Members

"Now you are the body of Christ, and individually members of it." (I Cor. 12:27)

I have one body. It is made up of many different members. I have two hands, two arms, two feet, ten fingers, ten toes, one nose, two eyes, one mouth, two kidneys, etc. You get the point. We need each member, and when we forfeit a part, we are hindered in our behavior and action. If my eye sees a beautiful flower, it can only observe it. It cannot smell it, without the nose. It cannot cut it and put in a vase to give to someone. Each part of the body is interdependent on the other.

First Century missionary Paul uses that analogy in I Corinthians to describe the church. It says that the church universal is the body of Christ. But keep in mind he is writing to a specific expression of that universal church, the church in the city of Corinth. Granted they had not divided up by denominations. They were the church in Corinth.

But they were struggling with divisions in their fellowship and with arrogance and pride, and a host of other problems. So Paul reminds them that by God's Spirit they have been made to be members of one body. That happened at the point of their conversion to Christ. As each member of a body is important, so each person who is genuinely part of the church has been equipped by God to fulfill a specific function in the body. All of the body depends on each member.

How has God placed you in the body? Keep in mind it is sovereignly His choice, and it is based on grace, not personal merit. So there is no room for pride, and their is no room for inferiority. God has crafted the church to fulfill His mission in the world. All believers matter to God and to the body.

Called to Belong

"See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are." (I John 3:1)

We often speak of God's love as being demonstrated by His giving His only Son, Jesus Christ, to die on a cross in our place. (John 3:16) But God not only loved us enough to provide a Savior and a way for us to have a relationship with God through Him, He also calls us His children. Wow. As a believer in Jesus Christ, I am a child of God. That is the glorious truth of this scripture verse.

One of the greatest blessings that comes with becoming a follower of Jesus Christ is that God makes us a part of a family. Every other follower of Jesus Christ is my brother or sister. God is our Father. We belong to a family. And in a sense this is an even more significant relationship than that of my earthly family because my Christian family is eternal.

In spite of the fact that our society has developed a sense of strong independence and people like to think of their relationship to God as private, the truth is we need one another. Heb. 10: 24 calls us to consider ways to encourage one another to a faithful walk with God. Prov. 27:17 says, "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." Whether we like it or not, God has created us in such a way that it is absolutely vital to our survival that we connect as family, and God calls that family church.