One Body Everywhere for Everyone

[HKHaugan]

Pentecost 15 One Body Everywhere for Everyone

If I went to an auto parts store and got all the parts to an automobile, got a garage to put them in and the tools to put the parts together I would still be at a loss as to how to build it. I would need three things, a picture of the car, the plans to put the parts together and the expertise for its assembly.
First, I would need to know the concept of what a car is, what it looks like, what it is designed for and the plans to build it.
Second, I would need to organize, arrange for and direct the labor force.
Third, I would need the labor force to have the ability, perception and strength to carry out the project.
If this sounds a bit like a three-in-one operation, it is. All of these are concepts, invisible ideas behind what you see. Even the physical process and the power of assembly are invisible. Yet they illustrate what every disciple of Jesus knows about existence. What runs the physical universe and the individuals within it is invisible and spiritual. It is also Trinitarian, a three person unity in perfect Oneness we call God the Father who is the architect, God the Son who is the contractor and God the Holy Spirit who is the labor force.
Compare constructing the car to God's plan for us:
First, we came to know the Father through the Son by the power of the Holy Spirit because God is Spirit. It was the physical presence of Jesus who revealed God in all His fullness as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the One who created us in His image and likeness. He gave us His plans for our lives in His Word.
Second, He gave us the Son to be both Savior and Lord to recover us from the ravages of sin, the devil and evil and direct our lives.
Third, He gave us the Holy Spirit to bring Jesus into our hearts personally and empower us to be like Him.
Fourth, He gave us a new spiritual family in which to grow in the Spirit and serve Him.
By the same Spirit He gave us gifts to enable us to help each other grow dependently on God and interdependently in the family, which is the Body of Christ, worldwide and world reclaiming.

Rom.12:4-5
4Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

1Cor.12:12
The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.

One spiritual body, that is what Paul emphasizes. Not one club, clan, state, nation, religion, ethnic group or institution. The Body is a spiritual organism identified visibly by its members who are brought together through faith in the person of Jesus who is its head. Each are connected to the other by the Holy Spirit through faith. Being one body in Christ means we are one body in the Spirit therefore we are one body by the will of the Father. Paul caps off a long chapter on gifts in the Body of Christ by saying in 1Cor.12:27, “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” Next, One Spirit….stay tuned.