Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Marvelous will be the results when God's people as a church learn to love sinners as Christ loves them. The only way He has to show that love to them is through His church on earth. Therefore "God has appointed ... in the church" the various gifts of His Spirit (1 Cor. 12:28) so that the church may become His efficient "body" for expressing Himself to the world in the same way that a healthy person expresses through the "members" of his physical body the thoughts and intent of his mind.
These "gifts" lead up to the supreme gift of love, which Paul says is "a more excellent way" (vs. 31). 1 Corinthians chapter 12 discusses the corporate relationship of the "many members" with one another and with Christ in the church, "the body" (vs. 12). The "more excellent way" of love is revealed in chapter 13 as the normal function of the "body," its corporate effectiveness in service. The two chapters must not be separated.
Many have seen in chapter 13 a "portrait" of Christ. But in its full context the portrait really is of the church. Paul added the 13th chapter to demonstrate how the union of the "many members" in "one body" in Christ becomes the actual body of Christ on earth for the great purpose of expressing His love to a world that is dark with misapprehension of God. And every member is needed for this glorious work to be effective!
Here is a picture of the church in the time of the final outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Every individual church becomes in its respective community what Christ would be to that community if He were living there in the flesh. Thus His love is communicated effectively to the world, and the lines will be clearly drawn. All men will decide for or against this final revelation. And thus the Lord's prophecy will be completely fulfilled: "This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations, and then the end will come" (Matt. 24:14).
When the members of the body perform naturally the intents and feelings of the head, there is perfect bliss. Each organ of the body cooperates in perfect unity; the combination of physical and mental joy is indescribable. "So also is Christ" (1 Cor. 12:12). The perfect joy the human personality experiences is a symbol of the perfect joy the church experiences. "There should be no schism [paralysis] in the body, ... the members should have the same care for one another" (vss. 25, 26).
There is no breakdown of the vital system of nerve pathways conveying communication between the "Head" and the "body." Repentance is this nerve pathway that will communicate this effective love to every member of Christ's body.
--Robert J. Wieland
From: Bible Repentance: Path to Love.
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