Section 8
to boast, rejoice, and glory not only in Christ Himself, but also in someone in Christ. It was necessary for the saints in Philippi to boast in the Apostle Paul in Christ. This boasting is related to the crucial fact that what we receive of Christ is not received directly in Christ, but is received from the Head through other members of the Body. Hence, we receive spiritual blessing from the Head through another member. No doubt, Paul was a very important member of the Body. If he had been lost to the Body, the Body would have been deprived of a very important means of spiritual blessing.
Our physical body illustrates how members can be a means of supply to the Body. The arm, for example, is such a means of supply for the fingers. Apart from the arm as a means, the fin gers cannot receive any supply from the head. As an important member of the Body of Christ, Paul was such a means of supply between us and the Head. If we did not have him, we would lack an important channel of supply.
None of us can boast, rejoice, and glory di rectly in the Head. Rather, we need to boast in Christ in and through a certain channel of sup ply. In verse 26 Paul says, "That your boasting may abound in Christ Jesus in me." The words