Members One of Another
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
We Belong to Each Other
Matthew 11:30 ESV:
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Romans 12:5 APNT:
so also we who are many are one body in Christ and each one of us are members of one another.
We are many members in particular, but we are all part of one body—the body of Christ. Similarly, we have many individual cells in our body, but they are all part of our one body.
News reports are typically delivered in the third-person perspective because the reporter was not there. But if you were present as an eyewitness, then you could report in the first person, “I” or “we.” We see many examples of that in Ephesians.
Ephesians 1:3–12 APNT:
3 Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heaven in Christ,
4 even as he chose us beforehand in him, from before the foundations of the world, that we should be holy [ones] and without blemish before him. And in love, he marked us out beforehand for himself
5 and he adopted us in Jesus Christ, as was pleasing to his will,
6 that the glory of his grace would be glorified, which he has poured on us by way of his beloved [one],
7 in whom we have [Aramaic: there is to us] redemption and remission of sins by his blood, according to the wealth of his grace,
8 which he caused to abound in us with all wisdom and with all understanding.
9 And he made known to us the mystery of his will that he had determined beforehand to accomplish in him,
10 in the administration of the fullness of times, that everything that is in heaven and in earth should be made new again in Christ.
11 And we were chosen in him, even as he marked us out beforehand and he desired, he who performs everything according to the purpose of his will,
12 that we, those who first trusted in Christ, should be for the esteem of his magnificence.
The Greek word koinonia means “fellowship.” It is communion by intimate participation, such as musicians in a band singing together. Because koinonia can refer to a companion, a partner, or a joint owner, it can also imply an association or a partnership. Thus, koinonia is the creation of a bond between comrades.
We don’t need to create the bond (God did that), but we need to understand it.
Koinonia always links to action. It is an interdependent relationship.
1 Corinthians 12:12–27 APNT:
12 For as the body is one and there are many members in it and all the members of the body, although they are many, are one body, so also [is] Christ.
13 For all of us also are baptized in one spirit into one body, whether Judean or Gentile, whether slave or free men. And all of us drink of one Spirit.
14 For also the body is not one member, but many.
15 For if the foot should say, “Because I am not the hand, I am not a part of the body,” because of this, is it not a part of the body?
16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not the eye, I am not a part of the body,” because of this, is it not a part of the body?
17 For if all the body were eyes, where would the hearing be? And if all of it were hearing, where would the smelling be?
18 But now God has placed every one of the members in the body, as he willed.
19 Now if they were all one member, where would the body be?
20 But now, there are many members, but it is one body.
21 The eye is not able to say to the hand, “You are not necessary to me.” Nor is the head able to say to the feet, “You are not necessary to me.”
22 But more, there is a necessity for those members that are thought to be weak.
23 And to those that we think are despised in the body, we give more honor. And for those that are modest, we make more decoration.
24 Now those members that we have that are honored do not require honor. For God has joined together [mixed together, mutual adjustment to each other] the body and he has given more honor to the member who is least,
25 so that there would not be division in the body, but rather [that] all the members would care for one another equally,
26 so that when one member was hurt, all of them would suffer, and if one member was praised, all the members would be praised.
27 Now you are the body of Christ and members in your place [members in particular].
Even if we say we are not part of the body, nevertheless, we are still part of the body.
One of our biggest temptations in the body of Christ is to compare ourselves with someone else.
God designed the body so that the whole is more than the sum of its parts.
Tempered together: sugkerannumi, “mixed together so there is profit”
The many are one. We are part of an us. And we have many spiritual blessings because of that.
The joy, wonder, and awe are in the mixture.
Scripture References
Scripture quotations marked (APNT) taken from the Aramaic Peshitta New Testament Translation: With explanatory footnotes marking variant readings, customs and figures of speech, Copyright © 2006 by Janet M. Magiera, Light of the Word Ministry, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission. (www.lightofword.org)
Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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