1 Corinthians 12:12, The Body Is One

1 Corinthians 12:12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

Woolvard summarized well, “This verse forms an excellent three-part summary of the rest of the chapter. (a) The human body is a unit (cf. v. 13 on the unity of the body of Christ). (b) The human body has many parts, with a necessary diversity in its members (cf. vv. 14-20). (c) The parts of the human body work together as one, with a dependent mutuality as each part fulfills an important function (cf. vv. 21-26). Likewise the body of Christ has a diversity of parts functioning together (vv. 27-30).”

William MacDonald said rightly, “The human body is an illustration of unity and diversity. The body is one, yet has many members. Although all the believers are different and perform different functions, yet they all combine to make one functioning unit —the body. So also is Christ is more precisely translated: “So also is the Christ.” “The Christ” here refers not only to the glorified Lord Jesus Christ in heaven, but to the Head in heaven and to His members here on earth. All believers are members of the Body of Christ. Just as the human body is a vehicle by which a person expresses himself to others, so the Body of Christ is the vehicle on earth by which He chooses to make Himself known to the world. It is an evidence of wonderful grace that the Lord would ever allow the expression “the Christ” to be used to include those of us who are members of His body.”

May Christ’s body, the church, shine forth for His glory Amen.