Paul
the apostle asked the Corinthian church members, “and
if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body;
is it therefore not of the body?”,
and in chapter twelve and verse seventeen
of First Corinthians, Paul asked the church members, “If
the whole body were an eye or if it were hearing”,
where we read:
The
verse begins, “If
the whole body were
an eye, where were
the hearing?”. Paul
began with the words, “if the whole
body”
which means “whether all and the complete living corpse or carcass”
“were an eye”
or “was the part of the body used for vision and sight”, “where”
which means
“at what place or whither” “were
the hearing”
or “would be the sense of the reception of sounds for the faculty
of perceiving with the mind, the faculty of understanding and
knowing”? Paul asked the church members to consider if the entire
“body” was
an “eye”,
how would the “body”
“hear”
anything?
The
verse continues, “If
the whole were
hearing, where were
the smelling?” Paul
added the words, “if the whole”
which means
“whether all and the complete body” “were
hearing”
or “was the part of the body used for the faculty of perceiving
with the mind, the faculty of understanding and knowing”, “where”
which means “at what place or whither” “were
the smelling”
or “would be the capacity to smell things”? Paul continued his
questioning as he asked the church members to consider it the entire
“body”
was an “ear”,
how would the “body”
be able to “smell”
anything?
When
we consider these words from Paul, we may think these examples are
quite obvious. The body is not made up of just an “eye” or
“ear”, but has many components. If all of these parts were
not in the body, the body would not be able to do some of the things
it does. Paul's point is that every part of the “body of Jesus
Christ” is important, and no one part is more significant than
another. These parts have different functions, and they all add to
the ability of the “body” as a whole. When a person
receives Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord, they become
a part of His body, the church, and their role in the “body”
or “church” is as significant as any other. Let us rejoice in the
wisdom and knowledge of God who declares every part of His “body”
not only to be useful but extremely valuable to the whole.
Next
time Paul tells the church members, “God
set the members every one of them in the body”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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