God is not a God of disorder but of peace.

God has given spiritual gifts to the church but in some cases these have been abused and brought disorder into church gatherings. In this passage we find the apostle Paul writing to correct abuses of these gifts … especially tongues and prophecy.

He writes to the church and says that the use of gifts must be intelligible to people, both those inside as well as those outside. The point at which a line has been crossed is when order becomes disorder. The fruit of Christian living and worship should be self-control so that worship does not defeat its purpose.

There was also a problem with the place of women in the church in Corinth. What the apostle wrote here about women being quiet in the meetings needs to be understood in the context of the whole letter (especially Ch 11). Here he is only telling some women to be quiet not all. The problem appears to be that they were abruptly interrupting their husbands when they were speaking. The church should always remember that Jesus died to give them their spiritual gifts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s easy to forget what others have done for us

From time to time we look back and remember those who served in various ways. We do this with thanksgiving for their sacrifice on our behalf. Remembering and thanksgiving go together. We, however, sometimes say ‘thank you’ as a matter of routine in contrast to someone like a refugee who takes out citizenship in a country and serves out of gratitude.

In this passage we have the story of 10 lepers who were healed by Jesus. The surprising thing is that only one returned to say ‘thank you’. He did this out of faith because he saw his deeper need. Jesus says to him ‘your faith has made you well’.

The Christian life is a life that thanks God for what he has done in us and also his work in other people. The response to this should lead to praise and worship … or is it too familiar? When we gather as God’s people, we gather to express our thankful appreciation for what he has done for us in Jesus Christ … the perfect once for all time sacrifice of himself.

 

 

The most important use of spiritual gifts is for the benefit of others.

Spiritual gifts should be all about Jesus … what he has accomplished in his death and resurrection … the greatest gift of all. In their use however there have been not only good experiences but also some bad ones. In this passage the first gift mentioned is prophecy (forthtelling prophecy or what is more commonly called preaching). The second one is tongues (heavenly/ ‘angelic’ language or ordinary ‘earthly’ language).

Prophecy is to be preferred among the gifts because through it the church is built up and unbelievers are saved. Because a preference for one particular gift is good, it is not to say that all other gifts are bad. Prophecy, however, has the potential to build up the whole church. The reason for the writer’s comments about the problem with tongues is that they had taken priority in Corinth and no one could interpret them. This is why people who have this gift are encouraged to use it in private. The language of the church should never be ‘tribal’.

 

 

  We don’t need an image of God because we have one in his Son.

The second commandment says: ‘You shall not make for yourself and idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth’. Despite this there are idols all around us. The problem comes in when the idol distracts us from the one who is real and perfect in every way, Jesus Christ. We are told elsewhere in Scripture that ‘he is the image of the invisible God’ and that ‘in him all things hold together’.

Here we see the danger and folly of idols. An idol is something created by man who has been created by God. So an idol cannot help us in our deepest need … the forgiveness of our sins. Jesus, however, can help us because he lived, died and rose again to pay the penalty for sin on the cross, as a perfect sacrifice and substitute. All those who turn away from their idols and trust in what he has accomplished for them are forgiven and set free forever.

 

 

 A well-known and often quoted reading which has a very important context.

 

It has been said that this passage is the greatest piece ever written on love. What is misunderstood, however, is that it was written to inform the recipients about love within the church, in the context of the use of spiritual gifts. Without love every one of these is wasted because it is the reason that they have been given.

The use of verbs to describe love is important because it is not just a concept but an action. It is to do with how others are treated … with patience, kindness and without envy or boasting. People in the church are all on the same ‘team’ and the motive for loving others is the result of God’s first love to each believer. The message of Calvary needs to be always remembered.

 

 

 

All have been given gifts of various kinds … those who believe have been given spiritual gifts.

The one who created us is a gift giving God … not just materially but also, to those in the church, spiritually. The use of these gifts in the church sometimes gets ‘bad press’. The problem, however, is not with the gift itself but with its abuse.

In this passage the apostle Paul seeks to address problems with the use of spiritual gifts in the church. It seems that some got overexcited with the use of these gifts and started using them for the wrong purpose.  The gifts had been given for the common good, not personal pride. Also the diversity of the gifts which had been given was not meant to be grounds for division.

A right understanding of the context in which the gifts had been given needed to be understood. The gifts were meant to complement one another … like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle. Each member of the church has worth and value, just like the body. If one part suffers, the whole body suffers.  Some parts, which are relatively unseen, are given greater honour. There is only one hero, however, who is worthy of honour and that is Jesus … the ‘head’ of the body.

 

 

 ‘Do this in remembrance of Me’

The early church in Corinth had serious problems in doing what Jesus had said about the Lord’s Supper. They had brought in practices from outside the church and were also using segregation. In this passage, from the apostle Paul’s letter to them, we find correctives for these problems.

There is the teaching about self examination and orderly conduct to be observed as well as remembering that the Lord’s Supper comes from Jesus himself. It is about what he has accomplished as a substitute through his death on the cross. It is for people who have been forgiven and set free from guilt through trusting in his sacrifice their for sin.

 

 

 No-one has ever been able to lay down his life and take it up again as Jesus did.

The word ‘apologia’ is used in Scripture, not in the sense of an apology, but rather, as meaning a defense. This is important because people today are becoming ‘out of touch’ with the vital part of the Christian message. Apologetics and the gospel go hand in hand. It gets obstacles out of the way so that people can clearly understand the ‘good news’. By far the strongest reason for the truth of the gospel is the resurrection … to which these passages refer.

The apostle Peter’s early sermon appeals to the resurrection …’we are witnesses of that fact’. The one thing that distinguishes Christ from all those who preceded him is the resurrection … ‘You killed the author of life but God raised Him from the dead’. Peter saw this with his own eyes. The resurrection is one of the most documented incidents in human history. It turned the disciples from a defeated discouraged group into fearless witnesses and martyrs for the faith.

 

 

 

 Jesus’ fruitfulness will only come about through his death

There is a lot to learn about gardening. Most plants come from seeds which have to die in order to produce a crop. In this passage, however, Jesus is pointing to something more important. Jesus’ death is unique because it doesn’t end something but begins something … his mission, which was to die, as a sacrifice, for the sins of the people. Without the cross Jesus produces nothing. With the cross the one ‘seed’ dies and produces a harvest (v24).

In this passage, Jesus points particularly to his lifting up on the cross. No-one ever faced what Jesus would face on the cross. Jesus denies himself for us. He became a curse so we could be blessed and not cursed. The cross doesn’t repel people who are looking for his forgiveness but it does condemn those who reject him.

 

 

 

 Jesus reveals what had been previously overlooked

Have you ever looked for something so intently that you completely missed it? That is similar to what happened to the Jewish leaders in Jesus’ day. They were familiar with the Law of Moses which had a vast number of rules and regulations but completely misunderstood the one to whom it all pointed … Jesus Christ.

In this passage we find Jesus teaching them about himself from an illustration about old and new wineskins. The Old Testament Jewish laws were like the old wineskins. Jesus himself is like the new wine. What he was coming to accomplish could only be fully understood in the light of his death on the cross as THE sacrifice. This was the new teaching of God’s grace which changed everything.