Throughout the New Testament, Jesus Christ presents Himself to us as food and drink.
And so do so many of the shadows of Christ contained in the Old Testament.
Coca-Cola’s new “friendly twist” bottle cannot be opened by one person. It requires another who also has the bottle.
In the same way, we can never partake of the fullness of the riches of Jesus Christ by ourselves, as a solo Christian.
We need the other members of the body.
Why? Because the riches of Christ . . . His fullness . . . is never given to one believer, no matter how gifted or spiritually mature they may be.
His fullness resides in His body.
This is why I don’t believe and have never believed in the “solo-me-and-Jesus-that’s-all-I-need” brand of Christianity.
It’s also why I don’t believe in the postchurch concept.
Authentic Christianity is intensely corporate. It’s communitarian, being rooted in the triune God.
And it doesn’t work on your own.
(For details see my books Reimagining Church and From Eternity to Here where I present a very high view of the ekklesia and argue that Christianity is profoundly communal.)
To borrow another Coca-Cola slogan, Christ is the “real thing” . . . eternally refreshing!
Heroes
This is great!
What an analogy. I like it!
Every piece of the puzzle is needed and depends on every other piece embracing it’s neighbor. The independent puzzle piece never sees nor experiences the complete image. (Think about it.)
“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13
Love it