Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, 2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours: 3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge— 6 because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful. 1 Corinthians 1:1-9 (NIV)
Life is full of problems. Every person I know, or have ever known, and will ever know, has had to face problems. That’s just the way life is. For everyone, life is full of challenges, difficulties, and obstacles to overcome. Even so, we seem to never get used to it. And often, we act surprised when those problems come our way.
Even Christians have problems! That’s right, the people who have given their lives to God also have problems. And sometimes we don’t handle them very well. So many times we deal with our problems just like people who do not know God. The temptation is to get lost in the problem–– to focus on it. As Christians, we need to focus on what makes us unique. What is it that makes us different from people who do not know God? The answer is simple–– God! What makes us different is that God is at work in a unique way in our lives. Jesus is living his life in us and through us. That’s what sets us apart. That’s what makes us unique. And we need to learn to handle our problems as those who have the Divine Son of God living within us.
Churches have problems too. The message of First Corinthians is written to a troubled church. The church in Corinth was full of problems. And the apostle Paul is writing to that church in order to deal with all of the problems that have been reported to him. Even the early church had problems! Often, I hear people say that if we could just get back to the way things were in the early church, all our problems would be solved. We need to remember that Corinth was the early church! The fact is that every church has problems. And we will continue to have problems as long as we have people.
Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth is an interesting one. Normally, his letters contain a rather lengthy doctrinal section followed by a section of practical application. But in this letter, he weaves his doctrine in with the practical application throughout the letter. The reason for this, of course, is that he is dealing with one problem after another.
In our text today, the introduction, Paul rather adroitly deals with several foundational issues that, rightly understood, have the potential to preclude the very problems he is going to deal with later in the letter. Here he reminds us of who God is, and what he has done in our lives. The key to what he says is found in verse 9, in the phrase, God is faithful. In all that we are and have in Christ, God is faithful. God is at work in our lives in every way that we need him to be at work. God is faithful. Today we want to look at four ways God is at work in our lives.
Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 1:1-3 NIV)
Paul introduces himself as one who has been called to be an apostle. He indicates that his calling has been by the will of God. In other words, he did not simply choose to be an apostle, God called him. This was God’s decision. And he indicates that, just as God called him, the Christians in Corinth had received a call.
What was true for them is also true for us. God first called us out of the world–– this is what it means to be sanctified. The word sanctified means set apart. In other words, God called us out of the world and set us apart for his service. We are now dedicated to God. We are his. We have been bought with a price. We have a Divine calling on our lives.
But we’re not only called out of the world, we are called to live lives reflecting our new allegiance. We are called to be holy. God is holy and we are to be like him. Our lives should reflect the very nature of God. Indeed, we have been called to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. We are God’s representatives on earth. So our lives should reflect the purity, righteousness, and holiness of our heavenly Father.
One of the reasons that those Christians in Corinth were having trouble was that they had forgotten this calling. They had allowed the world to infiltrate and church. Instead of impacting their culture, their culture was impacting them. They were trifling with sin as if God would not notice.
Why is it that we treat sin as a trivial thing? I know that we do, because I have done it myself. Why is it that we continue to sin in a very casual way, expecting God to bail us out every time? Do we think that sin is a trivial thing? God didn’t! He considered sin so serious that nothing less than the death of his Son could atone for it. Jesus Christ died to pay the penalty for your sin.
It is true that none of us is perfect. And it is true that God will continually forgive us for our sins if we confess our sins to him. But we need to be clear what that confession includes. Confession is not merely agreeing with God about our sin. Fundamentally it is that, but true biblical confession assumes a godly sorrow for our sin and a genuine repentance or turning away from our sin. In other words, true confession means that we are sorry and determined to change our behavior by the grace of God. And for this to happen we need to see our sin as God sees it–– destructive, reprehensible, evil, and perverse. Only then will we have a right perspective.
Do you have a desire to truly be holy? If there was ever a time in the history of the church that we need to desire to be holy, it is today. We should be mortified at the possibility of bringing disgrace upon the name of Jesus. We are called to be holy. And we will never be happy until we’re holy. We will never be truly useful until we’re holy. We will never be people whom God can bless until we’re holy.
The good news is that God is faithful. As we surrender to him, he will make us holy. Our task is to surrender. God’s work is to make us holy. And God is faithful.
I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge—because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. (1 Corinthians 1:4-7 NIV)
God has also been faithful to give us all that we need. They were told that they had been given grace. They had been enriched in every way in Christ. They did not lack any spiritual gift. And Paul was thankful for all they had in Christ. He was thankful for everything they had been given, even though they were misusing it. The point was that they were blessed. God’s gracious provision was given to them liberally. And so it is with us.
God has given us all that we need. We have a Divine enablement. The grace we need has been given to us. The spiritual resources we need to serve Jesus Christ had been given to us. The spiritual gifts that we need to encourage one another and minister to one another have been given to us. All that we need we already have in Christ and by his grace. We have truly been enriched.
Here’s the question: What are you doing with what you have been given? The Bible teaches that every one of us has been given a spiritual gift, at least one. Our task is to discover that gift and use it in serving Christ. It takes more than simply attending services to do that. You say, "Pastor, I think I have the gift of attendance." But attendance is not a gift; it is our Christian responsibility. Our spiritual gift is a Divine empowerment to serve. And the only way we discover that gift is to begin to step out in faith in some area of service. As we do, we ask God to lead us along the way, to confirm in us those gifts he has placed there, and to let us know when we are not heading in the right direction. God will use this process to lead us to those areas of ministry in which we have gifting. He has probably already placed a desire within your heart for some area of ministry. Act on that desire and see what God does.
God has called you out of the world and into the church. And the church is the environment in which it is safe to discover your gift and begin to use it. This is the community of the King. It is the community of Jesus. He established it. He inhabits it. It is his priority, and it should also be ours. Jesus established the church so that you could become the man or woman God has called you to be. It is a place where you can be equipped and encouraged. So begin to step out in faith. Test the waters. If you find that a particular ministry is not for you, that’s OK. That is not a failure; rather it is a learning experience. Keep experimenting until you find your niche. God is faithful!
He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 1:8 NIV)
God is also faithful to finish what he started. We have a Divine security in him. Your future is secure in him. He will keep you strong to the end. In other words, if you are in Christ, you have nothing to fear.
Let me put it another way. You are invincible in Christ! God has started a work in you by his Divine grace. You have been redeemed. And that work must be continued by his grace until the day it is completed. One day Jesus will return to consummate all of his purposes. Until that day we are kept by the power of God. Nothing and no one can change that. No demon from hell can snatch us out of God’s hand. The devil himself can’t do it. No circumstance we face, no problem, no difficulty, no tragedy, nor anything else has the power to destroy what God has begun. In Christ we are invincible.
The enemy of our faith, Satan, is described in the Scriptures as a roaring lion seeking those whom he may devour. But for us who know Christ, he becomes all roar and no bite. Through Christ’s death on the Cross, Satan’s teeth have been broken and his claws pulled out. He may be loud and intimidating, but it is all show. According to the Scripture, if we draw near to God and resist the devil, he will flee from us.
But remember, it is only in Christ that we have this power. If we seek to fight the devil in our own strength, we will fail. We must make sure we are drawing near to God and are walking in the power of his Spirit. If we are, then God is faithful to beat back the attack of the enemy. God is faithful.
God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful. (1 Corinthians 1: 9 NIV)
God also has given us a Divine fellowship. We have been given the privilege to enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ. And what a privilege it is. Think about it. You and I, mere mortals, have been given the opportunity to come to know Jesus Christ personally. We can actually interact with him. We can communicate with him and receive communication back from him. This is God were talking about here!
Part of our calling is to enter into a living relationship with Jesus Christ in which we are in a constant communication with him. It’s like calling someone up on the telephone but never hanging up. Sometimes I see people walking around with an earpiece attached to their cellular phone. They may be going about their daily routine with someone on the other end. What I’m talking about is similar to that. Paul called it "praying without ceasing." Just keep the line open. And whenever you find yourself in need, God’s already on the phone! Keep yourself in that constant state of communication through prayer to God. Practice the presence of God. Remind yourself constantly that he is with you and in you. Make prayer as common as breathing. Make it something you do without thinking. Dial him up and never say goodbye.
As you spend time reading his Word, studying and meditating upon it, communing with him in prayer, and listening for his voice, you’ll find that you get to know him better and better. In Philippians 3:10, the great apostle Paul declared that his supreme desire was to know Christ. By this time he had written most of the New Testament. He had walked with Christ for some time. You would think that Paul knew Christ better than perhaps any man alive. And yet, he said that he wanted to know Christ. By that he meant to convey his desire to know him more intimately and more completely than ever before. Paul knew that the more he came to know about Christ, the more there was to know, and the more he wanted to know. He simply could not get enough of Jesus. And neither should we.
To know Christ and make him known is our highest privilege as Christians. To know him is a marvelous privilege. To share him with someone else, so that they come to know him themselves, is an equally marvelous privilege. May God make this our heartbeat. Since we now enjoy this fellowship with Jesus Christ ourselves, and since we have now been given the privilege to be a part of God’s family, what else can we do but share this good news with people who need to hear it?
Our God is faithful. He has given us a Divine calling. We are called to be holy. We are set apart for his service, dedicated to God. He has given us a Divine enablement. Through his grace we have been enriched. We have been given gifts whereby we encourage and edify one another. All we need, we already have. He has given us a Divine security. We are safe in his hands. He will keep us strong to the end. He has given us a Divine fellowship. We are part of God’s family. We can come to know Jesus Christ on a personal and intimate level. And we can share him with others, so that their lives are transformed. God is at work in all of this. God will do it. God is faithful.
Copyright © 2002 J. David Hoke. This data file is the sole property of the copyright holder and may be copied only in its entirety for circulation freely without charge. All copies of this data file must contain the above copyright notice.
Except for the use mentioned above, this data file may not be copied (except for small quotations used with citation of source), edited, revised, copied for resale or incorporated in any commercial publications, recordings, broadcasts, performances, displays or other products offered for sale, or made available on the Internet without the written permission of the copyright holder. Requests for permission should be made in writing and e-mailed to J. David Hoke, at David@JDavidHoke.com.