And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,
John 1:14Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
1 Corinthians 12:27For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
1 Corinthians 12:12
The Lord Jesus was the personal, physical presence of the perfect person on earth. His life’s walk established the basis and nature of His permanent work among men. His cross effected that which made it possible for humanity to gain the same plane. His death, resurrection, and ascension resulted in a substitution – the exchange of the individual body of the Lord for the corporate Body of Christ.
Thus “the Church, which is His Body” was brought into being. Thus His Body, the Church became the abiding instrument of His world-incarnation. There is no other ‘Church’ that God the Father acknowledges as Christ’s ‘Body’. There is no other ‘Body’ that the Lord almighty accepts as ‘His Church’.
The Church, which is His Body, is the only physical representation of God on earth today, and God has chosen the Church, in Him, before the foundation of the world.” While the Lord Jesus was on earth, we read many stories of His life and His work. He walked and ate, He slept and prayed, He sang and He glorified God in His body. He taught and was tempted. He healed, and He helped and He worshiped – He worshiped the Lord His God in His body.
The word ‘Body’ is no metaphor – it is no figure of speech – no allegorical symbol. Members of His Body on earth today are relationally joined to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Body on earth is Christ’s relational attachment to the world. The Church is the Lord’s connecting link to the physical world. The Church is His eyes and ears; His hands and His feet; His heart and His life… just as our own physical bodies stand in relation to our own inner beings.
Christ can only go where His Body goes, Christ can only do what His Body does. This truth is insightful to us, as it reaches the root of all matters of life and service.. and on earth, the Church works for the Lord; acts for the Lord; prays to the Lord. The Body does only those things that the Head instructs us to do, but not one member can take up work for Christ and command His seal of approval! To plan, scheme, devise, or organise a Christian enterprise through self is failure, and thus the Body has been disabled in many parts, and despair is often the result.
We should examine ourselves daily through the lens of His Holy Spirit.. for if self does not give way in one small area, Christ will not work through any area. In the physical, Christ emphasised that He did nothing of Himself. In the unfolding law of His own life Christ laid great emphasis on this one point: that the word He spoke and the things He did were not out of Himself: I do nothing of Myself; but as my Father hath taught Me, I speak these things. John 8:28.
This was a non-negotiable in His life but is not always so in the life of the believer: "The Son can do nothing out of Himself, but only as He sees the Father doing.” John 5:19. Thus the law of an effective and life, service, and prayer is a oneness with Him – a oneness with Jesus - a oneness with Christ, that we only do, but surely do what He does. We should examine ourselves daily through the lens of His Holy Spirit, for if self does not give way in one small area, Christ will not work through any area.
T.Austin Sparks puts it this way: “Our life and prayers must be that of the Lord, prayed in us and through us, by the Holy Spirit. This is surely made very clear as being the realm in which the Church in apostolic times lived. This will demand a considerable shifting of all undertakings in the name of Jesus and will require that nothing is done until the mind of the Lord has been made known. But this will secure a hundred per-cent effectiveness and issues which will never perish. For the practical purposes of God in this age, Christ is the One Body holding fast the Head – and the business of every member is to realise more and more fully the meaning of this incorporation and oneness of identity. We are expressly told in the Word that we are to: put on the new man .. and this “new man” is Christ, but it carries with it a whole revelation of practical provision.”
Christ, the Head is our Redemption. Christ, the Head is our Righteousness. Christ, the Head is our Sanctification. Christ, the Head is our Faith. Christ, the Head is our Lord. Christ, the Head is our Life. Christ, the Head is our All in All. We should examine ourselves daily through the lens of His Holy Spirit, for if self does not give way in one small area - Christ will not work in any area.
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