“ONE Body”
1 Corinthians 12
Sermon Series: “ONE”
Introduction: There are several pictures of the church (family of God, people of God, bride of Christ, etc.) in the New Testament. The body of Christ is another one of those pictures. Of course, the body of Christ is the universal church, which is comprised of all true believers. The Bible also teaches us that there are local churches, which are tangible expressions of the body of Christ if they are true biblical churches. I want us to apply this passage to both of those expressions of the church. Let’s look at an anatomy of the body of Christ.
1. The Head of the body is the Lord Jesus Christ (v. 1-3).
A physical body takes direction from its head (the brain). A spiritual body must do the same because Jesus is the Head (which means Lord, or ruling authority) of the church (Colossians 1:18, Ephesians 1:22-23). This means:
1. The first step in truly becoming a part of the church is to submit to the Lordship of Christ by faith.
2. We must acknowledge that the church belongs to Him-not us.
3. Christ is the ruling authority of the church, and the Bible is the blueprint for how it should function.
4. Obedience to Christ is key because a church becomes dysfunctional when not obeying its head.
5. If this is right-everything else will fall into place.
6. We are to follow the human leaders that He has ordained as long as they are being obedient to Scripture.
2. The makeup of the body is determined by its Head.
The Holy Spirit places us into the body of Christ at the moment of salvation. In other words, the body of Christ is made up of all true believers (v. 13).
The Lord places us in the body where He sees fit to do what He chooses (v. 4-11, 18).
There is one body with many parts. In other words, it is a body that has unity and diversity (v. 12-25).
This body is interdependent, which means we need each other and must work together (v. 14-24).
3. This is how a healthy body is to function:
We are to build up the body through the use of our God-given spiritual gifts (v. 4-11, 28-31).
The body of Christ is to be united (v. 25). The text says, “that there should be no schism [division] in the body.” God has called us to love one another. We can disagree without dividing. The church is called to be cooperative instead of competitive. When the Big C Church wins, we all win. We should root for each other and even for other churches.
The members of the body are to care for one another (v. 25-26). This is a command from the head of the church. Every member of the church should experience the love of the body of Christ. Love for God and each other should be our distinguishing mark. We are to enter into each other’s suffering and joy.
Love is crucial for us to function as a healthy body (12:31-13:13). Love is the mark of maturity that enables us to be united and diverse at the same time (which is a real challenge). Nothing we do really matters unless it is done in love.
Conclusion: Are you truly a member of the body of Christ? Is Jesus your Lord? If so, are you living like a member of that body? Do you realize your importance? Are you using your gifts? Are you living in unity with your fellow believers? Are you caring for and loving your brothers and sisters in Christ?
