Alive Together In Christ
Good morning, Immanuel. We are alive together in Christ—connected by the energizing power of the Holy Spirit as members of the same body.
"Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love" (Ephesians 4:15-16).
Church is the most complex reality on earth. How could it be otherwise? Church is a welding together of unlikely friends under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Church, therefore, is meant to be a heavenly society, utterly unique in the world, a place where the rule of the Prince of Peace is realized—imperfectly but truly. As such, there’s nothing in the world more difficult to talk about than Church. Which is probably why the apostle Paul does not limit himself to one analogy when speaking about church. Earlier in this letter, the church is pictured as the household of God and the temple of God. In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, the church is spoken of as both God’s Temple and God’s cultivated field. But perhaps no analogy more accurately reflects the complexity of church as that of Ephesians 4, the body of Christ.
With each passing year, our knowledge of the human body grows. I was listening recently to an interview with someone who studies the many functions of electricity in the human body, some of which are still very mysterious. And her description of the complex electrical network inside our bodies, reminds me of our text today. We’re not only spiritually alive in Christ as individuals. We are alive together in Christ—connected by the energizing power of the Holy Spirit as members of the same body. Church is more organism than organization.
This excerpt was taken from a sermon preached by Pastor TJ Tims on March 26, 2023, at Immanuel Nashville.
🙏🏼 Thank you TJ