Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
1 Cor. 12: 27
Part One, Part Two, Part Three. Loving what Jesus loves involves loving his church: the Body of Christ. The body of Christ is a fellowship of believers united to Christ, and in Christ, to one another. This fellowship is supernatural being an organism in living relationship with its head, Jesus Christ. The church is subjected to his Lordship, animated by his Holy Spirit, and empowered by his presence.
Upon being born from above, we are incorporated into the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12: 13) and thereby, receiving his life, becoming the instrument by which he works. The Body of Christ is filled with all the presence, power, and riches of God in Christ (Eph. 1:22-23). All the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ and we, the Body of Christ, have been given his fullness (Col. 1:19, 2:9). This fullness of divine life is gifted to the church by Christ: he pervades the church with his presence, empowers her with his life, releases his gifts for service, and energizes her for mission into the world.
The Apostle Paul affirms this, “Now all of you together are Christ’s body, and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it†(1 Cor. 12: 27). The Body of Christ is a society of men and women in union with Christ, led by the Father, bearing the fruit of the Spirit. The Body uses the gifts Christ has granted them for the glory of God and the good of others.
Jesus Christ did not rise alone. He rose as the head of a whole body of people elected to have faith in him, to benefit from him, and to extend his mission in the world.
Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., Engaging God’s World (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2002), 81.