There is something very important in the body of Christ that is missing. That is, the body of Christ actually doing work, for Christ.

In this era of Christianity, I’ve found that a lot of Christians don’t really live the life that we were called to live. They’re stuck in sin, not portraying the gifts of the Spirit, and the majority don’t even understand what those gifts are. Although we are all free of weight of the law, and therefore won’t be condemned, living Christ-like is important.

I say all this from a place of love, not just for you, but for Jesus. He didn’t sacrifice himself for me and you alone, but for the entire world, that they may be saved as well. That is the major reason that this is our topic of discussion. In order to bring others to know Jesus and receive reconciliation, we must do the work of Christ. That is, after all, the reason that Christians are here.

The Body of Christ

There is a lot to talk about when it comes to this topic, but we must first start with the body.

The body of Christ, in this context, is the Church, to put it simply. It is all those that are saved and have relationship with Jesus, even if the relationship is limited. When you go to church, all those in the service make up the body of Christ, assuming they have been saved. If you go to a different church, all those make up the body of Christ as well, again, if they are saved.

Paul gave us great insight on the body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12.

“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:12-13).

Paul tells us that we were all baptized, when becoming saved, into one body with many members. Those members are all a part of that one body and working together, as one body.

To Work Together

If you don’t have a good idea on Biblical history, then you probably wouldn’t see something crucial in this verse.

Back in the days of Jesus and the Asposltes, Jews and Gentiles hated one another with a passion. They were complete foes. Many Jews considered themselves righteous and the Gentiles wicked. The Jews were God’s chosen people, and the Gentiles simply were not. However, that wasn’t the intention.

Galatians tells us this,

“The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” (Galatians 3:8-9).

Seeing this, it’s so clear that it was always the Lord’s intention for the Gentiles to be saved. To go even further, it was always the Lord’s intention for us to all work together. Jew and Gentile, slave and free, man and woman, young and old, we are all made to work together, as one body.

Not of One Member, but Many

Now you may ask. If, we were all made to work together, then why, are we all so different? Why do we have different characteristics? Why do we have different gifts? How are we made to get along and work together as one body when we are all so different? I’ll tell you this. Our differences are the thing that makes us all work. Jesus knows that too. Check this out.

“But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.” (1 Corinthians 12:18-20).

We often say that opposites attract, especially when referring to relationships. Well surprisingly, it’s seemingly true! Just not for the reasons you may be thinking. It all comes down to balance. If we have too much of one thing, it’ll inevitably cause issues, this is true in the body of Christ as well.

Oftentimes, we tend to allow too much imbalance in the body. You’ll often hear about charismatic churches that are all about the gift of tongues and such. Then, there are churches that are overly religious and ignore much of the New Testament scripture, forsaking it for the law. Neither side is doing it perfectly. We need to be balanced with both truth and grace. In fact, we need to have balance in everything.

In the Body of Christ, we can’t work with just an arm and a leg. Or just arms. Or just legs. We need every part, because they all work differently. They all bring balance to the body when working together as well.

In short, we need everybody in the body of Christ. We need each and every part in the body.

Created for the Work

The last point that I will make about the body of Christ is this: we were created for the work.

One of my favorite scriptures recently has been Ephesians 2:10.

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Eph. 2:10).

This verse gives us a powerful truth that in Christ (which is a detail that cannot be overlooked), we were created for good works, and that is just wonderful! That is, because, the work of Christ is definitely good, thus we were created for the work of Christ. In fact, he prepared the way for us beforehand, and all we must do is walk in them. What great news that is!

You’ll often hear it said that as sinners, we can’t do anything good, or anything worthwhile. This is true. When we do it as sinners, we are not doing anything good, or anything worthwhile. But luckily for us, we have a great helper, the Holy Spirit, that allows us to do good work, in him.

So, a key thing to remember is that to do the work of Christ, we must first be in Christ, as the work we do must not be of the flesh, but of the Spirit.

What is the Work of Christ?

With all that’s been said about the body of Christ, it’s time to discuss how the body is to move. We’ve mentioned it a few times, but the most important aspect of Christian living that we are missing is the work of Christ. It’s often rare to see it happen, especially outside the confines of Church. It’s so rare that I believe most may have lost sight of what it really is. So, what is the work of Christ?

We must first start by clearing up a major source of confusion. There is a difference between what we are discussing today, and the finished work of Christ. While they sound similar, let’s start to define and clear up what they both are.

The Finished Work

The Finished work of Christ is a common phrase said by many Christians and it’s something we are surely all familiar with.

Jesus came to Earth with one main mission. To sacrifice himself for the salvation of the world. This was his work. He did other things, such as healing, teaching, preparing, and more, but salvation was his ultimate mission.

His work was finally finished with his sacrifice on the cross. With his final breath, the veil between God and man was torn, and his work, finished. One of the most famous verses in the entire Bible in fact were his last words on the cross, “it is finished” (John 19:30). Of course, he came back, conquering death and the grave, but his work remained finished.

This is what the vast majority of people would refer to as the work of Christ, however, we have another definition for the term.

Our Work for Christ

The work of Christ that we do is not just a work of Christ, but it is also a work for Christ.

We’ve spoken before of our true calling as Christians. It is not necessarily to be pastors, or authors, or athletes, or anything of the sort. The overarching call of our lives is to be a vessel for Christ and to give him all glory, all honor, and all praise.

Another part of being a vessel, however, is doing the will of God. This is where we get the work of Christ. As Christians, we are not meant merely to do good things, but to do the will of the Father as we were created to walk in. Those things are very different.

Someone can give to a charity, but that charity can be very unproductive and very ineffective. Someone can say something nice to a coworker. These things are nice things, good things even, but they don’t carry out the will of the Father.

So, what is the will of the Father, or the work of Christ, that we ought to be doing? It’s simple. It is merely bringing people to Christ. To bring a revival. To build the kingdom of God. That is what we are to do.

This can be done through a variety of different ways, which in part, is why there is a fire in my heart for this mission. We’ve been equipped with gifts (1 Corinthians 12), we have the Holy Spirit, we have teachings on teachings, yet the body of Christ is only growing fainter. There are so many ways to bring change, to help people know God, we just need to do the work. And we need to do it together.

We Need the Church

There is no better place to unify the body of Christ, than in the church. Currently, we have much disunity in the church. We have many different denominations within the Protestant church that all seem to be in opposition. Then there’s problems and issues within the denominations themselves, and within the churches. We are seeing a great division, and it’s not very great.

The way to battle this? We need more people, more Christians on fire and in the church. I heard a pastor use this quote recently and I thought it was powerful.

“Make ten men feel like a hundred.”

Where two or more are gathered in the name of Jesus, he is in the midst (Matthew 18:20). If we can make two people gathered together in the name of Jesus feel like 10, or 10 feel like a hundred, we can do the work of Christ. We can do the will of the Father. But we have to be ready, willing, and in church.

So, my practical application for you is this: if you aren’t in church, go join one. If you are, start a revival, do the work of Christ.

Final Thoughts

I’m not sure about you, but I am ready to see a great move of God, and I want it to be now. I believe that there are hungry hearts out there that are ready to see a change too and all we need is for the church to be unified together for Christ.

There are so many ways to do the work of Christ in this world. This ministry, Lighthouse Teaching, has many great resources and teachings to help teach some of those things. Scripture teaches them. Pastors teach them. The Holy Spirit teaches them.

It all begins with a desire to see lives changed for Christ. Once you have that desire, go after it. Pursue Christ, let the good works come, and revival will happen. The work of Christ will be done.

Have a great week!