In our bodies every member has a function, every member is important, every member must function along with the whole Body. When one organ is not functioning properly the whole body suffers. Not only that, not one member or cell can continue to live without its connection, receiving from and giving, to the whole body.
In 1 Corinthians 12 Paul uses this example of the different members of the body to explain that in the diversity of expression and gifts there is a perfect balance for the whole body. Sometimes people may think that they are not important or that their gift is not necessary, or even that they do not even have a gift. Therefore it says, “WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN (Ephesians 4:8).
And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love (Ephesians 4:11–16).
The emphasis is not on the ministries, but the equipping of saints for the work of service. The goal is the growth that comes to the body by each and every member of the body functioning properly. The ministries serve the purpose of helping each member to identify and learn to use their spiritual gifts. In everything we do we must learn to wait on the Lord to discover what gifts He gave to each one of us, learn how to use those gifts and be a part of a functioning body.
I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me (John 17:20–23).
Jesus is saying that He gave the glory He had received from the Father to His disciples, so that they could be one, so that they could be perfected in unity, and know that the Father loved them as He loved Jesus. We will never know this love until we become one! We will never be made perfect until we find this oneness! The oneness comes when each one of us discovers our personal gifts and learns how to put them to use.
John 17:11
Ephesians 4:25
Romans 12:4-13
1 Corinthians 12
Matthew 22:36–40
1 Timothy 1:6
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