Church the Body of Christ Jesus (2-3)

Church the Body of Christ Jesus (2)

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and does them, will be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Matthew 7:24

Continuing on from before, Christ Jesus is the head of the church. But it’s not as if without the church He has no physical body and is just a head and incomplete. Jesus, although one with God the Father, became a human like us and has His own body which which is now a glorified one. So how is the Church His body? God is the creator and all things are possible for Him, but let’s look at another example of our oneness with Him. Since the beginning God made this mystery as a promise:
“The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman, ' for she was taken out of man." For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. Genesis 2:23-24”
Similarly we who are in Christ are of one spirit. So that while at death the two by flesh are no longer one flesh, yet for us the promise is that we are one with Christ not only in flesh but in His eternal Spirit, and so death no longer has any hold over us. Death can no longer separate us, who are in Christ, from God the Father, because we are one with Him in Spirit, knowing this we have all the more reason to live holy lives.
“By His power God raised the Lord from the dead, and He will raise us also. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, ‘The two will become one flesh.’ But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with Him in spirit. Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.1 Corinthians 6:14-20”
The Church is called the bride of Christ and as such we have become ONE with God. Just as a man and woman through marriage become one flesh/body so we the Church are one body. Being then fully unified with God and each other in the vows, love, and promises of Christ Jesus our Lord, should we carry on as individuals, caring only for ourselves and our personal relationship with Christ? Should a bride once married carry on/act/live as though she has no head/husband? No she must forsake her old life and be one with her husband as He is with her. So we who are the bride of Christ Jesus must forsake our “single” life of sin (not at all saying that everyone in the church must be married here, this is speaking only of our life in Christ) and be obedient to our head/husband Jesus Christ. Yes, we have a personal relationship with Christ, but we can’t neglect one another because of that. Especially since in our personal relationship with Him, Jesus commands us to love each other. Not merely in word and tongue but in deed and truth(or in action and from the inner most being), so that we can be one with Him and the Father by the power of His Holy Spirit working in us. Praise God that He loves us so much!

Church the body of Christ Jesus (3)

If the body is dead apart from Christ can the individual member be alive apart from the body? For example, can a hand, no longer attached to the arm receive the supply needed (blood, nerve impulses, etc.) to function. My point here is that we NEED each other. Why? Because that is the way God created us to have unity with Christ... as a body (a group of parts creating a whole). Now although there may be exceptions to this rule, as it is Christ Jesus who ultimately supplies our need. His desire is for one body, and He will bring those exceptions to be unified with His body, so that we, being fully supplied together, may love each other as He works in/through us. Now some may say “What about a lone missionary, aren’t they on their own and apart from the body?” Of course not. They remain a vital part and Christ has many Christians praying for and supporting them being one with them in Spirit. Distance doesn’t separate the members of Christ’s body. If they are in fact working in/for the body of Christ then Christ the head keeps them unified. The principle then is: The body/church, although right now seemingly made up people who are separated by flesh, distance and even time, is in truth alive together in our Lord Christ Jesus by His Spirit. Our whereabouts on this earth does not separate us from Christ nor from His body. The problem comes with Christian’s mistaken belief today that we can be unified with Jesus and His body and yet be separate from the Church. This is absurd, the Church is His body. I’m not talking about non believing congregations, those who call themselves Christians or Christ followers and yet reject Jesus Christ’s teaching and Lordship. Let us not also be deceived and reject His word, we are to be one together with Him and the Father as Jesus who is the Word abides in us. One member must not suffer alone nor one rejoice alone. Salvation is for all who receive Jesus the Anointed one of God, joining together in His death and resurrection. He calls us to be one, a bride together of the Lamb. So let us put on love which is the perfect bond of unity.

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in Us so that the world may believe that you have sent Me. I have given them the glory that you gave Me, that they may be one as We are one” John 17:20-22

May we be faithful as He is faithful, and together be unified in obedience to Christ Jesus our Lord and Master (head).