Month: December 2018

117. The Perfect will come

 1 Corinthians 13:10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.

 The promise is that the perfect will come; the other side of that promise is that that which is in part will be done away. Now we live in the part, but The Day will come when that will be done away; the perfect will come. Perfect does mean righteous and holy, but the basic meaning of perfect means whole and complete; everything that is needed is present and nothing is lacking. It means that every hope, every dream and imagination of the heart will actually come true. It means that everything good, beautiful, fantastic and wonderful that I could possibly imagine would all become real and alive. But the “perfect” will also be so much more than my puny mind can dream up, since God’s mind is so much bigger. Whatever I want or hope for in a utopian paradise will be there, and so much more. That kind of perfect will come.

I will not need to believe it any longer at that time, for I will see it and experience it in real life. That is the promise that I now believe. During this present life I walk by faith, but once in while I may get a dark glimpse of the perfect (the part). A little glimpse, through a glass darkly, is enough to keep us going forward to our heavenly paradise home. Faith hangs on to the promise: the perfect will come. This “part” that we live in is really very good; because when you stop and look around this life is pretty amazing. It is so good most of the time that most people really do not want to leave this life. The survival instinct is very strong.

We can enjoy the “part” because we know that the “perfect” is still coming. The perfect that is coming reaches into our present and makes life meaningful and exciting. Faith in promises like these are so important to nurture and cultivate by hearing the Gospel and paying attention to the Word of God. Seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness is a worthwhile endeavor. The perfect will come.

116. The Body of Christ

 1 Corinthians 12:27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

 Believers are, as a whole, the body of Christ, and each individual believer is a member of the body. The metaphor is familiar to us, but it is not so easy to relate the picture practically to our lives. The Church, as the Body, continues the ministry of Jesus on the earth. Since Jesus’ human body is no longer physically visible on earth His life must continue on in and through the church, the believers in Christ. Christ is certainly present on earth everywhere and in everything, but He is particularly and effectively present in the People. He does His work of preaching, teaching, converting, edifying, saving, healing, loving, etc. Everything Jesus did He still does in and through the Body.

This promise is both a responsibility and a privilege for us. It is a privilege for we all get to have a part in the work of God on earth. It is a wonderful blessing to be used of God to do His work; the channel and instrument is blessed. To be used of God to do a good work may be the greatest blessing that we enjoy in life. It is a responsibility in that we must always be aware that we are representing Christ on the earth to the rest of the population. What the world sees in us may affect what they think of Christ. We are “little Christs;” we are Christ-in-the-flesh; we are Jesus with skin on. We ourselves, and virtually all people, will hear the Gospel of a loving Jesus Christ from people who say and show it. Certainly, everyone will see easily that we are sinners, but we can humbly show people that we are forgiven sinners in whom God Himself resides. Where will people find God on the earth? People will find God in the people who are the body of Christ, the temple of the living God.

Everything the Church on earth does preaches the Gospel and loves people for the work of service and building up the body. We are blessed when we live out the promise of being the body of Christ: we are blessed and built up when we bless and build up others. The body is a mutual blessing.

115. Manifestation of the Spirit

 1 Corinthians 12:7, 11, 18 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal….But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will….But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.

 The Promise is given to us that each one of the believers in Christ has been given a spiritual gift. This promise expects that each member of the Body will be used by the Spirit to edify and bless the church on earth. God will use everyone for His purpose in His Kingdom, and that’s a promise.

God set the members every one of them in the body. We may think that we chose which local church to join ourselves to, and that we chose what we will do in that local body. That how it seems. But the word and promise of God is different: 1) the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every person; 2) the Spirit divides to every one severally; and 3) God set the members every one of them in the body. God chooses us and He chooses how we fit in to the working of the Spirit in the Body of Christ.

Each believer is called to faith in Christ through the Gospel, and when called, God Himself distributes the gifts to each one individually for the edification of the Body and for impacting the world around it. God gives the gifts and then He orchestrates the working of those gifts in the Church. Every person has a role and a purposeful function to profit everyone else; and all of it is “as He will” and “as it has pleased Him.” God has also chosen a particular vocation in the world for us to fulfill and function according to it to the glory of God and the benefit of the neighbor. We just believe the Gospel and follow Him. Vocation = Calling. God calls us when and where and what and to whom and how we go about living our calling. The promise is that God gives it, God calls it, God directs it, God orchestrates it, God does it all, but He uses us to accomplish His will and plan. Through us God builds up the church and the church touches the unbelieving world around us. That’s His promise.

114. Same Spirit, same Lord, same God

 1 Corinthians 12:4, 5, 6 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.

 Within one group of believers, one fellowship or local church there will be varieties of gifts, services and activities. Every person, every word, and every deed will look much different than every other person, word, or deed. Every group of Christians is also much different than every other group of other Christians. All these diversities among believers do not make us jealous, nor do they divide us. This is because it is the same Spirit, the same Lord and the same God who is working it all out.

God has a purpose and an end goal in mind. He is going to one place, and all those in Christ are going to the same place; one God is working it all out to lead us to the one God who is all in all. Jesus is the same Lord of all. It is the same Spirit, Lord and God who is doing all this. The Spirit, Lord and God is the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who is mysteriously One God, although three distinct persons. Just as we cannot understand the Trinity, neither can we understand the diversity of gifts, service, and activity. But we trust God to know what He is doing and how He is leading us to the one Lord and God. Diversity looks like difference since each does not look the same. Sameness is not unity, but as different as two believers in Christ can be each of them is united to the same Lord and God. The people and their gifts and services are different, but their God who is working the activity is the same.

It may seem difficult to believe that someone so different from me has the same God as I do. The Spirit uses the same Gospel to bring the two of us to the same faith in the same Lord Jesus Christ who brings us to the same God and Father of all. Let the same God work it all out. We celebrate our diversity as we worship one God.

113. One Bread and Body

 1 Corinthians 10:16, 17 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.

The cup of blessing (the wine) and the bread we break (the bread) is a communion of the blood and the body of Christ. Every time we receive the bread and wine in Holy Communion we are communing (uniting) with the blood and body of Christ. This fantastic promise takes our sins away and gives the righteousness of God to us. This amazing trade occurs anew when we participate in the Lord’s Supper. Communion = union with. When we partake we are united with Christ in the shedding of His blood and the death of His body. Christ died for our sins, and in Communion we could not be more assured that He died for my sins, and He is uniting with me in the closest and most intimate union possible. We are One, and we could not be any “one-er.”

Union with Christ means that my sins, mine, all of them, have been fully punished at the cross. The penalty of sin is death: in Christ I died. Union with Christ, or being in Christ, is not something that we can readily understand or explain. It is a deep truth that we believe. And it is beautiful. What happened to Christ happened to us: We died with Him, we are buried with Him, we rose with Him, we ascended with Him, and we are sitting and reigning with Him.

The second part of the “one bread” truth is that we are also one with every other believer in Christ. We exhibit that unity with every other brother and sister in Christ when we partake of that one bread, one body in Holy Communion. We are many, we are individual and separate from one another, we are different, we are unique and distinct from each other, but those “many” are “one” bread. The unity and oneness we enjoy with other believers is much stronger than the differences. The metaphor of the body helps us see the reality: the eye looks and acts nothing like the foot, but they are still a part of one body despite appearances.

The promise of being one bread and one body also clearly indicates the fact that the bread in Holy Communion is the body of Christ; this also is contrary to appearances, but it is to be believed, since God says so.

112. A Way of Escape

1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

 God promises temptation surely enough, but you will not be singled out for temptations different from what every other human experiences. But according to the faithfulness of God, He will keep you from temptations that are beyond our ability to withstand. God permits Satan to have his way with us but only up to the limits He has placed upon him. God says, as He says in the case of Job, “You may tempt him but only so far and no further.” And God knows our limits. The promise is such that none of us can reasonably say, “This temptation is too much for me to bear; please take it away.” When tempted, we can overcome.

The promise for us is that with the temptation He will make a way to escape it. We may find that way of escape and take it. We may really take hold of this promise and escape it. Because of this promise we can confidently pray daily that the Lord will help us overcome and escape it; He will lead us out of temptation. “Lead us not into temptation.”

We are weak; the flesh is too weak to resist, even as Jesus forewarned Peter: “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” [Matthew 26:41]. But we are never forced beyond our control and ability. But when the temptation seems to be too strong for us and we are about to give in, we may turn to the Lord and look for the way to escape. “You can do this; I will help.” When we are weak then He is strong, strong enough to bear the temptation and overcome. We admit we are weak and we need help. We can ask for help, and God promises to give it.

You can do this. Hold God to His promise. Use the faith you have been given.

111. Known of God

 1 Corinthians 8:3 But if any man love God, the same is known of him.

 God knows you. He promises that those who believe in Jesus are known of God. The person who loves God is the person who believes in Jesus. Faith in Christ is the loving of God. That person is known. The fact that God knows me is very important; the deepest fear, usually unexpressed, of most people is the fear of being not known: insignificant, not important to anyone, abandoned, left alone, without anyone to care about or to care about me. It is not only children who have a fear of being abandoned, but adults still have a fear of abandonment. To hear the words, “Nobody knows me; nobody cares; I don’t matter to anyone” causes sadness and depression.

For all of us God promises that we are known, our lives matter, we are cared about and even cherished, each of us is significant to God. God says to each person, “I will never, never, not ever forsake you.” Even if I should lose my whole family God promises He will accept me into His family. Being orphaned is impossible; I will always have Him in a personal, loving relationship. God could never forget me or ignore me.

God knows all about me: He knows my sin, and still loves me; He knows my problems, and He has solutions; He knows by needs even better than I do, and He promises to meet them in His mercy and according to His will; He knows the good works the Spirit has done through me, and He is keeping track; He knows the motivations and why I do the things I do; He knows my temptations, and provides a way of escape; He knows my worries and fears, and provides for them; He knows my grief, and gives comfort. He knows everything; and that’s good.

110. Body and spirit is God’s

 1 Corinthians 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

 In the context of the folly of adulterous relationships, we are admonished to glorify God in our body. In other words, you shall not use your body to become intimately bound with a person with whom God has not joined you together. But embedded within this warning are two promises: You are bought with a price; your body and your spirit are God’s.

God bought you with a price, the shed blood and innocent death of Jesus Christ. God owns you; you belong to God; you are God’s responsibility. Both your body and your spirit belong to God. “Body and spirit” signifies all of you, the whole person. There is no part of you, except the sin that remains, that doesn’t belong to God. We are like sheep in that we are vulnerable and cannot take care of ourselves, but we are in the hands of and under the beneficent control of the Shepherd. We are like children in that we are unable to successfully take care of ourselves, but God is our Father who does know how to take care of us in the best way. We are like the bride in that life alone is not so good, but we have the Bridegroom who loves and cherishes us.

Whatever metaphor is used the point is that we are dependent, and as much as we want to be independent that independent streak will only destroy us. We cannot be left on our own. Thus we are bought and owned and we have a wonderful, kind, benevolent and strong Master. When we know that we belong to the One who bought us at great price we can rest comfortably in an abundant life, free from bondage and slavery, and virtually carefree, if we can trust Him. The love and the power of God are exhibited on the cross, so we know we can trust Him. Let go!

109. Members of Christ

 1 Corinthians 6:15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.

 Faith in Christ makes our bodies members of Christ. So God promises that my very physical body is a member of Christ. I can’t understand how something physical and material and earthly can be a member of something spiritual and invisible and heavenly. Although I can’t scientifically explain it, I can spiritually believe it.

My body is a member of Christ; that is a figure of speech, but it is still real. One way of looking at it is this way: the very body of Christ the man is risen from the dead and ascended into heaven, meaning that the physical human body of Jesus is not on the physical earth any longer. We are the body of Christ, and I am individually a member of it. Jesus lives on earth in a body still today, but you and I are a part of that body since He lives within each of our bodies. Jesus is not floating around in some ethereal ether, but He is here in the flesh, our flesh.

Being a member of Christ places a heavy responsibility upon me. The life of Christ lives on through me. Jesus is still influencing the world, not as a spirit of the air, but as a life lived in my body. Is Jesus living or am I living? Galatians 2:20 expresses the dilemma: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God.” So which is it, Jesus or I? It is both, in some kind of symbiotic relationship. Sometimes my life looks like Christ and sometimes it looks like me and sometimes it seems mixed. My personality shows, but mixed with it is the person of Christ. This is a mystery. Nevertheless, my body is a member of Christ. Since Christ doesn’t have a body on earth He must use mine.

I am only one member among many, and all of us believers together make up the body of Christ on the earth; and also in some mysterious way we are connected with the saints who have died and have passed on before us. The saints have no bodily connection to us; but Jesus does have a physical connection to our bodies.

How ridiculous and awful it is, then, to make a member of Christ (my body) a member of a prostitute (any person who is not your spouse). God forbid. This says that sex is not just sex; adultery is a physical and spiritual connection of two people who do not belong together. How can I take the Christ in my body and join it in such wickedness and sin against God? The promise bears a heavy responsibility.

108. Raise up us

 1 Corinthians 6:14 And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.

 The same God who raised up Jesus the Lord will also raise up us. This is a promise as sure and certain as the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We who believe in Jesus are identified with and united to Christ; and we are united with Him in resurrection. Jesus is the only person in history to be resurrected in His body never to die again forever. (Many others have been resuscitated from death but then died again later.) This is the First Resurrection. Believers in Christ have a part of the First Resurrection, and so are blessed.

The bodily resurrection of Jesus not only guarantees to us that we, too, will rise again with Him, but it also guarantees to us everything that Jesus Christ did for us and said to us. In this way Jesus’ resurrection is the foundation of our faith and our life. Everything depends on it. Our own resurrection is also the foundation for our lives in that everything depends on it. We shall rise; therefore we shall live. We are raised with Him; thus we live with Him. Jesus is day by day, second by second, giving us life, enriching and growing our life with meaning, joy, hope and peace. He is truly giving a continually abundant life.

God will raise us up by His own power. The life-giving power of God is more powerful than any power than we can imagine. We can’t even imagine the power of a huge nuclear bomb. How could we imagine a million bombs? God’s power is so much more even than that, but His power is not used to kill and destroy, but to give life and build up. This awesome power to raise us up and give us life is employed in our lives every time we hear the Gospel. This awesome power is available to us at all times and especially in time of trouble and need. If He can and He will raise us up, will He not with Christ give us all things needful?