There is One Body

The late Robert Jackson used to tell about a country church that couldn’t get along.

Both of the opposing sides lacked the resources to leave and build another building. So each group decided to meet at different times–one in the morning and the other in the afternoon.

The building was heated by a coal stove. But each group had its own coal pile. During the week someone snuck into the building and wrote on the blackboard…

One Lord.
One Faith.
One Baptism.
Two Coal Piles

In our continuing series from Ephesians 4, the apostle Paul pled for “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” He said it requires eagerness, effort and diligence.

Then in Ephesians 4:4-6, Paul proclaimed the platform on which religious unity can be achieved. The grounds of unity are based on seven fundamental, Biblical Truths

“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

Today’s post is the 6th of these 7. “There is one Body.”

There are many metaphors describing God’s people. Kingdom. Temple. Family. Household. Vineyard. And Bride. Each provides a specific and unique characteristic of the community of Believers. But in this text, Paul resorts to one of his often used analogies–Body.

What the Metaphor Means

This imagery is used in both Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12 to compare the church to the physical body. “For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another (Rom. 12:4).

For our bodies to function properly each member must work together. The hands, the arms, the legs, the feet, the eyes, and the ears. None are more important. None are less important. All are important. Just like the members of our physical body are interdependent, the same is true in the spiritual Body.

How Do we Become a Part of the Body?

Paul says we have been “called into one body” (Col. 3:15). That calling however, is not something mystical or miraculous, but he says we are “called” by the gospel of Christ (2 Thess. 2:14).

When Paul went into the city of Corinth, he preached the gospel. The Bible says that “many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized” (Ax. 18:8). Later he wrote them a letter reminding them, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body — whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free — and have all been made to drink into one Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:13).

The Blessing of Being in the Body

There are many blessings in the Body of Christ. The fellowship with other Believers. Opportunities to serve. An edifying forum for collective worship. A path for discipleship growth. But one of the greatest blessings is the relationship we now sustain with the Lord.

Regarding the inclusion of Gentiles into His family, Paul wrote, {God’s} purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross…” (Eph. 2:15-16).

“Reconciliation is restoration of harmonious relationship between separated persons,” wrote Dr. C. G. Caldwell in his Ephesians commentary. “In this case, sinners have lost fellowship with God. In Christ, we regain the perfect oneness with our Creator which was lost when we sinned.”

Reconciled in one Body. What a blessing! What a fellowship! What an opportunity! Reconciliation involves pardon. Brings peace. And promises eternal, Divine association.

Two Important Conclusions

#1 Using the metaphor of the Body, there must be a head. The Bible does not leave us in the dark. The Ephesian letter uses the expression “in Christ” 12 times. Christ is the One who God made to be “head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all” (Eph. 1:22-23). Christ is the head. Not a preacher. Not a pastor. Not a pontiff. Not a political ruler. Only Jesus Christ.

#2 The Body is the Church. This text says so. That’s the analogy.

“There is one Body.” Consider the implications of this simple, but profound statement.

–Ken Weliever, The Preacheman