THE LORD AND HIS BODY

Part 1:  Discerning the Body

One of the mysteries of the Christian faith is that of the Christ and His body, the Church. In fact Paul calls it a great mystery.

1Cor. 12:12-14

For 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. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many.

Eph. 5:31-32

For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

A revelation of this mystery will place the Christian life in the right perspective for God’s children. Such is the mystery of the Lord and His body: Jesus came to the earth to prepare unto God a person for His full expression. This person is called the God-man who is also the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus in His resurrection became the full container of God. He was highly exalted and given the Name which is above every name. The Church forms the body of the Lord with the Lord Himself being the head. God’s intent was to dwell in His Son as the head and be expressed in the body of His son which is the Church.

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Discerning the Body: Part 1

Holding the Head: Part 2

The Feeding Mechanism: Part 3

Part 2: Holding the Head

The Lord is the nourisher of His body. He supplies his own body with every spiritual food which the body needs to grow and function properly. The Church, the body of the Lord, receives the right growth factors as the Lord supplies and is nourished. Therefore the Christian also receives nourishment from the Lord simply by being joined to the Lord in His body. Nourishment for the body of Christ comes from no other place but from the Lord Himself. He prepares the meal and delivers it to us. It is a balanced meal containing every essential nutrient for us and we can't survive without it. Any other food is poison to us. Any other food is feed for the swine and unwholesome for our royal bellies. The reality of the matter is that outside the Lord's Body, we would simply become malnourished, starve and eventually die. Having assumed the life of the Lord after being born again, we can only be fed by that which is in the Lord. It is as simple as that.

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Part 3: The Feeding Mechanism

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love(Eph. 4:11-16).

Having understood that nourishment for the Church- which is the body of Christ- comes from the Head, even Christ, l believe it is expedient that we learn of the mechanism by which this nourishment is achieved. 

Every believer is born into the faith as a baby and needs maturing. Even though every member of the Body (Church) is connected to the Head (Christ), babes are unable to draw nourishment directly from the Head. It is the mature believers who are able to effectively draw nourishment directly from the Head. That is why babes are advised to desire the sincere milk.

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