Daily Devotion With Pastor Dan Nickerson – November 19th, 2020
(1 Corinthians 12:12-31)…..12 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink [a]into one Spirit. 14 For in fact the body is not one member but many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? 18 But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. 19 And if they were all one member, where would the body be? 20 But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. 21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. 23 And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, 24 but our presentable partshave no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, 25 that there should be no [b]schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. 26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. 28 And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But earnestly desire the [c]best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way.
It isn’t just the super saint that is used by God, every believer has been set in the body of Christ just as God pleased (12:18). The problem at Corinth was not that they didn’t possess gifts, it was that they wanted gifts and offices that they had not been assigned by God. As a result, there was chaos and confusion in the church. It would seem that the believers at Corinth were seeking gifts and positions that would bring them glory, not thinking that those gifts which honored God or which ministered to others (i.e. ministry, helps, exhortation, giving, mercy, etc.) were very important.
Every believer in the body of Christ has been called and gifted by God for service to His Church. While we differ in our gifts, and in our positions in the body of Christ, we are all vital and important in its function.
He saved it (His Church) out of love, by giving Himself for her (Ephesians 5:25). He did so that He might make her a “glorious” church, by sanctifying and cleansing her with His Word, so it might be holy and without blemish (Ephesians 5:26-27). And as a member of His Church, that is exactly your position in it (holy and without blemish). His Church is nourished and cherished by Him (Ephesians 5:29-30). This suggests that the work of Christ in behalf of His Church goes beyond just dying on the cross. What I want us to realize is that outside the Church, outside the body of Christ, there is no life. There is no salvation outside of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:23). There is no spiritual nourishment outside of Jesus Christ. Rejoice today that as a believer in Jesus Christ you are part of His body, alive, and gifted for service in His kingdom.