The Coordinated Church Body

Aim: To thrive in Christ, as His growing church.

Doctrine: The church is fed from and grows from the head, down. This is the ''top-down'' principle of how God always works, as the Christ-fed body contributes to its own development.

Exegesis: The way the coordinated church body matures: first, Christ our head nourishes and orchestrates His body (v. 16a), which then, as a living organism, wondrously harmonizes with the Savior (v. 16b), in finally building-up the entire parish (v. 16c).

Further application: How the coordinated church body blossoms: by all the members staying connected to the Head, by faith, and staying diligent in the ministry, by grace.

Key verse: v. 16 ''...From whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.''