In the former posts we discussed the fact that God the Father intended, before he created the world, that He would have a family. And in and through Christ, he would reconcile everything back to Himself and restore and fulfill His intent for Man and creation. Yet even His disciples had not fully grasped the essence and extent of His will after they were sent to preach the Kingdom of God. We mentioned before that Peter had a hard time with the fact that the Gentiles were also included in God’s promise and would be regarded as the same in Christ with the Jewish people. (Acts. 10)
Gen 3:16 [NIV]
16To the woman he said,
“I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing;
with pain you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you.”Psm 45:10-17 [NIV]
10Listen, O daughter, consider and give ear:
Forget your people and your father’s house.
11The king is enthralled by your beauty;
honor him, for he is your lord.
12The Daughter of Tyre will come with a gift,
men of wealth will seek your favor.
13All glorious is the princess within her chamber;
her gown is interwoven with gold.
14In embroidered garments she is led to the king;
her virgin companions follow her
and are brought to you.
15They are led in with joy and gladness;
they enter the palace of the king.
16Your sons will take the place of your fathers;
you will make them princes throughout the land.
17I will perpetuate your memory through all generations;
therefore the nations will praise you for ever and ever.Hag 2:7-9 [NIV]
7I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the LORD Almighty. 8‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the LORD Almighty. 9‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the LORD Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the LORD Almighty.”
Rev 21:9-10 [NIV]
9One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.
Matt 10:32-40 [NIV]
32“Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. 33But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.
34“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35For I have come to turn
“‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
36a man’s enemies will be the members of his own
household.’
37“Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
40“He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me.1 Cor 12:12-28 [NIV]
12The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
14Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
21The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
27Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.
This is post is _Part 6_ in the series The Body of Christ and our Role in It. To continue with this series, click on Pt 7. To use this as a growth tool to better understand your own calling, you might start by reading the explanation of this series, Pt 1, Pt 2, Pt 3. Pt 4 and Pt 5.
Photo credit: Jamie McKerral