Let me begin with a quick review of what I mentioned last week, as you will not fully understand the letters of Paul without some background. The Apostle Paul traveled throughout much of the Roman Empire sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ and establishing churches and church leaders from those who believed the Gospel. From his “home church” in Antioch in Syria (where the followers of the “Way” were first called “Christians”), Paul embarked on three “Missionary Journeys” spanning a ten year period. As Paul stayed for a season in one location or another (sometimes in prison), he would receive word from his traveling companions and/or curriers that a certain church was having to deal with some “issues,” some involving theology and some struggling with practical application. It was then that Paul would send a letter to a particular church through one of those curriers who carried his letters to the church of concern.

Paul established this church during his Second Missionary Journey, and two of his letters are addressed “…To the Church of God which is at Corinth.” Corinth was a hub of worldwide commerce with a degraded culture and idolatrous religious practices. This first letter reveals the problems, pressures, and struggles of a church trying to survive in a pagan culture. In this letter, Paul addresses a number of major issues facing the church, including divisions, lawsuits, immorality, questionable practices, abuse of the Lord’s Supper, and misuse of the Spiritual Gifts that God had given them. Paul exhorts them to stop behaving in ways that are displeasing to God, and to begin living lives that honor Him.

The City of Corinth was filled with shrines and temples, but the most prominent was the Temple of Aphrodite, which housed over a thousand “sacred” prostitutes for use it it’s so-called worship practices. Pleasure seekers from around the empire would come to Corinth to take a “holiday” from their more normal lives of moral restraint. The city was known for it’s many evils, and the phrase, “acting like a Corinthian,” became synonymous with debauchery and prostitution. And this is the city where Paul found people who were so convicted of their sin that they turned to Christ when Paul preached the Good News to them. Years later, while Paul was in Ephesus on his Third Missionary Journey, he received word of the problems in Corinth, and Paul responded to these problems by sending this letter, dated around AD 56.

In the very first chapter, Paul begins with one of my favorite passages of Scripture as he responds to two different people groups who seek truth in two distinct ways. Here is what Paul says,

“Jews ask for signs, and Greeks search for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Cor. 1:22-25).

For me, that pretty much sums up those things that people in our own day seek after. Some seek for a sign “from God” that He really exists, and some are looking for a “wise” philosophical message to convince them of the truth. But Paul says that those who believe the Gospel, actually discover that the strength and wisdom of God is found in a “crucified Savior” who died for the sins of the world, and indeed, their own sins.

And then Paul turns to their lifestyle, reminding them that their bodies are actually “a temple” of the living God who lives within them. Here is what Paul had to say,

“Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are” (1 Cor. 3:16-17).

To make sure that they got the message, Paul reminded them just three chapters later, saying,

“Do you now know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body” (1 Cor. 6:19-20).

No one would throw trash into a temple, let alone the Temple of the living God, and because everyone who has Christ living in them, they become a temple of His Spirit and should not allow any “trash” to infiltrate their lives.

Later in his letter, Paul talks about Spirit Gifts and how they are distributed to each person just a He desires. But in the midst of his instruction, he has to remind them that “a more excellent” way is to focus on loving others. He writes,

“Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never fails” (1 Cor. 13:4-8).

And then, toward the end of his letter, Paul wants to give some instruction about the resurrection. He is clear on the fact that if Christ had not been raised from the dead, then none of us can expect to be raised either. Check this out,

“If the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless, and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have already fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied” (1 Cor. 15:15-19). 

Paul goes on to talk about the nature of the resurrection, but that is beyond the scope of this blog. However, there is one passage in this 15^th chapter that pretty much sums up the essence of the message of the Gospel.

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3-4).

Notice that Paul speaks of the authority of the Scriptures, that we are sinful, and that Christ died for our sins, and that He was raised from the dead. Friends, this is the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Returning to the first chapter, this is a message that is deemed weakness to some because they are looking for a sign of power, and to others it is a message of God’s wisdom, not man’s. For the Christian, it is a message of both power and wisdom because it changes lives.

This is the message that each of us are called to “believe” and put our faith and trust in. If you have never done so, this Christmas season would be a great time to believe and confess Christ as your Savior and Lord.

“May the LORD bless you and keep you and make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you. May He lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace” (Num. 6:24-26)

Peggy and I pray that you will take the time to reflect upon the true meaning of Christmas this year.

We send our love to you!