3. My body is Christ's Body - 1 Corinthians 12:12-31
Just as God created our bodies for a purpose, each part of our bodies have a specific function. I type with my fingers, not my elbows. The heart pumps blood throughout the entire body. The liver acts as a filter, deciding which is useful and which is waste. The pancreas creates insulin and glucagon and the blood cells distribute these throughout the body except for your brain. While we associate our noses with the sense of smell, that is only a small part of its job. The nose's primary purpose is to help us breathe.
While the ear is associated with the sense of hearing, its other function is to help us maintain our balance and remain upright when in motion. Eyes are the organs of sight; the cornea is the lens through which we see images, while the pupil controls the quantity of light entering the body.
The body contains more than 640 muscles and each one is controlled by nerves. Each muscle is made up of millions of tiny protein filaments working together. In order to move at all the muscles need the nervous system to function properly. Acetylcholine is the chemical required to transfer information from one nerve cell to another.
And while all of this is quite interesting, it is just another reminder that not only do we not know how our own bodies work, we also have little knowledge of how the body of Christ is supposed to work. What we do know though, is that when we study the different structures and layouts of how the body works individually, we are able to see more clearly how the body works as a whole.
The body contains 3.5 liters of blood. The heart weighs 3 pounds. The pancreas weighs about 2.5 pounds. There are 206 bones in a skeletal structure, between 600 to 850 muscles, 100 trillion cells and about 45 miles of nerves run through our bodies. And just by sharing all this with you, I am reminded again just how amazing our God is. Our bodies are not created by accident, but on purpose. And with purpose.
Just as our bodies, which are God's handiwork, are created to function for specific purposes and work together, so the body of Christ is created through the Holy Spirit of God to function properly. Each of us has a purpose within Christ's body. And we need each other in order to work properly. Some teach, some preach; some sing, some write; some evangelize, some heal; some build churches, some prophesy. All are called to minister in some capacity . None are greater, none are lesser.
I sing while I clean toilets. Because my heart is right with God, God is glorified by my services: both in song and in service. One speaks in a tongues (a heavenly language given to a person after being baptized in the Holy Spirit) and one interprets the tongue spoken. Our talk of being the body of Christ is backed up by our walk with Christ. The evidence of our salvation and unity of spirit is visible to all who see us. We are recognized by total strangers as being Christians. Even if we say nothing at all.
Have you ever been accosted by someone you do not know in a parking lot? I have. A woman walked right up to me and said, "You're a Christian aren't you?". Flabbergaste, I'm like, "Yeah. How did you know?" And she said, "You shine. I could see right away that you were different."
I shine. My body is Christ's Body. It is His light which shines through me that all the world may be drawn to Him. It is His love which moves through me, giving me strength to love the unlovable in the same way in which He loves me: unconditionally.
