Jesus Christ had announced that He would send... - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2024

For by one Spirit we were all baptised into one body – whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free.
1 Corinthians 12:13

Jesus Christ had announced that He would send another Comforter (or as some Bible translations put it, Helper) to the disciples after His ascension. This came to pass when the Holy Spirit came to earth on the day of Pentecost at Jerusalem. He came to dwell in the individual believers who had accepted the good news of Jesus Christ.

It was at the same time the birthday of the worldwide church (or congregation, assembly), which consists of all who know Jesus Christ personally and have received the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit “baptised” them “into one body”. This organism consists of the Head (Jesus Christ) and the one body (the church), which in turn consists of many members (all true believers).

This “one body” is known practically when we meet strangers who have Christ in their lives and follow Him in the power of the Holy Spirit. During a walk through the city I was able to experience this myself:

An Egyptian woman joyfully confessed to be a believing Christian and told me about other Egyptian Christians in our city.

A young mother with a baby in a stroller, originally from South Africa, acknowledged Jesus Christ as her Saviour, and that she is looking forward to being with Him in heaven one day.

In the subway, I met a young woman who professed with great joy to be a Christian. She is Greek and is studying dentistry here.

In such encounters among Christians, we experience how real the fellowship by faith is among those who belong to Jesus Christ. They are intimately connected with each other – even if they are unfortunately fragmented into many churches, communities and groups.

Today’s reading: 1 Samuel 13:6-23 · Psalms 96:1-13