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I have one head and two bodies. The first body I received on December
29, 1930. The second body I received on December 1, 1951.
My first body was the result of my conception and my delivery as a baby.
This body is called Andre S. Bustanoby.
My second body was the result of marriage to Fay G. Gregg. How can I say
that this marriage gave me a second body? Let me explain.
Ephesians 5:22-33 teaches the marvelous relationship of the Christian
husband and wife. The husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the
Church and gave Himself for it. He is to love his wife as his own body.
We read:
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave
himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with
water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant
church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and
blameless. In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as
their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no
one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as
Christ does the church--for we are members of his body. For this
reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his
wife, and the two will become one flesh (Eph. 5:22-31 NIV).
Here we see that even though I was born with my own body, I received a
second body through marriage. ONE became TWO! However, this second body
has become united with me and we are now one flesh!
The Apostle Paul goes on to say, "This is a profound mystery--but I am
talking about Christ and the church" (Eph. 5:32). The "mystery" Paul
speaks of is how the Church becomes the body of Christ when Christ already
has a body! It happens the same way as the husband and wife become one
flesh. Just as the husband is the head of his wife and the head of his
own body, Christ is the head of the Church and the head of his own
resurrected body.
I use this analogy to explain how it is possible for the Church to be
called "the body of Christ," and yet Christ sits in heaven in a glorified
body that was resurrected from the dead. Just as marriage gives one man
two bodies, the saving work of Christ’s body on the cross and his becoming
the head of the Church gives Him two bodies. However, just as the husband
and wife, who are two, become one flesh in the union of marriage, Christ
and the Church, who are two, now become one flesh, or one body.
Perhaps it will startle you, but Christ and the Church becoming one flesh
also has come about through marriage. The Church is called "The Bride of Christ," which requires us to understand
marriage in the First Century. (See my footnote for further explanation.)
There were two marvelous events in the life of Christ that Christians
enjoy. The first was His crucifixion where His body and blood were
sacrificed for our sin. Salvation was offered to INDIVIDUAL sinners who
by faith accepted Christ’s death and resurrection for their sin. His
death, His body and blood, and resurrection three days later made this
possible.
But there was another great event made possible by Christ. Fifty days
later, on the day of Pentecost, Christ ascended into heaven and was seated
at the right hand of God the Father who "appointed him to be head over
everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who
fills everything in every way" (Eph. 1:18-23).
Here we have the body of Christ which was CRUCIFIED for the sins of the
INDIVIDUAL and the body of Christ GLORIFIED fifty days later becoming head
of the body of the saved called THE CHURCH. As a result of this, the
Church was called to establish an ordinance called "The Lord’s Table" that
uses bread and wine to remember how each INDIVIDUAL became a member of THE
CHURCH.
We see in Corinth, however, that a meal was also observed with The Lord’s
Supper (1 Cor. 10-12). Eating together was a symbol of the UNITY that
believers enjoy in the GLORIFIED body of Christ. The CRUCIFIXION of His
body brought these individuals to salvation. The GLORIFICATION of His
body in heaven brought these individuals together into His ongoing body on
earth called The Church.
Here is where "One Is Two, and Two Are One." Two or more INDIVIDUALS
saved by the CRUCIFIXION OF CHRIST’S BODY now are ONE BODY IN CHRIST by
His GLORIFICATION. Hence, we have two events at Corinth, still followed
by many churches today--the ordinance called The Lord’s Supper,
celebrating individual salvation in Christ’s crucifixion, with bread and
wine, and the Church having a meal together, as One Body In Christ,
celebrating the unity they have as the body of Christ of which He is the
Head, achieved fifty days later in his glorification.
The sin of the Corinthians, however, was that they were not eating
together. Actually, some were becoming drunk on wine, and others were
going hungry. This was a disgrace to the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper
(the bread and wine) and their salvation in Christ. Individual salvation
was not honored by getting drunk on the wine of the Lord’s Supper. The
unity of the Church, which became the earthly body of the ascended and
glorified Christ, was disgraced by leaving some to go hungry. There was
no unity in that.
My point is that we must not confuse the ONE body of Christ, the Savior
of individuals by His body and blood, and the ONE body of Christ, who,
under His headship, became the Church, shown by its unity of saved
individuals. This is why the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper symbolizes
the giving of Jesus’ body and blood with bread and wine for our salvation.
It was followed by a Church meal together symbolizing His becoming the
head of a new earthly body, the Church. The ONE body of Christ in heaven
became head of a new body, the Church, making TWO bodies become one--the
body of Christ in heaven and the body of Christ on earth.
When Paul wrote the Corinthians he reminded them that the bread and wine
of the ordinance was in remembrance of Christ. One commentary said, "This
is to be done in remembrance OF ME, NOT YOU" (1 Cor. 11:22-26). I can add,
however, if the Church has a common meal along with the Lord’s Table, they
may remember that the common meal celebrates the ongoing unity of the body
of Christ on earth in the Church where, as husband and wife, they are "one
flesh."
This is what we have in the analogy of husbands and wives in Ephesians 5.
The ONE husband becomes TWO through his headship of his wife. But their
marriage makes the TWO "one flesh," hence, the TWO become ONE.
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Footnote on the Church as the Bride of Christ:
To say that the Church is now the Bride of Christ may raise a question
about Revelation 19:9, "Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding
supper of the Lamb." How can we call the Church today the Bride of Christ
if the wedding supper is yet future?
J. Dwight Pentecost makes the point, "Inasmuch as the Greek text does not
distinguish between marriage supper and marriage feast, but uses the same
word for both, and since the marriage supper consistently is used in
reference to Israel on earth, it may be best to view the marriage of the
Lamb as that event in the heavens in which the church is eternally united
to Christ and the marriage feast or supper as the millennium, to which
Jews and Gentiles will be invited, which takes place on the earth, during
which time the bridegroom is honored through the display of the bride to
all His friends who are assembled there" (Pentecost, Things To Come,
p. 228).
In other words, when the Church became the body of Christ on the Day of
Pentecost, it became one flesh with Christ through union with Him--the
marriage. The marriage supper comes later with friends invited to
celebrate the marriage.
It also would help to understand marriage in the First Century. It was
not like it is today with an engagement and then a marriage license and
ceremony. In the first century betrothal actually was the legal binding
of a man and woman. Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Literature and
Antiquities says this:
In Athens, "the father or guardian, kurios or Lord of a maiden [gave]
her in betrothal to her future husband. The act was a solemn one, the
relatives of either side being witnesses. Whenever a woman had a
kurios, [father or guardian] marriage, it could take place by no other
method than this. At the time of the betrothal the dowry of the bride
was settled, and this was a most important point for her future
welfare" (p. 1013).
We can see from this that the betrothal was far more important than the
marriage feast with friends. Today, the Church is the Bride of Christ in
the sense of being betrothed to Him. Her future is taken care of by the
kurios or "Lord," God Himself, who has given her in betrothal. Though the
bridegroom, Christ to whom she is betrothed, is a long time in coming,
she, the wise virgin, has her lamp filled with oil and waits for her delayed husband (Mt. 25:1-13).
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