Part 2 - The Sanctifying Work of Christ

Consecrated to Edifying the Body of Christ

Day six begins: "Then God said, 'Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind'; and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good" (Gen. 1:24-25).

Previously, in day three, the dry land, the earth, was separated from the seas. This models the separation of the believer into the body of Christ. Now purpose is given to this area of separation. Various kinds of life, each after its kind, are created in the earth. "And God saw that it was good." "Living," "after its kind," and it being "good" are all keywords pointing to life in the Spirit. In Peter's vision these various life forms were presented by God to teach him about a people that God has called into a life in the Spirit. Just as God created multitudes of life forms in the earth, the Holy Spirit is manifested in countless ways in His gifts and ministries through the various members of the body of Christ.

Members of one body

Within the body of Christ are millions of believers, each with a gift and ministry of the Spirit given for the edification of the whole. Each believer's place in the body is unique, not duplicated anywhere else, and large or small, is necessary for the body to function properly.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians about their being placed into the body of Christ: "For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body; whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free; and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many" (1 Cor. 12:12-14).

Christ has separated all believers on earth into a corporate body called the body of Christ, the church. Accompanying this is a consecration in which each member is called to edify, or build up, the whole. Paul says to the Corinthians, "Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues" (1 Cor. 12:27-28). That part that each member has is appointed by God with the purpose of building up the whole body.

Christ's gift

Again, Paul tells the Romans, "For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness" (Rom. 12:4-8). As in a human body, each member does "not have the same function." The ability to perform any particular function is enabled by gifts that God gives by grace.

With consecration comes provision, and so we learn of these gifts: "But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore He says: 'When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men' " (Eph. 4:7-8). The ascension of Christ to the Father is the means by which one is separated into the body of Christ, and it is His ascension by which provision is made for edifying the body. "When He ascended on high" is when He "gave gifts to men." Christ's ascension enabled the Holy Spirit to be given, and with Him, the gifts of the Spirit. This is the work of Christ, however, and so the gifts are also called "Christ's gift."

To a perfect man

Paul continues, "And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:11-13). The church is built up by the work of God working through each member. The ministry of one builds up others so that they too can minister the gifts they were given.

The purpose is for all to come into "the unity of the faith," to come into a more complete knowledge of Christ, and to reach a state in which Christ, the head, is manifested and glorified in the body. To this end, Paul continues about the body, that it "may grow up in all things into Him who is the head; Christ" (Eph. 4:15).

The work of Christ

Although members individually, God's will is for the church to be one in love and one in Christ, and so He calls each one to minister to this end. The consecration to this is part of the sanctifying work of Christ. A third aspect of separation that Christ wrought is the separation of His people into the church, the body of Christ. A corresponding consecration to this separation is the consecration of the believer to build up the other members of the body. The first part of day six models this ministry of the believer. This is a calling to life in the Spirit and is modeled by the living creatures inhabiting the land.