Ephesians 4:15-16 – “But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”  NASB

Let me offer some definitions or identifications regarding the body using a couple of words in this text.  The two words to which I refer are:

• JOINT – The nervous system or the nerve paths that run through the body. 
• SUPPLIES – The full supply for any part of the body in its moment of need comes through the ‘paths’ within the body or through the nervous system. 

Why is that important?  It is essential because Paul frequently used analogies and comparisons to the human body in understanding the Body of Christ.  But that is only a part of the picture.

We are told by the apostle that The Body is built up in Love or that it builds itself up in or through Love.  The supply spoken of here is abundant and is sufficient to satisfy the need of any part of the body regardless of what or where that part is.  That supply flows through the body’s cells, bringing the needed supply, producing life, and making it whole. 

The result is that the Body, through its cells ministering to each other, builds itself up in Love!  Thus, a perfectly functioning Body, human or the Body of Christ, is where every cell is ministered to fully, completely, and according to need.  Body Ministry, a term we have probably heard frequently, is when all the supply lines are open and functioning as designed.  It would behoove us to remember that we are individual cells within the Body of Christ, not isolated entities. 

Our relationship with Jesus, the Head of the Body, is the same as the rest of our human body relates to the human head on that body (brain).  We are Christ’s Body!  That is not a hope, wish, or objective we are striving to attain – We are the Body of Christ if we are In Christ.  You did not originate the Body, and your inclusion did not cause it to begin; it was there before you were included. 

Since you have been included, you are a part of the Body of Christ and have a specific function.  One of those functions is to be a nerve path, a connecting cell, a supply route where other cells within the Body can receive what they need to function completely and wholly. 

Someone said, “There are only two bodies in the world, and greater is He that is in you than He that is in the world.”  Therefore, we can see there is the Body of the World and the Body of Christ.  The head of the Body of Christ is Jesus, and the head of the Body of this World is Satan.  You were adopted, grafted, or born into the Body of Christ at conversion or salvation.  In the human body, the head and the rest of the body are one.  The head is the brain, the control center of the body.  The life that the body flows from the brain or head, and the life we have spiritually flows from the Head, JESUS!

Scientists and biologists tell me that from the brain, energy, life, and electrical current or Power come!  So, inside each of us is a pulsating power flowing from the brain to every cell or life.  It is not a matter of which church you belong to, the religious rituals you practice, or even the doctrine you believe it is being a living cell in the Body of Christ.  In Him, we live and move and have our being.  This supernatural life can only be manifested through our connection with the head being supplied through the nerve paths of the Body.  We are living His Life, and that life is LOVE!

William Shakespeare popularized ‘romantic love’; ever since the human race has been captivated by the idea of “Falling in Love.”  God does not fall in love; He is love and loves!  You fall in ‘mud puddles,’ and if you ‘fall in love,’ you can be rescued or ‘fall out of love’ as easily as you fell into it. 

God’s love is Unconditional; human love is conditional.  God’s love is spontaneous; it does not have to be earned, courted, or wooed. It is an extension of Who He Is.  It is Agape, and that Agape is what builds up the Body and transforms it into the Glorious Church Jesus said He was building and would return for.  God’s love is a premeditated choice, not the fire of emotion.  He decided to love us because that is who and what He is – Love!

I want to press deeper into this, so we will pause here and pick up next time, considering the Body of Christ and its building itself up in LOVE!   

Until next time may the richest and best of the blessing of the Lord be yours in all things and at all times.