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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for July 1, 2010
“We Are Members of One Another”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
There is no such thing as a lone wolf Christian.
If you are a Christian, you are a part of the living and active body of Christ, also called the church.
Jesus Christ is the head, and we – the Christians, the saints – are the body.
Paul writes beautifully about us as the body of Christ in his letter to the Ephesians.
When you think about church membership, you probably think, “I am a member of First Baptist, you are a member of First Pentecostal, and Bob is a member of First Nazarene.”
But listen to these beautiful words of Paul in Ephesians 4:25. It’s not that we are members of this church or that church, but it says, “We are members of one another.”
There is “one body,” Paul said, “and one Spirit…one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”
God’s Spirit is coursing through us, like blood through veins – through me, through you, and through every saint of the living God.
Ephesians 5:30 says “…we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.”
And just like we as humans take care of our bodies – feeding, cleaning, etc. – Jesus cares for His body, the church.
Ephesians 5 says that Christ “loved the church and gave Himself for her.” He cleanses the body and eliminates all spots and wrinkles and blemishes. Verse 29 says He nourishes and cherishes the body.
That’s the kind of TLC we get as the body of Christ!
So does that mean we just sit back and soak it all in, like a permanent spa day?
No. A body is subject to the head. A body carries out the will and the desires of the head, and Christ, our head, has some goals for His body. They include growth, maturity and unity, and we don’t just sit back and wait for them to happen. We get involved and do our part to make them happen.
Ephesians 4:15 has two powerful words, “grow up.” We are to “grow up in all things into Him who is the head…Christ…”
This is not a pretty picture, but imagine a man’s head on a boy’s body. The body needs to grow up to fit the head. We, the body, need to grow up to fit our head, which is Christ.
Verse 13 offers this goal, “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”
Think of a little boy who has a great big daddy. He’s little now, but we expect him to grow up and reach the measure of the stature of the fullness of his daddy.
Well that’s what’s expected of the body of Christ, that we will “fill out,” that we will grow up and mature, getting bigger and stronger.
Yes that means we as individuals will mature, and it also means that we together will mature. We are members of one another.
Imagine a weightlifter with a huge right arm and a skinny-minny left arm. It would just be weird, wouldn’t it? So the whole body of Christ needs to be working and growing, not just one part here and there.
Verse 16 says “…the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies…”
Are there any lone wolf joints in your body? They just do their own thing and are disconnected from the rest of the body? That would be ridiculous, and it’s ridiculous in the body of Christ.
The body of Christ is “joined and knit together by what every joint supplies.”
So what are you supplying?
That verse goes on to say “…according to the effective working by which every part does its share…”
If you are a Christian, you are a part of the body, and you need to be doing your share. Are you?
“Well Doug, I don’t even know what my part is.”
I’m so glad you said that!
If you don’t know what to do, the Lord has chosen other parts to help you. Ephesians 4 says, “He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God…”
It’s a beautiful thing, this body of Christ, and if you are a Christian, you are a part of it.
There’s no such thing as a lone wolf Christian, and there aren’t separate bodies here, there and everywhere.
We are all members of one another, and the Spirit of God is coursing through us all.
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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