Healthy Division of Cells

Week 29

There is a mystery within the gospel. It is the mystery of the church as the bride of Christ and exactly how that betrothal will come to pass. No one really knows, but one thing is sure, God will make it happen. Over and over again the church is referred to as the bride of Christ, it is also referred to as the body of Christ. How healthy is the body?

What would cause it to be healthy? What can each one of us as believers do to strengthen the body and make it grow into the perfect bride that Christ is going to come back for? We each have a role to play within that body. We depend on one another and need each other to fulfill our part in the body.

I look at each believer as a cell within the body. We all initially came from one cell. Christ, the life giver, was the first cell and he is within the nucleus of each cell that is formed after himself. The Bible tells us that he is the firstborn from among the dead. (see Colossians 1:18) As born again believers, we begin to grow into his image because he is now living in us.

With Christ at the center of each believer, we have the potential to become just like him. Although each one of us is totally different, yet we have his spirit to make us into his likeness. We have the potential to have his character traits. His spirit can work with each cell in the body to create us into what God intended us to become when we were born.

Just as cells in the human body have the DNA inside to know what to become, so do we as part of the body of Christ have his Holy Spirit that helps us become a part of the church body. Inside each of us is the ability to become an important part of the body. Human cells become skin, eyes, lips, organs, brains and some even become other people. Christ cells become preachers, teachers, helpers, administrators, healers and encouragers within the church body. 

It isn’t us who determine what we will be, but God’s Holy Spirit that knows what is best needed for the body. God already knows where we have been, what we have done and what we know and sometimes he uses our knowledge and expertise to strengthen the body. Other times he chooses to show his power and might by using someone totally untrained to perform miracles, signs and wonders to confound the wise and lift up the humble. We don’t choose what the Spirit will do, our job is to be obedient and to lay our lives before God daily to be used by him.

The body that Christ is coming back for is vibrant and healthy. The church that He wants to marry is in good shape. We get a glimpse of the wedding in Revelation 19:7 “Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given to her to wear. (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)”

In Matthew 25 we see what happens with the virgins who are ready when the bridegroom came. They had oil in their lamps and were waiting for him when he arrived. When the bridegroom showed up the wise virgins went in with him to the wedding banquet and the door was shut.

Christ is counting on the church to increase, make disciples and be ready when he returns. Are we doing those things? If not, what are we doing? How can we do the things that he expects us to do? We need to be led by the Holy Spirit, listen to God speak to us through the Spirit and be obedient. 

The ultimate division of healthy cells is in making more cells and in planting more seeds. We do this by going into the world and spreading the message of what Christ has done for us. Our testimony is very important in making disciples for Christ.

We are to strengthen or edify the church. That means that we do not gossip and bad mouth others in the body, but we lift them up and encourage one another. As long as there is dissention in the church, we are not that spotless bride he is looking for.

Are we ready and waiting for his return? What should we be doing as we await him? How can we make the body more healthy? In Colossians we read that we are to set our hearts on things above. Set our minds on things above, not on earthly things. (Colossians 3:1-2)

If we are eagerly waiting for his return, we will be thinking about him all the time and when we have our minds on someone, we are more apt to do the things that they like. If we take our minds off earthly things and focus on the things of God we will be growing in the knowledge of him and tuned in to hear his voice when he asks us to do something for him.

Are our hearts and minds set to receive his message? Are we looking forward to spending eternity with the Lord? Are we wondering through the course of the day what awaits us? These are the things that we should be thinking about. We should be aware of those around us that do not know the message of salvation and be willing to share the hope that we have within us.

Holy God,

We really want to be a healthy church. We want to be the bride that Christ can’t wait to marry. We want to share the good news and open our mouths to speak life and joy everywhere we go, but we fail all the time to actually do these things. Why can’t we be that beautiful bride we want to be? What is keeping us from being all that Christ died to help us become? Please forgive us for not hearing you speak to us. Forgive us for not inviting your Spirit to lead us. Forgive us for living our lives according to our plans and not yours. We invite you, today, to rule and reign in our lives. We lay our lives on the altar and ask that you use us to share the good news with those we work with, those we live next door to and those we are related to. May our very lives be a beacon shining your light to those around us. We ask these things because Christ is in us and is our hope. Amen.