Sabbath: The Unified Body of Christ
Image © Pacific Press
Sabbath Afternoon
Read for This Week’s Study: Ephesians 4:1-16; Philippians 2:3; Psalm 68:18; Acts 2:1-47; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 1 Corinthians 12:27-30; Isaiah 5:4.
Memory Text: “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-12, ESV).
One of Aesop’s fables is called “The Belly and the Feet.” It goes like this: “The belly and the feet were arguing about their importance, and when the feet kept saying that they were so much stronger that they even carried the stomach around, the stomach replied, ‘But, my good friends, if I didn’t take in food, you wouldn’t be able to carry anything.’ ” — Lloyd W. Daly, Aesop Without Morals (New York: Thomas Yoseloff, 1961), p. 148.
Paul, however, used the human body to make a spiritual point. For Paul, the human body — and the church as the body of Christ — is composed of various parts with differing abilities, all of which must work together for the body to be healthy. In Ephesians 4:1-16, Paul redeploys the body metaphor that he used so effectively earlier (Romans 12:3-8, 1 Corinthians 12:12-31). Christ is now the Head of the body, supplying the body with “gifted” people who help unify the body, with each part — each church member — contributing its abilities to the whole.
Paul’s picture of a healthy, unified body helps us understand God’s goal for us: to be parts of a fruitful church united in Christ.
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, August 12.
(20)
I wrote my own paraphrase of Eph 4:1-16 this morning but it did not really come together all that well. Then I read Peterson's "The Message" paraphrase. I liked it so much I am just going to quote it. I hope that it helps us all in our study this week.
The metaphor of the church as a body is used for us to understand the value of diversity as each one is uniquely gifted.God brought us together as a community of believers for a purpose.The church will not stand if there is no unity.Unity only comes from Jesus Christ.Unity is not the same with uniformity,every member of the church has a gift and is unique and which must be used for the edification of the church.We are not designed to go it alone.
For me the text never speaks of unified body. It speaks of one head under which the body operates. Each body part builds itself under the guidance of the head. An arm does what’s best for the head alone.
Read verse 3 which read as follows "Through the peace that ties you together, do your best to maintain the unity that the Spirit gives" GW Translation.
Following Maurice's example and invite, here's my try at a paraphrase of Ephesians 4:1-16 in the voice of "Papa Paul" to his "kids"....
v.1 - You've made an initial decision to trust Jesus by faith, now live as though you really have met Jesus. Let your lifestyle reflect who you know Jesus to be. You were called to follow Him because God drew you (Jn. 6:44,65)
v. 2 - Let me start by setting out some common character traits of the family of God: perfect humility, restrained strength, patience with people, lovingly putting others first - putting our arms around, supporting and carrying one another in agape love,
v. 3 - unity in Jesus - because God is ONE, His people are ONE. But don't expect uniformity of thinking and acting. We don't need tin soldiers all dressed alike, we do need different organs in the Body all functioning harmoniously in their differences and in love because Jesus is their focus and their Head (Col. 3:14-15). We stand or fall together. Use your gifts for God's Kingdom. Bloom where you are planted. Quit comparing yourselves with others. Continue with eager earnestness to preserve the unity of the Holy Spirit. Spare no effort at this.
v. 4 - 6 - Let me show you 7 perfect ways our emphasis is on the ONE and not on the many: one Body (universal church), one Holy Spirit who brings us together, one hope in the 2nd Coming of Jesus, one Lord Jesus Adonai (Phil. 2:9-11), one faith and trust in God's Word, one public profession of faith in Jesus as Lord, one God and Father over us all and in us all.
v. 7 - Now that I've addressed you as a Body, here are some messages to individual believers. Each and every believer is given a spiritual gift at the time of receiving New Birth, just as you received natural talents at your first birth. The Holy Spirit chooses gifts and distributes them and energizes believers to use them, to give glory to our Creator. These spiritual gifts are for the common good, for the health and growth of the whole Body. Our lives are not "What's in it for me?" The goal of salvation is Christlikeness. If you've accepted Jesus as your Savior, you have been spiritually gifted. Your gifts are all different, and that's sometimes where the conflict comes in. There are no throwaway Christians. Every believer is significant to God and important in the work of spreading the gospel.
v. 8-10 - It is the ascension of Christ that is the guarantee of His ability to give the gifts of the Holy Spirit to us humans. Jesus broke the chain of death and self-centeredness, and the captives of Satan have been captured by the power of Christ. Following Christ's triumphal entry into heaven, He distributed spiritual gifts to jumpstart His Church. Before He ascended, Jesus descended to the very depths of human pain and experienced the humiliation of death of the body. The descent was deep, but the ascent is higher. Christ fills all the universes and has authority over all spiritual powers - evil powers are no match for Him.
v. 11 Here are some kinds of gifts God has given His Church: apostles - the circle of 12 who walked with Jesus and wrote Scripture… today they may be called missionaries; prophets (Acts 11:28); evangelists (Acts 21:8); pastor-teachers (Acts 20:28), elders (Acts 20:17)....We are a group of gifted people.
v. 12 Christian leaders are to train individual Christians to do the work of ministry related to their own spiritual gift in their own sphere of influence. God did not mean for an "elite group" to do all the work in His Church. Christ reaches the world when every single person in the group of believers becomes empowered and motivated for ministry. You are each called, gifted, and chosen to be a full-time, 24/7 minister of Jesus Christ. The Church desperately needs each one, not to build self up but to build up the Body of Christ and help build the Church of Jesus. Use your gifts as servant towels to wash each others' feet. You have been gifted, are you available?
v. 13 The gnostic groups are teaching that certain people are entrusted with spiritual secrets and everyone else is ignorant. No. There are two groups: the people of God scattered and the people of God gathered. Gather to worship, encourage each other and organize yourselves to go out with purpose and power to bring the scattered into God's fold! The goal of church leadership is to train the laity. The goal of the laity is to do the work of ministry and help bring everyone who has responded to the call of God into His Body where they can grow to a place of spiritual maturity.
v. 14 - A new Christian is appropriately a baby in faith, but those who have been going to church for years and years should not be babies anymore. You must yield yourselves to the maturing influence of the Holy Spirit so He can grow you. God has put in you the desire to develop past the baby stage. You have all the revelations you need in the Bible. You don't need every new doctrine that comes down the pike. If it's new, it's probably not for you - test it for harmony with Scripture. Ask God to help you fall in love with the Gospel, and to make your Christian walk a lifestyle, not just something for Sabbath morning. Otherwise, church buildings will just become beautiful museums!
v. 15 - I'm speaking the truth to you in love. You must also speak the truth to each other in love. Cut across the stream of the day to the honor and glory of Christ, rather than allowing yourself to be captured by culture and lulled into going along with the flow of society. Quit talking like the world, there ought to be a difference in your speech. Your talk must be Christ-centered, motivated by His Love, and edifying to the Church. Grow up because you've met Jesus - treat others not because of their inherent goodness or how much they can help you, but based on what God in Christ has done for us. Be motivated by gratitude to God.
v. 16 Let the vitality of Christ flow into you, joining you to other believers. That's how people of varying gifts can work together. Every member is a working member and growing by staying connected to the Head, Jesus. Keep growing, both individually in Christ's spiritual graces, and grow as a Church on a daily basis as the Lord adds to the number daily those who are being saved (Acts 2:47).
Thank you for paraphrasing, Esther and Maurice.
We need more of it. I especially liked v.14. Sometimes I guess my paraphrasing comes by comparing one scripture with another to gain a more complete picture.
Especially comparing several translations.
The sensory body may exert a significant influence on the mind. (While a blocked reason may not be able to distinguish some simple messages.) This might be connected to what is fed to the sensory venues, such as touching, vision, hearing, and eating. For example, the enteric (digestive) nervous system has around 100 million nervous cells, making it easy to conclude how much food can influence thinking. "Like the body, the mind derives its strength from the food it receives." (AH, p. 410).