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Sabbath Afternoon
Read for This Week’s Study: Ephesians 4:1-16; Philippians 2:3; Psalm 68:18; Acts 2:1-47; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 1 Corinthians 12:27-30; Isaiah 5:4.
Memory Text: “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-12, ESV).
One of Aesop’s fables is called “The Belly and the Feet.” It goes like this: “The belly and the feet were arguing about their importance, and when the feet kept saying that they were so much stronger that they even carried the stomach around, the stomach replied, ‘But, my good friends, if I didn’t take in food, you wouldn’t be able to carry anything.’ ” — Lloyd W. Daly, Aesop Without Morals (New York: Thomas Yoseloff, 1961), p. 148.
Paul, however, used the human body to make a spiritual point. For Paul, the human body — and the church as the body of Christ — is composed of various parts with differing abilities, all of which must work together for the body to be healthy. In Ephesians 4:1-16, Paul redeploys the body metaphor that he used so effectively earlier (Romans 12:3-8, 1 Corinthians 12:12-31). Christ is now the Head of the body, supplying the body with “gifted” people who help unify the body, with each part — each church member — contributing its abilities to the whole.
Paul’s picture of a healthy, unified body helps us understand God’s goal for us: to be parts of a fruitful church united in Christ.
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, August 12.
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