The Body of Christ

                In this blog, I will be speaking a little bit about anatomy (the study of the human body). Don’t worry, it won’t be gory, since I am talking about the Spiritual Body of Christ. In the Bible, many times you will find analogies that the writer uses to help the reader better understand what he/she was writing. The Bible and the story of Jesus can be very complicated. Even explaining the resurrection can be complicated. So, the Bible uses lots and lots of analogies so that we can better understand it.

                The Body of Christ is similar to an analogy. As we work through this, be sure to remember this isn’t Christ’s actual body that came to earth. Let’s look in Ephesians 4:15-16:

“…him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”

If Christ is the head, what does that mean?

In your body, your head seems like a small part. But, it’s a really big deal. Where are your     brains? In your head. Your brain controls everything. Almost every move you make, your brain controls it. In the same way, Christ commands us to do things as well. And, in order for the body to work well, it has to listen to the brain, or Christ.

What does it mean that each part does its work?

                In your body, different parts do different things. Your legs help you walk, your arms and hands help you pick things up, and your mouth helps you eat. All these things have different jobs, but all help you by working together. This is the same for the body of Christ. The body of Christ can be a body of believers like the church. Each person might do different things. Like the pastor preaches, the ushers collect the offering, and for some churches, there might be someone who advertises. All of these jobs are different, but they all benefit the church.

“…But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.”
1 Corinthians 7:7

What does that mean for me?

                What if you don’t go to church? What then? While I will always recommend going to church, some people don’t. Does that mean that they aren’t part of the body? No. They are still part of the body, even though they may not go to church. They can still help in other ways. Maybe at work they share Christ with a co-worker. They are still advancing the kingdom of God! Like I said, many parts of the body have different jobs, but all work together.

How can I become part of the body?

                Just because you might go to church, share Christ with a friend, or do all the right things, that doesn’t mean you are a Christian, or a member of the Body of Christ. So how can you become a part? Before I get to that let’s get a little background. God created a perfect world, but we humans messed it all up. There was a gap between humans and God. Jesus came, died on the cross, and gave us GRACE and MERCY. (If this doesn’t make sense, or you need more background, check back at my “Sin” blog post and in the “With Sin God Gives Grace” section) When He did, the doorway opened up to Heaven and we could become part of The Body of Christ.  But how? You ask God to come live in your heart through prayer, repent, and change your life for the better. Once you have, you have become part of God’s family, and the HOLY SPIRIT has come to live inside of you. He will help you to change your life for the better, and give you instruction on what your job is in the Body. After that, it’s a choice to follow the Holy Spirit and do your job, or keep going on in your normal life, not really worrying about it. Which will you choose?

I hope this encouraged and inspired you as well as many others.

Love, Grace