Gift We DO Receive

Each member of the church is important. We all have different roles and places in the church. Some are teachers, while others are worship leaders and greeters. Some are simple people whom we can fellowship with and relate to. Still, each part is important. Pastors may be the leaders of their congregation, but the pastor must have a congregation (otherwise he is not a pastor) just as a congregation must have a pastor (otherwise it is not a church).

As a unified body, the various body parts bless the whole. Eyes bless the body with gifts of sight, and ears bless the body with gifts of hearing. In this same way, each ministry blesses the rest of the church with their own unique gifts.

We all, in turn, make up the body of the church with Christ Jesus as the head. Not so surprisingly, a body without a head is dead. A church without Jesus Christ as its head and the Holy Spirit as its heart is also dead. Jesus Christ is necessary for our survival (individually and collectively). John Piper argues that, because there is this union between Christ and His church, "Everything that he is, and everything that he has that can be shared will be shared. And there is only one thing that can't be shared-his deity, and its unique God-defined attributes (like omnipotence and omniscience and eternality).

There are certain attributes that God reserves only for Himself (i.e. Christ will never share His omniscience). However, Christ does gives us many other precious gifts such as grace, redemption, justification, forgiveness of sins, no condemnation, eternal life, complete providence, a new creation, and love (just to name a few).

Living Life