1. Turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 12:12-31.
2. Last week we discussed the speaking in tongues in 1 Corinthians 12:10.
3. We have seen how that the gifts have not been removed from us.
4. And even to some extent, have discussed the purpose of the gifts in the body.
5. But this week I would like to finish up 1 Corinthians 12.
6. In this passage Paul discusses the inner connectedness of the body.
5. I don’t think we have this down in the modern-day congregation.
8. Read 1 Corinthians 12:12-31, Pray!
I. There is diversity and yet unity V12-31
A. We have heard these terms “Diversity and Unity” for a very long time.
1. Paul looks at the human body as an illustration:
a. If we look at the PPT. (We can see this human body that was created by
Yahweh to have many parts, and yet needs all part to function as one
Person)
b. Turn with me in your Bibles to Genesis 1:27. (In our English version of
the Bible it is that Yahweh created man in His own image, and that He
created them male and female, but in the Hebrew the word them is not
there, so it gives us the picture of Yahweh creating man with both the
male and female aspect in one person)
c. Turn with me to Genesis 2:15-24. (In this passage we see an expansion of
the process explained, Yahweh brought all of the animals before Adam
and wanted Adam to name them, it says that Yahweh brought the
animals to Adam by two’s, and the idea was for Adam to see that there
was no one for him to be with or that he did not have a helper or
someone to be with)
d. Now this is interesting. (Why didn’t Yahweh just make a women out of
the clay just as He made Adam? But that is not what He did, He caused
a sleep to come over Adam, and He take the women out of Adams ribs
and made women, she was part of Adam, there’s a closeness, an
intimacy, and yes a need to be close to she and her to him. If Adam
were to reject her it would be like rejecting part of himself, because
that is exacting what would be happening)
c. Back to 1 Corinthians 12:12. (Look closely at this verse 12 the key here
is even though there are many parts there is one body so is Messiah, so
when we were baptized and this has to do with both water baptism
baptism of the Spirit those events brought us into His body, so the
body we are part of is His, now look at verse 13, it was one Spirit who
brought us into one body and one Spirit to drink)
d. So just as we saw in the creation of man and women. (We have come to
this place of intimacy with Messiah and with one another through this
action that took place through coming into faith with Yahshua
Messiah, and has brought us forever as part of one another)
e. Could it be that today we have lost that understanding? (Adam had the
the understanding that Eve was the only one for him because it was
her that was formed from one of his ribs, meaning there were no other
possibilities or options and so she was the one he would cleave to, just
as there are no other possibilities for us in the body, because there are
no other bodies other than the body of Messiah)
f. You see in the case of the creation of women. (Yahweh didn’t create her
from the dust as He did with Adam, because Yahweh wanted them to
know that they were created from the same creation and created as
one not a separate creation, and as we are placed in the body of
Messiah we become one body that is placed there by the Spirit, each
Of us drink of the same Spirit so we are not something separate from
The whole)
g. Eve was created from Adams rib. (To strengthen and to powerfully
help Adam in all that Yahweh had for them to do, and it is the same
thing we are looking at here as we look at the body of Messiah, that
we are brought into the body by Him, we are placed in the body by
Him and we are gifted to work within the body by Him, for the
Purpose of carrying out the mission of Messiah, and that each part He
Has place within the body powerfully helps each part work, that is
What we are to be doing)
h. So our focus to on be on Messiah. (And the mission He has given to us,
and also to build each other up, knowing that when we do we are
fitting into the purpose that He has for His body)
i. But we need to be excepting on one another. (Each gift is vitally needed
to be totally operational with in the Body, no part of the body is less
vital than the other part, remember, each part of the body is to make
the body be powerful and helps each part work properly, and we also
need to remember that it is Him who has placed each person there it
it Him who choses the gift and the place)
j. Paul talks about the need for all. (By showing the absurdity of the body
thinking it doesn’t need a specific part or gift, and uses phases such
as: the eye saying that it doesn’t need to be there, and at the other
body parts saying they don’t need a certain body part. This addresses
some that are thinking that they don’t belong because their gift isn’t
important)
k. The body needs all of its parts. (Think about the body, if we didn’t have
one part of the body what would life be like? Have you ever put
something in a crockpot to cook while you are gone from home? When
you cam home the house was full of the aroma of the meal you were
cooking and that aroma hit you as you walked through the door, now
for me that affected more than my sense of smell, it affected all of me.
Everything came alive in me as I took in the smell of that food, it
Involved my brain, my stomach and even my sense of being in a hurry
To get to than meal)
l. It is the same with the gifts. (Each gift brings the rest into a place of
heightened sensitivity and awareness to what needs to be done and the
ability to do those things, because it is Him at work through each part)