Friday, April 3, 2015

Whom do we glory in?


Today is Good Friday, a remembrance Day that Jesus Christ was crucified for the salvation of the whole world. It was a beautiful and yet a very painful design by God the Father to give Jesus Christ for the whole world. It was God’s plan and design to sanctify us through Christ Jesus.
    The passage below was taken from the first Book of Corinthians written by Apostle Paul. Corinth was the capital city of Greece, and this was the major centre for art, culture and it is one of the world trade centre for commerce. Corinth was a bustling commercial trading city which hosted many businesses and also it is a place for idolatrous worship and degraded moral culture during the period of Apostle Paul. This should not shock any one of us who is reading this write up because we are living in a world of polluted culture and very often pressured from all directions to conform to the image the world projects as the right and the best.
    This Book was written to the believers at Corinth when the church was pressured and the struggles the believers and the Body of Christ faced in a pagan culture. When we read through this Book we notice that Paul addresses a variety of problems in the Body of Christ and there are so many divisions in the Church because of varied beliefs and doctrines. Factions, immorality, questionable practices, abusing the Lord’s Supper and the abuse of spiritual gifts seem to be prevailing and there was tremendous confusion about the relationships of singleness and marriage and believers needed some clarification. It looked like there was no proper spiritual leader to admonish, confront and correct and lead the people in the path of truth in love. Questions were raised by the believers and Paul is addressing the above issues with God’s wisdom and guidance.
Let us read 1 Corinthians 1:17-31:
17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.
30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
    Preaching the Cross of Christ is the main theme while Paul is addressing and he firmly says that for those who perish in wickedness this message was foolishness. At the Cross the wisdom of the world and all its’ intelligence comes to nothing and the wise are baffled and eclipsed by the Christian revelation. This revelation and the glorious triumphs of the Cross is foolishness in the eyes of the worldly men today. In other words unless the Spirit of the Lord awakens our conscience and our spirit one cannot fathom this mystery and it is the wonder working power of God to work in the life of a person to unveil this mystery.  
    Christ crucified is a stumbling-block to the Jews. They had a conceit that their expected Messiah was to be a great temporal prince, and therefore would never own one who made so mean an appearance in life, and died so accursed a death, for their deliverer and king. They despised him, and looked upon him as execrable, because he was hanged on a tree, and because he did not gratify them with a sign to their mind, though his divine power shone out in innumerable miracles. The Jews require a sign, v. 22. See Mt. 12:38. 2. He was to the Greeks foolishness. They laughed at the story of a crucified Saviour, and despised the apostles’ way of telling it. They sought for wisdom. They were men of wit and reading, men that had cultivated arts and sciences, and had, for some ages, been in a manner the very mint of knowledge and learning. There was nothing in the plain doctrine of the cross to suit their taste, nor humour their vanity, nor gratify a curious and wrangling temper: they entertained it therefore with scorn and contempt1.
    We can safely assume and say that the Hands of God which is full of love had twisted the crown of thorns into crown of glory and we can be safe in His everlasting arms because of His great love for humanity. There is beauty and pain in this Divine act and it is absolutely full of love for the lost humanity. From the above passage we infer Paul’s saying that we have to share the message of Christ crucified. We can celebrate the resurrected Christ and His hope, but we have to remember Christ’s suffering. If we do not remember His sufferings we are missing on the heart of the matter.
   30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: 31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. The Word of God is very strong in saying that when one glories let that person glory in the resurrected Christ Who was crucified and it was designed by God that all flesh may glory in the Lord. The theme for today is we should be humble enough to acknowledge the Divine act in the salvation plan and Glory and exaltation must go to God in Christ Jesus His only Son through the power of the Holy Spirit.
End Notes:
biblehub.com/commentaries/mhcw/1_corinthians/1.htm
Bible > Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible > 1 Corinthians 1 1 Corinthians 1 ... Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible by Matthew Henry ...
 
Website References:
biblehub.com/commentaries/mhcw/1_corinthians/1.htm
Bible > Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible > 1 Corinthians 1 1 Corinthians 1 ... Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible by Matthew Henry ...
 
www.christnotes.org › … › 1 Corinthians
Bible commentary about 1 Corinthians 1 (Matthew Henry’s Commentary). Bible Commentary. Christ Notes. Bible Search ...

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