Body of Christ:
1. “Christ is the head of the church.”
2. “Every member must be connected to the Head.”
3. “Every member must be responsive to the Head.”
4. “Every member will suffer with the Head.”
5. ”Every member will be glorified with the Head.”
Pastor Smith also added, “There is no such thing in the New Testament as a Christ-less church.”
If we declare Christ is the “Head,” then we must follow His directives and go in the same direction that He is going in! Our calling is to be responsive to Him. We must have relationship with Christ in order to be connected to the Head! If we have no relationship with Christ, as a part of the Body of Christ, we will be missing our head! What would happen regarding the effectiveness of the Church if the body chooses to not be responsive to the Head? Can you picture it? Christ, our Head, (through the Holy spirit) desires and is trying to lead us to minister to a hurting family, however, our feet decide they want to go to the beach instead! What would the result be? Chaos! God does not call anyone to be a lone-ranger. We cannot accomplish anything without our “Head!”
When we are connected to Jesus Christ, we draw life from Him.
Our physical body has many parts, i.e. legs, feet, lips, a heart, fingers, lungs, eyes, a brain, etcetera and every part has a special function. It is the same with the Body of Christ (the Church). We are made up of many parts (members) but are only one body and we need each part in order to function properly. Each part has differing gifts or functions and we have to use them to have the body of Christ be effective and whole. (Romans 12:6-8 NLT).
“Everyone who becomes a part of the body of Christ is joined to Christ in salvation. (Ephesians 4:15 and 16). Each member of the Body of Christ is to be the physical representation of Christ in this world. The church is the organism through which Christ manifests His life to the world. Members of the Body of Christ share a common bond with all other Christians regardless of background, race, and ministry. There is to be harmony among the members and all the members need to care for each other.” (1 Corinthians 12:25 and gotquestions.com).
As the body of Christ, we are to do His work on the earth. How do we accomplish His work? We accomplish His work the same way He did. So, very obviously, our next question has to be: “How did Jesus perform miracles i.e. setting the captives free, healing, and ministering deliverance?” Jesus completed His work through the power of the Holy Spirit. All of the work He accomplished on earth, He did as the Son of Man or in his humanity.
After dealing with the temptations of the devil victoriously in the wilderness, and He (Jesus) was returning to Galilee, Luke 4:14 reveals, “He was filled with the Holy Spirit’s power.” (Dynamis, which is the miraculous power of God). “As reports about Him spread quickly, His fame spread throughout the whole region.”
After the baptism which John preached, God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and power and He went about and healed all who were oppressed by the devil. (Acts 10:37 and 38).
When Jesus showed Himself to the disciples following His resurrection, He told them in John 20:21b and 22 (NLT), “As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you. 22 Then He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
Then we read in John 7:37-39 that Jesus shouted to the crowds on the last day of the festival and invited anyone who was thirsty to come to Him. He told them that anyone who believes in Him would have Rivers of living water flow from his heart. In verse 39, we are told the ‘living water’ is the Spirit, who would be given to everyone who believed in Him.
In Acts 1:8 Jesus told His disciples they would receive power (dynamis, miraculous power) when the Holy Spirit came upon them. Then, we read in Acts 2:1-4 that on the day of Pentecost, every believer who was there was filled with the Holy Spirit. The power of the Holy Spirit that was in Jesus, was at that time, in the disciples. That same power of the Holy Spirit can also be in us, as His disciples.
Some other ways we see the manifestation of the power of the Spirit in Jesus’s life is revealed in various Scriptures.
Jesus gave a ‘word of wisdom’ to His disciples when He spoke supernaturally, disclosing the mind, purpose, and will of God when He told them the “various Temple buildings would be destroyed.” (Matthew 24:2).
Jesus spoke a ‘word of knowledge’ (revelation of information pertaining to a person) when He told the Samaritan woman she had had five husbands and the man she was living with presently, was not her husband. (John 4:18).
Peter censured Jesus severely when He told the disciples He would be going to Jerusalem to be crucified. Jesus ‘discerned’ that the ‘spirit’ speaking through Peter was not of the Father and commanded, “Get away from me, Satan!” (Matthew 16:23).
Jesus moved in the gifts of ‘healing’ (healings God performs supernaturally), ‘faith’ (supernatural trust with no doubt), and ‘miracles’ (a manifestation of power beyond the ordinary course of nature) when He healed and raised Lazarus from the dead!
It is amazing to think Jesus accomplished all of His work through the power of the Holy Spirit which was in Him.
Why do you suppose I would share so many of the ‘acts’ of Jesus with you today? We believers are the body of Christ, here on this earth, we are to accomplish His work, and as believers, we need to have the same power of the Holy Spirit in us.
Besides the indwelling Spirit that comes to us when we accept Christ, we have available to us, the special manifestation of the outpouring of the power of the Holy Spirit which occurred on the Day of Pentecost. (Acts 2:1-8). When Peter spoke to those who were nearby and witnessing the miracles from the outpouring of the power of the Holy Spirit - 3,000 turned to God and were added to the church that day!
Jesus moved in the power of the Holy Spirit. “He had power to heal but He did not regard signs and wonders as ends in themselves. They were intended to bring the recipients of the miracles to faith in Christ.” (Textural notes (i.e. John 4:46-52) in the New Spirit Filled Life Bible).
That, is why God enables us to be partakers of His divine nature and pours the power of the Holy Spirit out upon us - so that as we are a witness for Him and do the work of the Lord, others will come to faith in Christ and become children of God!
If you have not yet come to experience and move in the power of the Holy Spirit, I encourage you to do so today! Your life will never be the same.
“How can I receive that gift from God?” you ask.
Luke 11:13 gives us the answer, “So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”
If you have never come to faith in Jesus - today is the day of salvation. Acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God. Confess that you have missed the mark and are a sinner. Repent (turn away) from your sins and invite Jesus into your heart.
If you are are a believer and would like to accept the gift of the power of the Holy Spirit which the Father offers to you today - Ask!
If you have made either of these decisions today, I would love to hear from you.
If you are already walking in this knowledge and power, and are a part of the Body of Christ, keep on doing His work by remaining connected to and being responsive to Jesus, our Head!
All Scriptural references today are taken from the New Living Translation.