"For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ." (I Cor. 12:12)
It would be a classic understatement if I were to say today that we have really messed up God's plan for the church. There are many metaphors in the Bible for church such as the body of Christ, the family of God, the bride of Christ, to just name a few. What I have noticed that they all have in common is they are living organisms, not buildings or organizations.
In I Cor. 12, the apostle Paul uses the analogy of a body. What is obvious is that a body has many different component parts, two legs, two arms, one mouth, two eyes, etc. They are all a part of the body. They cannot function independently, but rather are interdependent upon one another. If you sever the arm it dies, and the body is handicapped.
When God saves us by the regenerating work of His Holy Spirit, He places us into the body of Christ. The theology behind that is we are "baptized" into the body by the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. And what makes the church function is not programs and plans, not organizations and committees, but the life force of the Spirit working through God's people.
It is interesting that in Eph. 3:20 that we often quote about how God is able to do more than we think or ask, the point is about God receiving glory. Read that verse again. Paul expresses his desire that God receive glory in His church. And He does that through the power that works in us.
I wonder if before Jesus returns our hearts might be stirred and moved to desire God to restore the church to His plan and move it away from what we have made it.
