Prof Zebulon No E17

C) The Church (The Diversity of the Body)

In our last study on the Church, we saw that the Lord used the allegory of the human body to compare it to the Church. We said that without unity, the human body would die; so as would the Church (it wouldn't die, but it would be crippled). Let us now look at the diversity of the Body.

We all know the familiar passage in 1 Corinthians 12:15 and following where Paul says that: "If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?" In other words, not everybody in the Body of Christ can have the same position. Some have to be ears and some have to be eyes and still some others have to be mouths, etc, etc, etc. The idea that Paul is trying to get across here is that all members of the Body of Christ are useful and none are more important than others. We are all equal but at the same time, we must be diverse because it is only when members with their divers gifts work together can there be unity in the Body. Can you imagine what would happen if we all used our Spirit-given gifts for the use in the Body and functioned in unity? (We will look into the Spirit-given gifts in detail later on) The world would turn its head and would want to become part of this Body. There are, however two criteria to get unity and diversity; they are Love and Humility. In John 13:34, the Bible gives us a new commandment that "we love one another as Christ has loved us". In essence, diversity brings unity because as we minister our divers gifts to one another, love and humility are the resulting by-products. Isn't this a wonderful master plan??

K) Christian Virtues (Joy and peace)

Some virtues are a direct result of our salvation experience. Joy and peace are two of these such virtues and are listed in the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22.

JOY

The joy that we experience when we are newly saved cannot actually be described. It is a sensation of freedom because our sins are forgiven and it is also a feeling of happiness because we know that we are loved by the Creator. The Bible says that we cannot lose our salvation (Jude 1) but that we can lose the JOY of our salvation (Psalm 51:12). We are to cultivate our joy in the Lord! How? The answer is in 1 John 1:4 : "And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full". We must read and meditate God's word.

PEACE

Here is another virtue that is difficult to describe. We have this inner peace that can almost be felt because of the knowledge that we are saved and on our way to heaven and the security we sense, is beyond words. So now, that's all very well to have peace and joy; but what are we to do with them? Just go around with a happy face? I don't think so. Tell me, what happens when you come across something fabulous? You tell everyone about it, right? Well, there you go!! Tell all your friends and enemies about Jesus and what He can do for them; you'll see, your joy and peace will always be at their highest level.