“For as the body is one, and hath many members, so also is Christ” (1 Cor. 12:12).
Because of the entrance of sin through Adam’s disobedience, he brought so much loss to himself and all
mankind. Now all that is being recovered by the Lord Jesus Christ. In this great work of recovery God wants
us to be His co-workers, just as the members of a human body help to fulfil all the purposes, plans and
desires of the head. That is why we are called the Body of Christ. God has exalted His Son, “And hath put
all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the
fulness of him that filleth all in all” (Eph. 1:22, 23). In other words, the Church is called the Body of Christ
because it has to contain the fullness of God.
Those who are not born again will never understand this mystery, even though they may read many books
and hear many sermons. The heavenly mystery of the Body of Christ cannot be understood with human
wisdom because we need spiritual wisdom to understand spiritual matters. A carpenter knows all about
carpentry, a goldsmith about gold, a blacksmith about iron, and a farmer about fields. We require human
wisdom for all these matters. In the same manner we need divine wisdom to understand divine things.
How can we receive this divine wisdom? It is written that Christ “is made unto us wisdom” (1 Cor. 1:30).
The living presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in us, is our wisdom. You should not think that Bible knowledge
is wisdom. Many people have learnt several portions of the Bible by heart and yet are not familiar with
divine truths. Let me say it again, unless the life of the Lord Jesus Christ flows into you, you can never
know the mystery of the Body of Christ.
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In some cases babies are still born. The body is there, but there is no life in it. Without life the body is
useless, and is fit only for burial. Even though you love a person very much, you will not keep his lifeless
body. It will be of no use, so it has to be buried. In Eph. 1:23 saved children of God are called “The Body
of Christ”. This means they have received the life of Christ. It is therefore evident that only those who
have received the gift of eternal life can become members in the Body of Christ.
daily devotional
Our true wisdom
January 21
Paul says: “In me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing” (Romans 7:18).
A threshing-floor is the place where you separate the wheat from the chaff. All were saying
what a wise man David was, but throughout his history, there often appeared little else but
chaff in his brain. Through his failures God said to him: “Look at the chaff”. Only after being
brought to many ‘threshing-floors’, was David’s brain delivered from the chaff. Though he
was a king, he had to be rebuked by God many times, and had to pay a great price for
deliverance.
We have all of us to pay a heavy price to be God’s servants. We have to be prepared to be
delivered from our chaff, and first of all from the chaff in our brain! What is that chaff? In
God’s sight it is all that we have secured through our own intellectual ability. In Isaiah 40:6
we read: “All flesh is grass”. He is the grain of wheat – He is our true wisdom. All our
experiences are designed to teach us to depend on that wisdom alone.
Recent Devotions
Resurrection of Jesus Christ
Jan 21
O death, where is thy sting? …
—1 Corinthians 15:55
Death is the most democratic experience in life for we all participate in it. We think of its happening only to other people. We don’t like to grow old, and we don’t like to die. The Bible teaches that death is an enemy of man and God. But it also teaches that this enemy, death, will ultimately be destroyed forever; that in fact it has already been defeated at the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Death, for a Christian, brings permanent freedom from evil. It also means the believer will be like Jesus. We shall be like Christ in love. So much of self is involved in what we do here; but one day, in Christ, we will have perfect love. What a glorious time it will be when we get to heaven!
Recent Devotions
This is the altar
January 20
“Then David said, this is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of the burnt offering
for Israel” (1 Chron. 21:28; 22:1).
It was not for a mere earthly kingdom that God was calling David. He had for him a kingdom
far higher and greater than that. We have seen the growth of joy in David’s life, stage by
stage, and we have seen what it was that gave both to God and to David the greatest
satisfaction, even the revelation to him of God’s plan and pattern for His temple.
Before God could reveal His plan to him, He had, as we have seen, to bring David by a path
of sorrow to the threshing-floor of Araunah, the Jebusite. Then David realised that that same
plot of ground upon which he built his altar and burnt peace offerings was wanted by the Lord
to build His temple. God could have told David from the very beginning to build His house in
that place, but David was not ready then to receive such a command or instruction. It is only
when we are truly ready and prepared that God can give to us the instructions of His heart.
Recent Devotions
Who are you?
Jan 20
For he knoweth our frame …
—Psalm 103:14
It is significant that our first astronauts, while being trained for their moon flights, were required to give twenty answers to the query, “Who are you?” Take the same test yourself. When you have made your list and run out of things to add, ask yourself if you have truly answered. Do you really know who you are? Scientists agree that our desperate search leads all humans to seek heroes and to imitate others, to “paste bits and pieces of other people on ourselves.” We make love as some actor would. We play golf in the style of Jack Nicklaus. Part of this process is natural, for we learn by imitating others. The tragedy is that the person we assemble is not genuine. “Who am I?” you cry as you roam the world looking for yourself. Consider this: there are three of you. There is the person you think you are. There is the person others think you are. There is the person God knows you are and can be through Christ.