NISAN 8
Built
up
“…to the work of service to a BUILDING UP of the body of the Messiah” (Eph 4:12, emphasis mine)
I always think of an athlete when I read
this portion of Scripture. The path to becoming that successful athlete
requires dedication and commitment, with no room for compromise. Many athletes will have one or more trainers,
assisting him, or her, to reach the goal that is aimed at. These trainers are, in effect, “building up”
the athlete, all in preparation to be the best that one could possibly be.
The Greek word that is translated here is
the word oikodomē (Strong’s G3619), and is also translated as
edifying, or edification. Noah Webster,
in his wonderful Dictionary, defines ‘edification’ as “a building up, in a moral and religious
sense; instruction; improvement and progress of the mind, in knowledge, in
morals, or in faith and holiness.”[1] It
would appear that the mission of those anointed and appointed to any of the
five-fold ministry gifts is that of instructing and improving all of us, in
order that we might progressively grow in the knowledge and wisdom concerning
the ways of our Creator.
As stated by the Apostle Paul, those of us
who claim to belong to the Elohim of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are all part and
parcel of one another, and make up what is called “the body of Messiah” (see
Rom 12:4-21). A body cannot be a
functioning body if its members are all scattered off somewhere, playing Lone
Ranger and running around with Tonto.
Only as we come together, committed to the building up of one and
another, will the body function as our Father has intended.
“For indeed the body is not one member but
many … But now Elohim has set the members, each one of them, in the body, even
as He pleased … Elohim blended together the body, having
given greater respect to that member
which lacks it [honor, or seemliness], that there should be no
division in the body, but that the members should have the same concern one for
another.” (1Cor
12:12, 18, 24-25, insert mine)
©2021
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