Isaiah - Verse By Verse

Thought:  To me, I would do well to remember every day, every moment, that Christ is the "Head" of my own body, as well as of the church (universal) body.

Question:  Am I "doing the work" that builds up others in love?

Scripture:  Ephesians 4:16 (NIV):  "From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds intself up in love, as each part does its work."

Christ is Our Head and we the body.  Recall that our theme in this chapter is "unity."  How are the ruling head and unintelligent body parts united?  How can the (physical) brain run the arms and legs and mouth and eyes, etc.?  Well, very successfully as we know.  We all are fine examples of brain-control.  We walk, we talk, we function well most of the time.  Observe a stroke victim, however, and it becomes clear how that even a small glitch in the brain can bring major devastation to the body.

"From him", that is, Christ, "the whole body...grows..."  Growth is a function of the body but it's instigation and implementation is vested in the brain.  The church "grows", both in quantity and quality, but the starting and processing and blessing is all up to Jesus Christ.  Sever the head, the body dies.  Sever Christ, the church dies.  The "whole body" is Christ's, that is, the church universal, the worldwide body of Christ, not just one local church group.

The growth is characterized by a building up "in love."  Again we see that love bathes everything Christ does for us.  He does all He does in love.  It is His primary motivation, and should therefore also be ours.

The body is "joined and held together by every supporting ligament."  We have Christ, the brain and eyes, ears, nose, mouth of the head, and we have the limbs of the body.  The limbs are "held together", or, kept in place, by "supporting ligaments."  To me, these "ligaments" could be the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers of verse 11.  We remain connected in doctrine and truth through their words and teaching.  The "common" people, not gifted in these leadership ways, (but definitely in other ways), are "supported" by leadership--"held together."  This is the unity factor again, seen quite clearly in the analogy of the body.  Our limbs can flow quite smoothly in functions, being even graceful, as scores of small parts operate together.  Bone, tendon, nerve, glands, blood, muscle, organs and tissues, each unique and vital, all unit into body; and we belong to Our Masterful Head, Jesus Christ, and His decisions, His guidance, His Ways--Praise The Lord!

The body only functions "as each part does its work."  We know firsthand the misery and suffering when even a tiny part of the body fails in its function.  I wonder how the 2008 body of Jesus Christ is functioning?  Which parts are failing to "do their work"?  Me?  

The growth process is normal.  Children, small versions of adults, have completely functioning bodies.  But illness and disease is abnormal, and adults who suffer dysfunctionally in their bodies are not pleasing to us or to the Lord.  Allegorically the same is true spiritually:  when a believer is not as he or she should be, the whole body of Christ will suffer.  This is the flip-side effect of the aspect of unity.

Prayer:  Father, You have ordained Your Son as my Head and Lord:  help me not to become a "dysfunctional body part", but rather, a "supporting" unifier/builder to honor You.  Amen. 

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