Talk To The Hand

How many of us here this morning have ever heard the old song that says, “the hip bone’s connected to the thigh bone; the thigh bone’s connected to the leg bone,” or however it goes? It talks about the human body.

I can remember when I was a nursing student before I went to Bible college I had to take a class in human anatomy and physiology. How did I do? Let’s just say that it wasn’t my best class. I did, however, learn a lot about our bodies. I learned a lot of names of bones and muscles. I learned about tendons and ligaments. I also learned the function of each part and how important each part is to our entire bodies.

I think that it’s very interesting that Paul makes a striking comparison between the human body and the body of Christ. Let’s take a look.

First, let’s notice that:

I. The Body Is Made Up Of Many Parts (1 Cor.

12:12 “The body is a unit, though it is made up

of many parts; and though all its parts are many,

they form one body. So it is with Christ”).

A. I really admire doctors. They go through

medical school for 8 years, and then have to

do an internship and a residency. And

besides that, there are always new

medications coming out and new medical

innovations that are being invented and

discovered. Doctors are lifelong learners.

B. Do you know why it takes so long to go

through school to become a doctor? Probably

because there are over hundreds and hundreds

of parts that make up our bodies, and they

have to study each one in detail. They have

to know all about them.

C. Paul is showing here the parallel between the

two bodies. Just as in a physical body, the

body of Christ has many, many parts. And

don’t you know that Jesus knows each and

every part very intimately.

D. This is further evidence that the body of

Christ isn’t “all about us.” We’re not the

only ones in the world. We are but a

miniscule part of something that is awesome

both in size and wonder.

So first, we can see that the body is made up of many parts. Next, we can see that:

II. All Parts Are Important (1 Cor. 12:18-20

18 “But in fact God has arranged the parts in

the body, every one of them, just as he

wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one

part, where would the body be? 20 As it is,

there are many parts, but one body”).

A. Each part of the body makes a valuable

contribution to the whole body.

B. For example, our ears are very important.

Without them, we couldn’t hear. Our eyes are

important. Without them, we couldn’t see.

Our mouths are important. Without them we

couldn’t speak or eat.

C. We should also notice that while each part

makes a valuable contribution to the whole,

each part is also unique and different. For

example, the foot and the nose are very

different. The foot helps us walk and

balance ourselves when we stand. The nose is

important because with it we smell things.

The nose helps us breathe. Both parts make a

valuable contribution, but both parts are

extremely different.

D. Again, this is similar to the body of

Christ. We are all a valuable part of the

Kingdom.

E. For example, Billy Graham has been a very

important asset to the kingdom of God.

Thousands of souls have been saved as a

result of his ministry. But also important

is the homeless vagrant that walks in off the

street and accepts Jesus as their Savior.

F. Also, each part of God’s Kingdom makes an

important contribution. A church

denominational leader makes a wonderful

contribution to the Kingdom by building up

pastors and leadership in his district.

Young children also make an important

contribution to the Kingdom when they take a

stand for God in their schools. They are

very different from each other. But they

both are valuable.

So far we’ve seen that the body is made up of many parts and that each part is important. Finally, Paul gives a clear message that:

III. All Parts Are In Unity (1 Cor. 12:24b-25 24”But

God has combined the members of the body and has

given greater honor to the parts that lacked it,

25 so that there should be no division in the

body, but that its parts should have equal

concern for each other”).

A. How has God combined the members of our

physical bodies? If all of the parts of our

bodies didn’t have a blood supply, they would

die. And God doesn’t allow a greater amount

of blood to flow to our “better” parts than