Now
I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all
speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be
perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. (1 Corinthians 1:10)
As I type these words I am connected to the
internet. That connection is important
if I am to communicate with you. When
this devotional is completed, I will send it out to a potential worldwide
audience. There are times the connection
is down and then the communication is disrupted. That is not only a technological truth, it is
a theological one, as witnessed in the first chapter of Paul’s first letter to
the Corinthian church.
The church was a basket-case—as a host of problems
plagued them. Their carnality was
showing. Living in a corrupt
environment, they were being contaminated by it. When they were meant to impact the city, the
culture was influencing them instead. We
think that our times are tough to try to live for God—when has it ever been
easy? This first century message is on
target for a twenty-first century church.
Of all the problems that plagued the Corinthian
Christians, the one Paul confronts first is the breaking of their connection
with each other. One of Satan’s chief
weapons is division, and he was utilizing it effectively in Corinth. While the saints were not cooperating with
each other in building up the church, they were cooperating with the devil in
breaking up the fellowship!
The Apostle reminds them in verses one through
seventeen that they are to be connected in fellowship. They have been set apart for God—each one. This is their common experience of an
uncommon gift. Their position in Christ
is that of saints. No matter the other
ways that humans segment society—by color, class, gender, age, achievement, and
the like—all the redeemed were one in their standing in Christ. We are reminded that since we are saints, we
ought to act like it! Jesus said that
the world would believe in Him when we demonstrated love and displayed unity
with one another (John 17:21). If our
connection in fellowship is broken by strife, then the communication of our
message is lost.
Not only are God’s people to be connected in
fellowship, but in faith (v.18-31). God’s
children share a common faith in an uncommon Savior. Everything focuses on the cross of Christ,
which is the only hope of salvation. We
come by the Calvary Road to heaven, or we do not come at all. It matters not how much we have in the bank
or how little, whether we are young or old, male or female, black or white,
educated or uneducated—the ground is level at the foot of the cross. The world scoffs at the image of a Savior
hanging in bloody agony on a tree. How
can a Jew being executed in such a shameful way enable sinners to be
saved? This is God’s way—and it is in the
cross that we glory! It should be
evident that this message is one revealed from heaven, for it would never have
been dreamed up by humans! To the Jews
it was a stumbling block and to the Gentles it was foolishness, but to all who
are saved the old rugged cross, so despised by the world, is the power and
wisdom of God for salvation.
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