Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
The body of Christ is an imagery that we use pretty often when it comes to this family of God—that we're a part of Christ as the Head, and then the body, or the believers, make up this one comprehensive unit that works together in rhythm.
The whole imagery of the body is so helpful because, as the verse said, there are many parts to a body and they all work together so that the unit itself functions the way that it's intended.
We All Contribute
I love this imagery because sometimes, even as people just going about our days as a part of God's church here in the world, we might feel like who we are and what we bring to the world isn't really contributing much of anything. Maybe we're not somebody who's out in the front talking about the Bible or preaching. Maybe we don't do any work that we think is meaningful in any substantial way.
The beauty of the imagery of the body with many parts is that we also know that with a body, there are things that are working that you cannot even see, that are essential to make it go.
More Than Just Observers
This imagery can be teased out in so many different ways, and that's why I love that Paul uses it—not only here, but in other parts of Scripture. First Corinthians chapter 12 comes to mind.
For the last little bit of our time, I really want to focus on just one part of this verse that if we're not careful, we might miss. If we read through it too quickly, it says that "So it is with Christ's body."
I don't know if we really get the essence of what we're talking about when it comes to this family of God that we're a part of. We are not just participating as observers of what God is doing in the world. We're not just sitting back and watching what unfolds and passively taking in what happens before our eyes.
Join Him in Kingdom Work
God invites us to join Him in His kingdom work on earth, and we're praying that it happens just like it is in heaven. I mean, that is mind-boggling when you allow yourself to consider its implications.
We're not just people who benefit from the work that Christ has done in the past. We, as a result of His finished work on the cross, join Him in the work of the renewal of all things here on earth. We are contributors.
Do you want to know the most amazing thing? It's not up to our power according to our own abilities, our own insights or understanding. It is by the power of God that this can even happen.
The Same Power That Raised Jesus
There's a verse in Ephesians chapter 1 that comes to mind when I think about us being a part of Christ's body. What does that actually look like for us regular human people, limited by this flesh that we live in? How could we actually contribute anything meaningful in the world as a part of this body that we're talking about?
When one talks about how we have the same power that rose Jesus from the dead dwelling within us, it's actually not up to us. It's not according to our own abilities. It is by the grace of God that we receive the same power through the Holy Spirit that fueled the work of Christ on the cross and the resurrection.
Yes, you have this power within you if you're a follower of the way of Jesus.
A Final Thought
Today, walking away from this time, I think the most important and encouraging thing we can do is to take a few moments to consider: What does it actually mean to know Jesus, to be a part of His body, and to live from the reality that connected to Him, we have access to the same power that rose from the dead?