The Body of Christ - 1Corinthians12

As a new Christian, we were given the example of working as soldiers in the army of God to achieve the goals and mission of the church. In fact we were shown pictures of the Roman soldiers as they linked arms or shields to form one great line of defence and offence. Whilst the old testament does give us examples and descriptive pictures of the Israelites as they went into battle, Paul in 1Corinthians12 gives us what we would say is an accurate understanding who we are in Christ and how He interacts with us. Even if we are to use the example of the Israelites formation when going into battle, it is interesting to note that the tribes of Israel formed a cross with the ark of covenant firmly positioned at the centre of the cross formation. Once again emphasising the redemptive power of Christ on the cross and all he achieved for us. See Below:-

 

I Corinthians 12 speaks of a different formation that we now have when in Christ. Whilst Ephesians speaks of the armour of God is in place, it is clear the body is not a picture of many people but of many parts of one body. This I believe gives greater bearing to Paul's teaching on the armour of God.

 

When in prayer today, I was given a picture of the armour of God over four members of my family, namely myself which represented one half of the body including the leg, my wife who was the other half of the body including one leg and our children, each representing an arm each. As expected, Christ was represented as the head of the body.  I felt the Lord say that each of us make up the members of his body in this way. As our numbers increase, each person represents another part of the body. This is only speculation but perhaps when the body increases as promised to Abraham, that is as "numerous as the stars" as spoken in Genesis 22&26, perhaps this will have each believer represented on a cellular level? Sorry for sounding a bit weird, but this may already be the case.

 

This places greater importance on how we as the body of Christ interact with one another. Just as every part of our body feels when another part is in pain, so too does the church, the body of Christ, know when things are not right. I once heard a preacher speak on when a body part becomes disjointed that it effects the way in which the whole body moves. In the same way, when there is division within the body, even at a local level, it affects every part of the body as a whole.

 

I know now, better than I have ever known, just how important it is not to have division within the body. We often think that we can operate normally with division or even separation for example when a member of our body is cut off, the reality however is very different. Scientist now tell us that separation, division, trauma, grief and many other areas which effect us on an emotional level actually also effect us on a physical and spiritual level also. We simply cannot discard what happens from one part of our lives from the rest. As my wife has said regarding a woman's brain, it is just like spaghetti and everything is connected.

 

We are connected to the body of Christ both on a local and universal level. It is important that we continue therefore to lift up every part of Christ's church and body in prayer and believe our God for His healing power to sweep over us and bring unity. This is true on our individual family levels, local neighbourhoods, cities, nations and finally across the world as we know it.