Day 141: What is the Body of Christ – The Church?
We end our weeks readings carefully defining The Church. It is important to understand that there is a “capital C Church” which is the Body of Christ. This everyone who has trusted and followed Christ. This CHURCH is made up of churches – smaller gatherings of followers who meet in a certain place and time.
WORDwork:
1 Corinthians 12:12–27
For just as the body (a human physical body) is one and yet has many members (eyes, ears, hands, feet, etc.), and all the members of the body—though many—are one body, so too is Christ. 12:13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. Whether Jews or Greeks or slaves or free, we were all made to drink of the one Spirit.
12:14 For in fact the body is not a single member, but many.…
12:20 So now there are many members, but one body. 12:21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I do not need you,” nor in turn can the head say to the foot, “I do not need you.” …12:24 …Instead, God has blended together the body, giving greater honor to the lesser member, 12:25 so that there may be no division in the body, but the members may have mutual concern for one another. 12:26 If one member suffers, everyone suffers with it. If a member is honored, all rejoice with it.
12:27 Now you are Christ’s body, and each of you is a member of it.
What analogy is being used here and what is being compared?
What has the Spirit done to us according to 12:13?
Explain 12:24-26 in your own words.
What does 12:27 mean?
Seeing the Big Picture: The Body of Christ
As we have already mentioned, it is important to understand the difference between The Body of Christ/The Church and the churches (assemblies, fellowships, groups) and individual believers that make up this Body. As you can see in the 1 Corinthians passage above, Paul uses the analogy of the physical human body in describing the way The Body of Christ works. We are all the members—arms, hands, legs, feet—that make up this body and Jesus Himself is the “Head.” As we will see, the goal is for all of us to grow up and into our vital connection with The Head: Christ. This happens as we each do what we are created and shaped to do in the Body of Christ. We need one another in order to become the people that Father God desires for us to be. We are all united together in this “One Body” by the work of the triune God—Father, Son and Spirit.
Let’s just consider a list of some of the main points that Paul makes in this passage:
There is One Body | Paul makes the point that there is only one Body of Christ. Jesus is the Head of His one Body; He does not have many Bodies, but One. In Ephesians 4:4 we hear, “There is One Body…” We will discuss this a little later this week. Every Christian, follower of Christ is a member of this One Body.
There is One Spirit | The Body of Christ is “created” by the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit took up residence within us, we were “immersed” in the fellowship of Father-Son-Spirit. The Spirit also unites us together in One Body. In the Body of Christ there are no divisions based on ethnic or cultural distinctives; the Spirit binds us together as One.
Every Member Has an indispensable Role | As members of the Body, we all have a significant role to play. “Eyes” have a significant role just as “hands” and “feet” do. We will develop this important truth more in the next couple of weeks.
Every Member Practices Mutual Ministry and Concern | Because we are all bound together through The Spirit in The Body, we should have mutual concern for one another and mutual ministry/service to one another. Through this mutual concern and service, the World will see our “Oneness.” We will talk about the vital importance of this core truth next week.
Clarifying the Truth about the churches.
The word church (ekklesia – ek-lay-SEE-uh) in the New Testament refers to an assembly or collection of believers, followers of the Lord Jesus. There are three main ways or contexts in which this term is used.
A church in a specific house. In the first century there were no “church buildings” as such. These first followers of Jesus met in their homes: “Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, …Greet also the church in their house” (Romans 16:3–6; see also 1 Corinthians 16:19, Colossians 4:15).
A church in a specific city. When Paul addresses the church at Corinth, he is addressing the Christians in a specific city, the city of Corinth. The “church at Corinth was made up of all the “house churches” in that city. There were also other churches in other cities like Ephesus, Colosse, Phillipi.
A church in a specific region. “So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up” (Acts 9:31). This “church” refers to all the smaller gatherings of believers in the cities in these areas.
The Church as the Body of Christ. Finally, the term church can be applied to the entire Body of Christ: “ [Jesus said]… on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it” (Matthew 16:18); “the household of God… it is the church of the living God, the support and bulwark of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15).
With this in mind, It is very important for you to understand that The Church is people not a building. A building can never be a church; a church can meet in a building, but that building is not the true church. It is the people of God that make up the church. The church is always a reference to people. Think of this: we do not go to church; we, in Christ, are called to be the Church!
As we end for today, a few clarifying points.
First, local assemblies/congregations of Christians are called churches and they are limited in time and space. The Body of Christ—the Church—includes all believers from the Day of Pentecost until Jesus’ appearing at the end of this age and so transcends time and space. (This is a controversial subject, see the appendices for further discussion). Some call this the Universal Church. We say that this Church/Body transcends time and space because it also includes those who are already in Heaven with Christ.
Second, the term “body” is never applied in the Scriptures to a local assembly of believers, a church; That term is reserved for the Universal Church. This reminds us that as we meet together locally, we are called up and into something much more grand and glorious.
Make sure you understand the difference between the Local churches and the Body of Christ.
*You can find a complete list of all the MilktoMeat readings here.
