Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 12:12-27
Ⅰ
The apostle's dealing with head covering concerns the Head; his dealing with the Lord's supper (the Lord's table) concerns the Body—11:3, 17-34:
A
Regarding the headship of Christ, which represents God and is represented by man, we must keep the divine governmental order ordained by God, without any disorder.
B
Regarding the Body of Christ, we must be properly regulated by the apostle's instruction, without any confusion or division.
C
The Head is Christ, and the Body is the church (v. 3; 1:2; 12:27); these two—Christ and the church—are the controlling and directing factors of the apostle's dealing with the confused and disorderly church:
１
In chapters one through ten Paul deals with the church's problems f irst by stressing Christ as God's center and our portion.
２
In chapters eleven through sixteen he emphasizes the church as God's goal and our concern.
３
Both Christ and the church are crucial to the carrying out of God's administration in His New Testament economy.
Ⅱ
The unique mystical Body of Christ is the means for God to carry out His administration—Rom. 12:4-5; Eph. 1:22-23; 1 Cor. 12:12-13, 25, 27; 11:29:
A
The mystical Body of Christ is thoroughly and absolutely related to God's administration; apart from the mystical Body of Christ, God has no means, no way, to carry out His administration.
B
God's eternal purpose is to have a group of saved and regenerated people who have become one to be an organic Body to carry out His administration—Eph. 3:10-11; 4:16; 1 Cor. 1:2; 12:12-13, 27.
C
The mystical Body of Christ, the church, is for Christ's move on earth; the Head is now operating God's administration through the Body—11:3; 12:12.
D
Divisions damage the mystical Body of Christ with respect to the carrying out of God's administration— 1:2, 10-13; 12:25, 27:
１
Satan's subtle device is to cut the Body into pieces.
２
For centuries God has not been able to carry out His administration because the unique means for this—the mystical Body of Christ—has been cut into pieces through division.
３
Because we realize that the carrying out of the divine administration requires the unique Body, the mystical Body, we hate division and are absolutely opposed to it—1:10; 12:25; Acts 20:30; Rom. 16:17-18; Titus 3:10.
４
In order that God's administration may be carried out, we must care for the oneness of the unique mystical Body of Christ (Eph. 4:3, 13; John 17:21-23); having such a concern will preserve us in the Body and keep us from any division.
E
We take care of God's administration by discerning the Body—1 Cor. 11:29:
１
To discern the Body is f irst to realize that Christ has only one mystical Body.
２
If we have the proper understanding of the Lord's supper, we shall not be divided by anything; rather, we shall remain in the unique mystical Body of Christ, the means for Christ to carry out His heavenly ministry for the accomplishment of the divine administration.
Ⅲ
The Body of Christ is the corporate Christ—12:12-13:
A
In verse 12 the Christ refers not to the individual Christ but to the corporate Christ, the Body-Christ:
１
The corporate Christ is composed of Christ Himself as the Head and the church as His Body with all the believers as His members.
２
All the believers in Christ are organically united with Him (Rom. 12:4-5) and constituted with His life and element (Col. 3:4, 11) and have thus become His Body, an organism to express Him; hence, Christ is not only the Head but also the Body.
３
The Bible considers Christ and the church as one mysterious Christ—Acts 9:4-5:
ａ
Christ is the Head of this mysterious Christ, and the church is the Body of this mysterious Christ; the two have been joined to become the one mysterious Christ—Eph. 5:32.
ｂ
All the saved ones in all times and all space added together become the Body of this mysterious Christ.
B
Because the reality of Christ is the Spirit, the way to be constituted with Christ to be His Body is to drink the Spirit—1 Cor. 12:13:
１
The baptism into the one Body has positioned us all to drink one Spirit.
２
By drinking of the Spirit we are constituted to be the Body.
Ⅳ
Blending is the most helpful thing in keeping the oneness of the Body—vv. 24-25:
A
The universal Body of Christ is a blending of all the local churches in the divine life—Col. 4:15-16; Rev. 1:4, 11; 2:7a.
B
The goal of the universal blending is the reality of the Body of Christ.
C
Blending requires us to be crossed out and be by the Spirit to dispense Christ and do everything for the sake of His Body.
D
Blending means that we should always stop to fellowship with others; to have fellowship is to put away our private interests and join with others for a common purpose—the building up of the Body of Christ to consummate the New Jerusalem—1 John 1:3; Eph. 4:16; Rev. 21:2.
E
In the spiritual element all the churches should be blended together as one.
Ⅴ
The one Body is the one church of God, manifested in many localities as many local churches—Eph. 1:22; 1 Cor. 10:32b; 1:2; 12:27; Rev. 1:4, 11:
A
The local churches are many in existence but are still one Body universally in element—Eph. 4:4.
B
All the local churches are and should be one Body universally, doctrinally, and practically—1 Cor. 4:17; 7:17; 11:16; 14:33; 16:1.