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The Body of Christ is not confined to believers congregating in a small church building. Paul compared the Body of Christ to a human body. Just as the human body is a complex system made up of many components so is the Body of Christ. Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church, his Body. The Church is not a building. The Church is made up of many believers. The believers are individuals who have confessed Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of the living God. They are added to His church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. The Church is a universal body with many believers from all walks of life, living in different countries and in different ages.
The believers who belong to the Universal Church also are believers in the many local churches. They are endowed with gifts from the Holy Spirit for the building up of other believers in the local church. Each believer must continue to mature to conform to the image of the Son of God, full of grace and truth. The means from which each believer is built up is by the exercise of God given gifts for the benefit of one another. Each individual church may not have all the gifts for the perfecting of each believer but each church can continue to trust and rely on God to supply additional grace for all their needs.
The diversity of gifts among believers tells us that the Body of Christ is very complex. Each believer is not independent of another and he cannot function independently as God uses other believers to help Him mature. He must exercise his gift in the local church and in the Universal Church. When one believer suffers, the rest suffers too. The suffering church, whom we can help through prayers and resources, has taught us many valuable spiritual lessons. We have learned what it is like to suffer and die for Christ’s sake, how God has disentangled them from earthly possession and how the wealth of spiritual experiences from the book of Psalms have come alive to them. Praise God for the diverse gifts He has given us for the mutual edification of the believers. Let us all work on this mutual encouragement so that our local church can grow for the benefit of all and we can have a positive impact on our society.
