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The Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians
The Church and the Spirit
Illustrations of the Church
1. The Church as a body.- Unity
Hebrews tells us that the physical was made from the spiritual.
Heb 11:3; Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
The church as a body is a divine parable, as indeed are the Bride and Branches, for they are interpreted from divine creations or institutions. For Jesus to be the true vine and the true tabernacle to be in heaven, then we must suppose that there are false ones.
If you have read our studies on the Pattern of Threes then you will know that the natural world is a visible expression or parable of the invisible spiritual world. Everything in the universe is an expression of the Father, Holy Spirit & the Son
The Human Body is an expression of the Soul- The head is an expression of the MIND, the Hands express the Heart and the Feet express the will.
Within the spiritual body, here referred to as the Church these "parts" are defined.
Within our study on threes you will see that the church has been given gifts by which to function.
Three are gifts of Mind- Wisdom Knowledge Discernment
Three are gifts of the heart (from mouth) Tongues, Prophecy and Interpretation
Three are gifts of the Will- Healing, Miracles, Faith.
All three parts of our soul should be committed to our christian life. These three areas fit neatly with Sit, Walk, Stand as above. We are more inclined to be involved with he mind and heart stuff, than the practical outworking through our Will.
On this site we have “Every day’s a Chooseday” which shows Golf to be a parable of the Christian life, we read how in golf the driving and the chipping is of no real importance if you don’t eventually sink the ball in the hole on the ground. The first two shots are through the "air" with a driver and an iron but the third is on the ground with the putter. There is no point in golf or in the Christian life or indeed in anything at all, if the final column of physical expression is not reached. It is truly like having a spirit and soul without a body, to have a mind and heart experience without one’s will coming into operation. We are told to pray "Thy Kingdom come" which surely means the church and that is followed by, "Thy will be done on earth". So it goes without saying that the church, the body should be fulfilling the will of the Head which is Christ.
So then if we understand this visible parable of the body, that the visible outer is an expression of the invisible inner soul, we should also see how the same principles must exist in the members of the church as a body, in its relationship with the head which is Christ Jesus.
If we were to add another threesome as an illustration we can see other principles at work
For example, in any arm we have flesh bone and nerves.
All three are illustrations of some kind of spiritual authority (or if you will- "arm of the Law") as to how we should live as members of Christ’s body. As the head commands all the muscle and bone parts of the body through the nervous system so Christ by his Holy Spirit guides us and empowers us to do his will.
First we have the bone- solid hard must not be broken. This is like the Word of God. (Law) which is the final authority in all matters of belief. The fact that not one bone of Jesus was broken at Calvary is confirmation of this typology.
The Bone gives solidarity to the flesh and muscle.
Secondly we have the flesh or muscle- human authority which moves the heavy bone. (these are Apostles Prophets Evangelists Teachers and Pastors) who are active in the Lord's body, ministering the word to aid us in our Christian growth and guidance along the path.
And thirdly we have the nerves (The Spirit) which empower the muscles (flesh) (God’s servants) into action to do God's will- His word. This system is called the central nervous system because every member of the body is connected directly to the head.
So it should be in the church. Just as the muscle could not move the bone on its own so we need the Holy Spirit to empower us to keep God's word.
Everyone serving the Lord should be obedient to Him. His commands can differ from one member to another, but we should all know how the Lord speaks to us and what he is saying to us. We are not called to follow everyone else we are called to follow Jesus our head.
If one hand gets tired carrying a load it does not shout over to the other hand and complain or call the other hand lazy, it merely tells the head and the head then tells the other hand to take over the load. This is how unity is kept in the human body and in the body of Christ. The nerve twitches the muscle and the muscle moves the bone with it.
So Jesus tells the members through the Holy spirit and the members (flesh or muscle) who then do his will which of course is His word.(the bone)
Paul speaks earnestly about the importance of unity in the body. All members being active but in harmony with every other member. By experience we know that this is not always the case especially in an active lively church where many are sure of the Lord's leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
It is important to have every member living in obedience to the spirit to ensure both activity of all members and unity at the same time. There is great unity in a cemetery but not much activity.
When I was a child I had a nervous twitch, and though my body was active it was not in unity.
So you can see how Ephesians emphasises this unity- all one in Christ Jesus at the end of chapter 2 (v 14) and the beginning of chapter 4 (v 3-4) We have been made “all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal.3:28)
Romans ch 8 v 9, tells us that without the Spirit of Christ within then it is not possible to be part of Christ’s body. In fact in the body if the nerves get diseased then there is no sensitivity to pain. So hands and limbs soon develop cuts and sores. Leprosy has all these symptoms. Eventually the fingers will drop off. This is a clear and vivid illustration of the spirit in the Body and no doubt why Leprosy is a perfect illustration of sin. For though we are justified by faith if we continue to sin there is every possibility that our heart and conscience will harden and the Spirit no longer convict us. This can only bring about spiritual death eventually.
We also know that if a part of the body does something such as paint a lovely picture or score a great goal, then we do not heap glory upon the hands or the feet, but we heap the glory on the face at the head. Without the control of the head such hands and feet would never accomplish anything other than what is foolish and purposeless.
So if we are to see that the church runs properly we should look no further for an illustration than to see how the human body members relate to the head and to each other.
1. The Body - Unity:
