2Co_4:10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 2Co 4:11 For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
2Co 1:5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.
2Co 1:6 And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.
2Co 1:7 And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.
2Co 13:9 For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong: and this also we wish, even your perfection.
Php 2:17 Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.
Bonhoeffer- 'The Body of Christ has its own allotted portion of suffering. God grants one man the grace to bear special suffering in place of another, and this suffering must at all costs be endured and overcome. Blessed is he whom God deems worthy to suffer for the Body of Christ. Such suffering is joy indeed... '
Col 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church
'...enabling the believer to boast that he bears the dying of Jesus Christ and the marks of Christ in his body…'
2Co_4:10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 2Co 4:11 For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
Gal 6:17 From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. . The Christian may now serve so that "Christ may be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death" (Phil. 1:20). Such vicarious activity and passivity on the part of the members of the Body is the very life of Christ, who wills to be formed in his members.'
Gal 4:19 My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you
'There is nothing new in all this. We are simply following in the steps of the first disciples of Christ.
It would be appropriate to conclude this chapter by summarizing the witness of the Scriptures as a whole to the doctrine of the Body of Christ. The New Testament doctrine of the Body of Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy concerning the temple of God. We are to understand the temple, not from Hellenistic usage but from the teaching of the prophets. First, we find David proposing to build a temple for God. But when he consults the prophet, he is told what God thinks of his design…
"2Sa 7:5 Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the LORD, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in?
2Sa 7:11 And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the LORD telleth thee that he will make thee an house."
Only God can build a temple for himself. Yet, paradoxically, David receives the promise that one sprung from his seed shall build the house, and that his seed shall endure forever.
2Sa 7:12 And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
2Sa 7:13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.
2Sa 7:14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men
'Solomon the "son of peace," the peace of God with the house of David, claimed this promise for himself. He built a temple and his action was approved by God. But this temple was not enough to fulfill the promise. It was built by the hands of men, and so was doomed to destruction. The prophecy still awaited fulfillment. Still the people of God look for a temple built by the Son of David whose kingdom shall endure for ever. The temple at Jerusalem was destroyed more than once, a sign that it was not the temple of God's promise. Where then was the true temple? Christ himself answers that question by applying the prophecy to his Body.
Joh 2:20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?
Joh 2:21 But he spake of the temple of his body.
Joh 2:22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.
'The Temple which the Jews were looking for was the Body of Christ, of which the temple of the Old Testament was but the shadow.'
Col 2:17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
Heb 10:1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
Heb 8:5 Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.
Jesus was speaking of his human body. He knows that the temple of his earthly body will be destroyed, like the temple of Jerusalem. But he will rise again, and the new temple, the eternal temple, will be his risen and glorified body. This is the house which God builds for his Son; but it is also built by the Son for the Father. In this house God dwells verily and indeed, as does also the new humanity, the Church of Christ. The incarnate Christ is himself the temple of the fulfillment. Similarly Revelation, speaking of the New Jerusalem, says that there is no temple in heaven, "for the Lord God Almighty, and the lamb are the temple thereof' (Rev 21:22)
The temple is the place where the gracious presence of God condescends to dwell among men, and also the place where God receives his people.'
My thoughts-
The Temple, the Sanctuary, has a very important message for us through prophecy. We cannot ignore the entire Sanctuary and its services but rather apply them as told to. Christ is our High Priest right now! And as our High Priest He is in the HEAVENLY SANCTUARY. Yes, Revelation says this--
Rev 21:9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.
Rev 21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
John is being shown a vision of the NEW Jerusalem. In the new earth there will be no NEED for a physical temple because our SAVIOR and the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY ARE the TEMPLE. When sin is done away with the NEED for the services (earthly before Christ, and heavenly after Christ) will be no more. The fullness of all that the temple was created for is found in our Savior, and complete in HIM. Understanding this is a huge undertaken, and the Holy Spirit alone can teach us what we need to know.
The Body of Christ, which we are a part of through His mercy and love. The Temple, which we are a part of. Please LORD, help us to comprehend the truth of this message. You are our HOPE, our LIFE, our DWELLING, our ALL in ALL, our Bread, our Blood.
2Co 1:5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.
2Co 1:6 And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.
2Co 1:7 And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.
2Co 13:9 For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong: and this also we wish, even your perfection.
Php 2:17 Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.
Bonhoeffer- 'The Body of Christ has its own allotted portion of suffering. God grants one man the grace to bear special suffering in place of another, and this suffering must at all costs be endured and overcome. Blessed is he whom God deems worthy to suffer for the Body of Christ. Such suffering is joy indeed... '
Col 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church
'...enabling the believer to boast that he bears the dying of Jesus Christ and the marks of Christ in his body…'
2Co_4:10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 2Co 4:11 For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
Gal 6:17 From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. . The Christian may now serve so that "Christ may be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death" (Phil. 1:20). Such vicarious activity and passivity on the part of the members of the Body is the very life of Christ, who wills to be formed in his members.'
Gal 4:19 My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you
'There is nothing new in all this. We are simply following in the steps of the first disciples of Christ.
It would be appropriate to conclude this chapter by summarizing the witness of the Scriptures as a whole to the doctrine of the Body of Christ. The New Testament doctrine of the Body of Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy concerning the temple of God. We are to understand the temple, not from Hellenistic usage but from the teaching of the prophets. First, we find David proposing to build a temple for God. But when he consults the prophet, he is told what God thinks of his design…
"2Sa 7:5 Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the LORD, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in?
2Sa 7:11 And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the LORD telleth thee that he will make thee an house."
Only God can build a temple for himself. Yet, paradoxically, David receives the promise that one sprung from his seed shall build the house, and that his seed shall endure forever.
2Sa 7:12 And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
2Sa 7:13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.
2Sa 7:14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men
'Solomon the "son of peace," the peace of God with the house of David, claimed this promise for himself. He built a temple and his action was approved by God. But this temple was not enough to fulfill the promise. It was built by the hands of men, and so was doomed to destruction. The prophecy still awaited fulfillment. Still the people of God look for a temple built by the Son of David whose kingdom shall endure for ever. The temple at Jerusalem was destroyed more than once, a sign that it was not the temple of God's promise. Where then was the true temple? Christ himself answers that question by applying the prophecy to his Body.
Joh 2:20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?
Joh 2:21 But he spake of the temple of his body.
Joh 2:22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.
'The Temple which the Jews were looking for was the Body of Christ, of which the temple of the Old Testament was but the shadow.'
Col 2:17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
Heb 10:1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
Heb 8:5 Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.
Jesus was speaking of his human body. He knows that the temple of his earthly body will be destroyed, like the temple of Jerusalem. But he will rise again, and the new temple, the eternal temple, will be his risen and glorified body. This is the house which God builds for his Son; but it is also built by the Son for the Father. In this house God dwells verily and indeed, as does also the new humanity, the Church of Christ. The incarnate Christ is himself the temple of the fulfillment. Similarly Revelation, speaking of the New Jerusalem, says that there is no temple in heaven, "for the Lord God Almighty, and the lamb are the temple thereof' (Rev 21:22)
The temple is the place where the gracious presence of God condescends to dwell among men, and also the place where God receives his people.'
My thoughts-
The Temple, the Sanctuary, has a very important message for us through prophecy. We cannot ignore the entire Sanctuary and its services but rather apply them as told to. Christ is our High Priest right now! And as our High Priest He is in the HEAVENLY SANCTUARY. Yes, Revelation says this--
Rev 21:9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.
Rev 21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
John is being shown a vision of the NEW Jerusalem. In the new earth there will be no NEED for a physical temple because our SAVIOR and the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY ARE the TEMPLE. When sin is done away with the NEED for the services (earthly before Christ, and heavenly after Christ) will be no more. The fullness of all that the temple was created for is found in our Savior, and complete in HIM. Understanding this is a huge undertaken, and the Holy Spirit alone can teach us what we need to know.
The Body of Christ, which we are a part of through His mercy and love. The Temple, which we are a part of. Please LORD, help us to comprehend the truth of this message. You are our HOPE, our LIFE, our DWELLING, our ALL in ALL, our Bread, our Blood.
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