Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: The Church (12/06/07)
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TITLE: HIS BODY, HIS BRIDE | Previous Challenge Entry
By Chijioke Nwosu
12/12/07 -
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In various portions of the New Testament, particularly the epistles, one analogy used to explain what the church is and how it is supposed to function is that of the human body. A thoughtful consideration of some of the characteristics of the human body will help us understand what the church really is, from God’s point of view at least. The first thing you’ll probably notice is that the body has a head without which it is just a lifeless torso! If we’d grasp this fundamental point it would solve much of the bickering we see in the church today, which by the way is not a 21st century phenomenon. The church has only one Head and that’s our Lord Jesus Christ. Of course He has placed leaders in the body because He’s physically in Heaven, but He’s the head nonetheless.
The next interesting point to note is that no part of the body is more important than any other when it gets down to it. Of course at first glance this might not be obvious but have you ever had an injury on your toe? How did it feel to walk, if you could? I guess that pretty much says it. We as believers all make up the church and even though our roles are very different, they are all essential to the proper functioning of the body as a unit. Jostling for places of prominence or influence in the church just to prove our value is about as useful as trying to walk forward and backwards at the same time! Next time you begin to feel like you shouldn’t be an usher and that you can preach better than your pastor or sing better than the music leader, see that picture in your mind!
There’s another picture used to describe the church in scripture and this one is really something: the bride of Christ. Wow! And some folks say God is not cool. But hey, before you think I’m making light of this let me say something. This is not just any bride, this is not your everyday bride in a hired wedding gown with more than a few tailoring imperfections. This is a bride “without spot or wrinkle”. That expression may be lost on some of us but if I may translate that into modern English, it means without any stains, creases or imperfections! This is the kind of church Jesus is coming back for. Boy have we got some dry-cleaning and ironing to do because the last time I looked in the mirror there sure were a lot of “spots and wrinkles”. But praise God that’s not the end of the story. God gave the bride the greatest “Chief Bridesmaid” she could ever ask for in the Person of the Holy Spirit. It’s now our responsibility to allow Him prepare us for the Bridegroom and oh what a wedding it’s going to be! No matter what denomination you belong to, if you are a Christian then you’re a vital part of the church and remember that the whole is simply the sum total of the subunits. In the meantime, I suggest we’d better smooth out our differences (wrinkles) and remove our imperfections (spots) because you can rest assured of one fact: the Father has fixed the wedding date and we had better be ready when it’s time. I truly believe that it is the greatest privilege in the whole universe to be His Body, His Bride and the reason He’ll come back again to the earth.
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You could probably tighten it up by eliminating some of the first paragraph, and then make it easier to folow by breaking the longer paragraphs into smaller, more digestible bites.
The illustrations are apt and this was interesting to read.
Keep writing.