In the second century BC, humankind first catalogued and packaged its grandest ancient self-made marvels as "the seven wonders of the world": the pyramids of Egypt; the Hanging Gardens of Babylon; Phidias's statue of Zeus at Olympia; the temple of Artemis at Ephesus; the tomb, or mausoleum, of King Mausolus at Halicarnassus; the Colossus of Rhodes; and either the Pharos, or lighthouse, at Alexandria or the walls of Babylon.

The apostles saw that the greatest wonder of the world is not a man-made one. The greatest marvel in their eyes was the invisible God being made visible in the personal humanity of Jesus Christ. They went on to describe, and rightly so, the new community of Christ's followers as an ongoing expression of this wonder. The church is 'the body of Christ, the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way.' (Ephesians 1:22-23). The invisible God was now making Himself visible through the new corporate humanity of Christ, composed of both Jew and Gentile, male and female, bond and free, all of those who are filled with the Holy Spirit on the basis of their faith in the redeeming work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Today the church exists to manifest and dispense the fullness of Christ's life to the world in which we live. We are called to be a prophetic people of His presence and His resurrection power. Just as our physical bodies serve to speak and act, implementing the will of the mind, the body of Christ is here today to speak and act to implement the will of the One who is its head. Its effectiveness is dependent upon the responsiveness of its members to the communicated messages through the impulses of the Spirit.

As a medical physician performs routine check-ups on the physical body, testing its reflexes and co-ordination, so we need to examine our ability to discern and respond both as individuals and as a community of faith.

A doctor or chiropractor often examines and adjusts a person's posture because it is a key element in dispensing weight properly to all members of the body and determining the readiness of its members to respond properly. The doctor may tell you to sit, lie down or stand.

The Apostle Paul describes the great wonder of the church in the Book of Ephesians. He tells the church of the importance of their being seated with Christ in heavenly places, walking worthy of their calling, and standing firmly against the work of the enemy. Watchman Nee, the evangelist and church planter in China in the first part of this century wrote a classic book on this subject titled, "Sit, Walk and Stand".

How would you fare with a spiritual check-up today? How is your spiritual posture? Are you slouching? Are you leaning too far forward or too far back? Are you in a posture of humility or defensiveness? How is your posture encouraging the members of the body to work together in a coordinated fashion?

Whether the church is able to advance as a prophetic community depends upon our adopting appropriate postures of rest and readiness. Because we know that we are seated with Christ in heavenly places (Ephesians Chapters 1, 2 and 3) we can walk worthy of our calling with a moment by moment, step by step responsiveness (Chapter 4 and 5) that will cause us to effectively hold our ground against the evil one, and substantiate the victory Christ won for us on the Cross, by standing (Ephesians 6).