CHRIST CHURCH
Sunday, January 16th 2011
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
We read this morning the opening verses of the first of the two letters that Paul wrote to the church in Corinth: a church which Paul had founded; a church for which he felt considerable affection, and over which he lavished considerable time and attention. But Paul- as in fact with many of the churches he had founded and nurtured, had considerable difficulties. And it was these difficulties that led him to write these letters. And we note that in these letters Paul pulls no punches.
In
this letters he has to take these Corinthian Christians to task over
a whole range of issues. And in the second chapter of his second
epistle, Paul writes this: “For if I grieve you, who is left to
make me glad, but you whom I have grieved?....For I wrote to you out
of great distress and anguish of heart, and with many tears”. Here
we see Paul's pastor heart.
There
was indeed much to grieve Paul. He had to correct them because of
inner division; of taking one another to court (Christian should
never take Christian to court); over sexual immorality; for abuse of
the Lord's Supper and for over-empahsis on Spiritual Gifts.
In light of all this, it is remarkable that Paul can say (v4), “I always thank God for you”. Then those to whom Paul writes are “the church of God..those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy”. This may seem to be a diammetric opposition to all that had gone before: “those called to be holy” I think that be looking into this (apparent) contradiction there are things for us to learn.
And it's in this light that I want to spend a few moments in verses 4 through to 9.
What Paul says here is not just a 'sweetener' for the bitter pill that is to follow. Rather here Paul lays down some basic facts which he wants them to have in mind as they read through what is to follow.
Firstly, in verse 5 he writes, “In him (Christ Jesus) you have been enriched in every way” We may put these words alongside those in chapter one of Ephesians: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” Enriched in every way; blessed with every spiritual blessing. God does not give his grace except lavishly. There's and abundance in God's blessings; as much for us as for those wayward believers in Corinth.
Then in verse 6: “our testimony was confirmed in you. If God has blessed us; if we have received the Christian message and believed, then it will have been confirmed in us. We shall; we should know about it! In 2 Corinthians 1 verse 21-22, “He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us and put his Spirit in our hearts.” If we know God has done this, let us not forget it. God's 'seal of ownership' is (in the original Greek) a word which is used for and engagement ring. And that engagement was when Paul wrote, a legally binding commitment: God has bound himself to us in a legal commitment.
In verse 7, Paul reminds them that they “eagerly await for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed, then in verse 8 that (they) will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ”
This theme of final redemption lies at the heart of that wonderful passage in Romans chapter 8, where Paul speaks of the whole creation “groaning in the pain of childbirth”, waiting for the “sons of God to be revealed, There are words there of liberation from bondage and of “the glorious freedom of the children of God”.
We, like the Corinthians mess things up, we get things wrong. There is still sin in our lives and it's all to easy to get weighed down by our sins and failures to live up to the life we
are called to.
Above
the level of the former years,
The mire of sin, the weight
of guilty fears,
The mist of doubt, the blight of love’s
decay,
O Lord of Light, lift all our hearts today!
Words written by Bishop Montague Butler over a century ago remind us that we don't; we shouldn't stay fixed on our sin and failure.
Here I would come to two final verses from that passage.
“I thank God for the grace given you in Christ Jesus”. There is no lack of desire for God to shed his grace upon him. This we have already noted is given in abundance, so let is never forget that.
(Verse 9) “God who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord is faithful”. We rest finally on God's faithfulness. It has been said that faith on our part is whole-hearted commitment to God's faithfulness. His determination and his will is to bring us with that day when Jesus is revealed in his glory, and as the apostle John says, “We know that when he appears we shall (not maybe, but shall) be like him”
We like the Corinthians are not perfect, far from it, and this side of glory never will be, and if we thought we were we would deceive ourselves, but we have God's faithfulness and unbreakable promise that when Jesus returns then we shall be. Amen
Listen to the song 'Turn your eyes upon Jesus' *
*Played at the end of the live sermon