THE REALITY OF THE BODY OF CHRIST

1 CORINTHIANS 12:12-18 NKJ 
12 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. 14 For in fact the body is not one member but many.  
15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? 18 But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. 

OBSERVATION: 

This chapter begins with a teaching on the Holy Spirit and the different ways He manifests or reveals Himself.   

The chapter ends with the different gifts God has placed in the body of Christ.   

And in our passage for today, we see that everyone has a part; no one has it all. No one has all the manifestations of the Holy Spirit working in them, and no one occupies all of the offices God has placed.   

So, this leads us to the importance of today's passage. We all have a place in the body of Christ. There are not preachers, singers, and everyone else. God has set each one of us in the body as it has pleased Him.   

The Holy Spirit, through Paul, uses the metaphor of the human body to present a picture of the spiritual body of Christ.   

Notice there is no distinction made as to who is in the body. Race, position in life, and gender do not matter. So there is absolutely no discrimination in the body of Christ. At least, that's how God has designed it.   

Social status does not play a part in what role each individual occupies. Neither is there a class distinction made among the different roles. We need the feet and hands and ears. We need all the parts to function as a healthy body. So no part can look down on another; everyone has a part.   

APPLICATION: 

I am sure we have not taught this as we should. Guilty here. If we took this truth to heart, we would go a long way towards a healthier perspective of the body of Christ.   

With a healthy perspective, we would be less prone to criticize other parts of the body. Less prone to hurt other members. With a healthy perspective, we would have less observers and more people participating. Not because they were begged to get involved and serve, but because there would be a realization that we all have a part to play. We are all part of the body of Christ.  

PRAYER: 

Lord, open our eyes to see and value Your body in the earth. Open my eyes that I may fully understand my part in Your body.