GOD’S POWER AND HIS PURPOSES
“His divine power has granted us all things that pertain to life and godliness.” (2 Peter 1:3)
When we meditate on this verse, we wonder why if God has granted us all things to become godly and to truly live (abundant lives John 10:10), we see so many believers struggling in outworking of their Christian lives, and even churches are caught in being ‘ineffective’ and ‘disappointing’ for God and His purposes (although Jesus promised to build His church and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it).
We need to pause and return to the Bible (Scripture): Scripture is full of references to the power of God. In all these acts of power, God shows Himself sovereign. He is working out His purpose for each individual person, human or angelic and for the history of the universe, over which He rules and which He directs toward its climax according to His eternal plan.
With regard to the history of the world, the Bible tells us what the essence of the plan is: Jesus Christ, already this world’ reigning Lord (although ‘hidden’ from many), will continue to reign, until, one way or another (opinions among believers differ as to just how), all created rational beings come to acknowledge His lordship. In the broadest sense, God is exerting His power here and now in order, step by step, to bring about this final consummation. History is not going around in circles; history is heading towards an end when God will destroy all evil and recreate and restore His desired kingdom in the new heaven and new earth. If we examine the history of the world, we note that ‘kingdoms’ rise and fall and no human ruler or rulers are sovereign – even the greatest of empires collapse after apparently reaching their height of ‘glory’.
God has made His purpose a matter of promise to us believers. The Bible is full of particular promises in which aspects of His glory are spelled out as a basis for our responsive trust. Were it not so, we could hardly call our contact with God a personal relationship at all. Real, personal relationships always involve personal commitments, and promises are the utterances that regulate such commitments.
A promise is a word that reaches into the future, creating a bond of obligation on the part of one who gives it and of expectation on the part of the one who receives it. In this sense it brings about a new state of affairs for those by whom and to whom it is spoken. That our mighty Creator should have bound Himself to use His power in fulfilling promises to us who believe – “precious and very great promises,” as 2 Peter 1:4 puts it – is one of the wonders of Christianity.
Lest we think that all these promises only refer to the eternal future, when Jesus came into this world as God incarnate, He ushers in a new age and era when the kingdom of God ‘enters into this world’, fulfilling all the promises of the Old Testament regarding the coming of the Messiah, the anointed One and Saviour of the world. He came to exercise God’s plan of salvation to rescue and to bring about a divine reversal; God is at work in Jesus, a work in redemption, a work of mighty salvation. Forgiveness of sin lies at the centre of God’s salvation in Christ (who has come as a mighty Savior, whose strength will guarantee that He accomplishes God’s salvation bringing peace with God and among men).
This plan of salvation has been implemented in Jesus when He came, and it will be worked out and consummated at the end of the ages.
Let us rejoice in HIs power and purposes, and let us continue to persevere in hope that would not be disappointed, for God is powerful enough and faithful to accomplish all that He sets out to do.
GOD’S POWER AND HIS PURPOSES (B)
We have noted that God has provided all things related to life and godliness and yet we still encounter Christians not growing into maturity, and churches floundering in carnal behaviour and wrong priorities.
We considered first of all that God would fulfil His promises; He has the power and He is faithful in all His ways.
One aspect is glaringly deficient: it is our part. All of us are familiar with the ‘Great Commission’ given in Matthew 28:18-20. The imperative in this commission is to ‘make disciples of all nations.” It is not simply urging people to accept Christ and be “converted.” It has to progress to making disciples – making people grow in an ongoing, intimate relationship with the Triune God, which endures throughout ups and downs of life as well as in facing changing and challenging circumstances of life.
John Stott, in his last book, pointed out that although there is numerical growth in conversions in South Asia and Africa, his feedback from leaders in these countries is that growth is superficial and without depth. Nagaland in the sub-continent of India is 80% Christianized but 70% of the teenagers in the capital city are drug addicts. Rwanda, with some 60 years of supposed on-going revival in the church, suffered genocide in tribal war.
We are not only to be born again; we are to grow up into the things of God as they apply to all of life. We are meant to have our minds transformed and every thought taken captive with the truths of God’ great Kingdom. We are to know how God wants us to live now and how to prepare for our final destination in the celestial city- this involves primarily ‘making disciples’! Our transformed lives are then to be the salt and light of our families, neighbourhoods, communities and finally our nation – not perfect communities, not heaven on earth, but better because the influence of good is as great, if not greater, than evil.
it is not enough to reach the unreached. It is not enough to plant churches amongst those who have no churches. We are to disciple individuals, and through them, disciple their communities and nations. Saving souls and planting churches is a beginning. But the quality of those churches and the impact of the lives of the believers on their communities is the litmus test of the quality of the work of the church for Christ.
Some years back, a pastor asked the leaders of his congregation “What should be a church’s biblical priorities”? After several months of consideration and study, the answer is to be committed first to Jesus Christ, then to one another in Christ, and then to the world Christ died to save. These three priorities must be kept in proper order. A church must not let its ministry to the world -its evangelisme and good works – become of first importance.
Some churches are primarily “evangelistic centres.” Most of what is done during the week and on Sunday meetings leads up to one exciting moment: the altar call. That is the focus of the entire life of the church; it is wonderful to see people walk the aisle to the altar and acknowledge a decision of some kind. But that is not to be the primary focus of the church.
Some churches consider themselves “mission centres.” These churches raise an extensive amount of money for missions – they have world maps in prominent places and hear numerous missionary reports from their pulpits. It is wonderful that local churches can help spread the good news in far-off places. But this is not to be the primary focus of the church.
Some churches are “information centres”; their main purpose is the pouring out of biblical material. The pastor of this kind of church is primarily a dispenser of information. But that is not to be the primary purpose of the church.
Still other churches are “program centres”; they present one extravaganza after another -gospel magicians, singing groups, fun-fairs, and others.
Some churches are “building centres;” where the emphasis is on ‘relational theology’, small groups, function of gifts – relationships are exciting and beneficial, but that is not to be the primary purpose of the church.
PRIMARILY – first and foremost – the church is to be for the Lord. He is the Head, and He must be the focus, the first priority. Churches – and individual believers – are to be committed first to Christ, then to one another in Christ, and then to the world. All three are not to be ‘done’ chronologically, one at a time, but they are to be part of churches’ and believers’ lives all at the same time.
In John 15, Jesus wove these into His teaching on the vine and the branches. Verses 1-11 stress the admonition, “Abide in Me.” This is the first priority. Verses 12-15 focus on the command, “Love each other.” That is the second priority. And verses 16-27 say, in essence, “Testify about Me.” This pertains to the third priority.
If a church is centered on anything, any person, any doctrine, any project, anything but Christ, it is off balance. Such churches are prone to rush here and there after every new program or gimmick that comes along. Eventually the church becomes entrenched in patterns of behaviour that focuses on activities rather than Christ.
Christ’s followers are to love the entire huh by the power of the Holy Spirit’s gift of love (Rom.5:5). They must never make fun of any segment of the church or disparage it in any way. The church is God’s redeemed and each believer is a member of Christ’s body – all believers need to associate with and come under the authority of a local body of Christians.
Beyond one’s participation in a local church, one should be related to a select member of Christians in a deeper fellowship. Remember the Great Commission – “Make disciples of all nations, teaching them everything I have taught you”. “The things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others”(2 Tim. 2:2). In other words, both Jesus and Paul encouraged others to keep the chain of discipling going in the church.
If believers put their ministry to the world above their ministry to each other, they are likely to injure each other in the process, for the church is not an organisation. But if believers understand that the church is an organism, they will see the people in it as brothers and sisters, as members of the body of Chrfst, as what they are more than what they do. Unity or togetherness of believers is in itself a witness to the world. It proves that they are genuine and that their faith is real and valid. 9john 13:34-35).
If all three priorities are held on to, then the church which sends various ones to missions has the backing, unity, and prayer of the congregation. More importantly, the church is sending individuals of quality – serious disciples and messengers of Christ who look like their message and their Master, with the enabling of the Spirit. Those who remain behind are reaching the ‘world’ through their personal contact and sharing of the gospel with the support of the fellow brethren, their prayers and their counsel, and they will not just look out for conversions but would ensure their disciple making carries on in the lives of those they bring to Christ and into the church.
WE GLORY IN THE CROSS OF CHRIST
We have been considering “the tree is known by its fruit” and we noted that the true fruit of the true teacher and disciple is that of holiness, good works (progressive transformation into the image and character of Christ). Those with this genuine fruit are the ‘true sheep’ of the Good Shepherd (the Lord Jesus Christ) and there is invariably the true and genuine relationship between the ‘sheep’ and the ‘Shepherd’. Those without it are false teachers and false disciples; they may look like the true followers of Christ, but in reality, Christ does not know them and will not acknowledge them – they may even demonstrate deeds of apparent spirituality and they may ever be so active in spiritual activities, but the Lord does not know them (they are not His ‘sheep’).
The bottom line: the Christian faith is the faith of Christ crucified. We should not separate the crucifixion from the incarnation and resurrection of Jesus. His death would have had no efficacy if it had not been preceded by His unique birth and followed by His unique resurrection (the focus of the Gospels). Only the God-man could die for our sins, and only the resurrection could validate His death. The apostle Paul brings the three great events together:
“There is one God”, he wrote to Timothy,m “and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all men” (1 Tim. 2:5-6). In this one sentence, Jesus is named ‘mediator’, ‘man’ and ‘ransom’, for He was incarnate as man, He died as a ransom, and He has been exalted as our heavenly mediator. Nevertheless, although none is effective without the others, it is the death (the cross) which is central. For the birth looks forward to it and prepares for it, while the resurrection looks back to it and validates it
In the New Testament, Paul, Peter, John, the writer to the Hebrews and the author of the Revelation, all bear witness to the same central truth – it was the shedding of His blood, that is, His sacrificial and violent death on the cross, that Jesus dealt with our sins and won our salvation.
If Christ crucified is not the foundation of our faith, Christianity is a heaven without a sun, an arch without a keystone, a compass without a needle, a clock without spring or weights, a lamp without oil…(paraphrased saying of J.C. Ryle).
But why is the cross central? Why did Paul glory only in the cross?
First, we glory in the cross for our acceptance with God; indeed, there is no other way of acceptance with Him. In other words, we cannot be His sheep otherwise, and surely we cannot bear the true fruit (which identifies us as the true tree in Christ). The question each of us needs to ask, “How can I, a lost and guilty sinner, stand before a just and holy God?”
This is perhaps the most important question which confronts us as human beings. One thing is certain – we can never enter the holy presence of God, either in this life or in the next, in the tattered rags of our own morality. We are unfit even to approach Him (who dwells in unapproachable light and holiness). The sense of our sinfulness, of the blinding holiness of God, and of the absolute incompatibility of the one with the other – if we do not see and understand this, our understanding and appreciation of the cross is bound to be skewed.
To make light of sin is inevitably to make light of salvation and so of the cross. To deny the just judgment of God is a characteristic of false prophets, who say, “peace, peace” when there is no peace.They are like bad doctors who dress a deep wound superficially, as though it were not serious.
Sin is the desire for the autonomy of man; it is the denial of God and self-deification: it is getting rid of the Lord God, and the proclamation of self-sovereignty. When sin is stripped of all its disguises, and is seen in its ugly nakedness as the attempt to dethrone God and enthrone self, it is evident that we are incapable of doing anything to gain acceptance with God.
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse forus, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.’ (Gal.3:13).
These words declare that the only way we can be redeemed from the curse of the law (that is, from the judgment which God’s law pronounces on those who disobey it) is that Christ bore it in our place; that he became a curse instead of us; that he endured in his own innocent person the condemnation we had deserved. This is called ‘penal substitution’. Only because Christ bore the curse can we inherit the blessing (Gal. 3:6-14).
‘God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself “(2 Cor. 5:19) – what God did in and through Christ was to take our place, to bear our sin, to endure our curse, and to die our death, so that we might be forgiven. The Christian life continues where it begins, at the foot of the cross of Jesus. The cross is not an elementary stage which we later grow out of. We never graduate from the school of Calvary. In spite of what we are, God loves us. Indeed, he has proved his own unique love for us in that, while we were sinful, ungodly, helpless and even the enemies of God, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:6-10).
If we truly understand what God did for us in the cross of Jesus, we will continue to realise that we are righteous sinners; in this life, the power of sin has been broken at the cross, but the presence of sin still lingers and there is no perfection until Christ comes again. Hence the need for repentance as a way of life and the continuing preaching of the gospel and the cross to ourselves. We glory in the cross of Christ for our acceptance with God. But we must never grow out of the realisation that we were wretched sinners, condemned and heading for hell and judgment; even as born again Christians, we cannot behave towards God without a deep sense of gratitude, of wretchedness before a holy loving God as we recall our previous state as rebellious sinners. Only then can we come forth from a state where we murmur against God and insist that God should do this and that for us, when in fact, we deserve nothing but for the grace of God. We can only glory in the cross of Christ; there is no place to glory in ourselves and our achievements.
WE GLORY IN THE CROSS OF CHRIST (B)- A NEW CREATION
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, a new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Cor. 517
If we are united to Christ (Union with Christ), we are united to Him at all points of His activity on our behalf. We share in his death (we were baptised into his death), in his burial (we were buried with him by baptism), in his resurrection (we are resurrected with Christ), in his ascension (we have been raised with him), in his heavenly session (we sit with him in heavenly places, so that our life is hidden with Christ in God) and we will share in his promised return (when Christ, who is our life, appears, we also will appear with him in glory (Rom. 6:14; Col. 2:11-12). THIS IS THE FOUNDATION OF SANCTIFICATION.
The foundation is rooted, not in our humanity and our achievement of holiness or sanctification, but in what God has done in Christ, and for us in UNION with Him.
Paul went on in Romans 6 to see ourselves believers not merely within the limited vision of our own life, but set in a a cosmic context:
To be ‘in Adam’ is to belong to the world of the ‘old man’, to be ‘in the flesh’, a slave to sin and liable to death and judgment. From this perspective, Paul sees Jesus Christ as the second man, the last Adam, the new man. He is the first of a new race of humans who share in his righteousness and holiness. He is the first of the new age, the head of the new humanity, through his resurrection (cf. 1 Cor.15:45-49). By grace and faith we belong to him. We too share in the new humanity. If we are in Christ, we share in the new creation (2 Cor. 5:17), we are no longer “in the flesh”, but “in the Spirit” (Rom. 8:9). The life and power of the resurrection age have already begun to make their presence felt in our life (the declaration “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand” by both John the Baptist and Jesus is being fulfilled in those who share in the new creation).
In a cosmic context, we see ourselves in Adam by nature, in Christ by grace, in the old humanity by sin, in the new humanity by regeneration. Once we live under sin’s reign; now we have died to its rule and are living to God. Our regeneration is an event of this magnitude! God has accomplished in Christ an adequate foundation and motivation for the radical holiness which should characterise our lives.
Sanctification is therefore the consistent practical outworking of what it means to belong to the new creation in Christ. For us Christians, we need to know the answer to the question, “Do you not know what is true of you in Christ? (Rom. 6:3, 16; 7:1; 1 Cor. 3:16; 5:6; 6:2,3,9,15,19; 9:13,24).
If we do, then we need to live by the Spirit’s power in a manner that is consistent with this knowledge and understanding. If we have died with Christ to sin and been raised into new life, quit sinning and live in a new way. If, when Christ appears, we will appear with HIm and be like HIm – live in a manner that conforms to our final destiny!
When the groundwork of sanctification is seen in this light, its progress is inevitably marked by conflict or tension. Conflict is inherent in the very nature of the glory of what God has already done for us. The magnitude of grace, when it impacts fallen humanity in a fallen world, inevitably produces conflict. The conflict is the result of our now being in Christ and yet, at the same time, living in the world (compare 1 Cor. 1:2, ‘in Corinth’ and in ‘Christ Jesus’). Since by nature we were dead in sin and used to live according to the fashions of this world, gratifying our own lusts (Eph.2:1-3), our new lifestyle in Christ is bound to be on a collision course with the lifestyle of this world. The goals, motives, and energies of our lives now stand in complete contrast to the world around us. That radical difference makes tension, conflict, even stress inevitable (compare 2 Tim. 3:1-9). There is Satan’s ongoing opposition to Christian growth. What is true of the reign of sin is also true of the dominion of darkness. We have been freed from it, yet its presence is not finally destroyed. Satan continues to menace Christians; he seeks to drive the saint to madness by despair. He is the hinderer, the enemy, the accuser, the tempter, the devourer. He seduces, deceives and tempts us with his many wiles.
Note that the conflict is not only external and objective; it is internal and subjective – with the flesh as well as with the world and the devil. All that is true for me in Christ has not yet been accomplished in me by the Spirit. I live in the Spirit, the flesh still lives in me (although I am no longer dominated by it, nor a debtor to it). But as I have been delivered from bondage to the flesh, I continue to live my life with a body and mind marred by sin, and in a world and community which remain dominated by the flesh. Although I have been delivered from addiction to sin, its presence remains. The desires of the flesh and the desires of the Spirit are contrary to one another.
In microcosm, I experience a reflection of the conflict between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world. Because I am destined for the glory of Christ, so long as I am in the body, I groan, longing for the day when my life as a child of God will be brought to its final consummation (Rom. 8:23).
TRUTH AND OUR ETERNAL WELFARE
As we increasingly face the problem of fake news, distortion of truths, the championing of false claims, half-lies, half-truths, and the rejection of absolute truth in this current age, we may wonder how to place our trust in what we read, hear, or even see (as in deep-fake).
The problem of authority is the most fundamental problem that the Christian church ever faces. This is because Christianity is built on truth – that is to say, on the content of a divine revelation. Christianity announces salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, in and through whom the revelation came to completion; but faith in Jesus Christ is possible only where the truth concerning him is known.
The New Testament tells us that God has made provision for the communication of this saving truth. He entrusted to the apostles, and through them to the whole church, a message from himself which conveys it. This is called “the word of God,” “the word of the Lord.” or sometimes simply “the word” (Acts 4:31; 1 Thessalonians 1:8; Acts 8:4). Its contents denominate it “the word of Christ,” “the word of the cross” (Colossians 3:16; 1 Corinthians 1:18); and its divine origin guarantees it to be “the word of truth” (Ephesians 1:13).
Men come to faith through receiving this word, and such faith is specifically described as “obeying the truth” (Galatians 5:7). “The faith of God’s elect goes with “their knowledge of the truth” (Titus1:1). But if this truth is rejected or perverted, faith is overthrown (2 Timothy 2:18) and men come under the power of a lie (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12), with terrible results.
Modern man, skeptical and indifferent as he is to dogmatic pronouncements about the supernatural order, may find it hard to take seriously the idea that one’s eternal welfare may depend on what one believes; but the apostles were sure that it was so. Theological error to them was a grim reality, as was the spiritual shipwreck which comes in its wake. All the apostles (including Paul, except John) suffered martyrdom in defence of this truth – they not only proclaimed this truth (that our eternal welfare depends on what we believe about the salvation plan of God through Jesus Christ), but they defended this truth in the face of death, and refused to deny this truth when they died from their persecution.
Countless of Christians went to the lions’ den; many more were crucified, burned at the stakes, and tortured during the days of the Roman empire; even today, the number of Christians who are martyred in this century is more than the total number of those martyred in the history of the church. All of them not only know the truth and the eternal consequence of denying this truth; they also ‘tasted’ it, experienced its reality; are transformed and changed by it; and are totally convinced that this truth is not an error, and it is worthed dying for.
More than ever before, many are led astray by rejecting this truth. Even for many who are supposedly believers, the way they live their lives clearly shows that they are not living according to this truth; many do not invest in understanding and appreciating the depth and width of God’s revelation of this truth in the Scriptures.
Many who do not believe stick to the idea that all truth is relative and there is no absolute truth.
To them , Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life”; “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
There we have it, from the mouth of the God-man. The truth is in him; the life that is eternal is in him; and the way back to God is him! Our eternal welfare is at stake – it depends on whether we receive and experience him in our lives!!
WHO IS IN THE SEAT OF AUTHORITY?
In the current events in this world, in the midst of wars and conflicts to decide who is in power and who exercises authority; in political struggles to decide who has the ultimate control and power, various ones are confused and concerned regarding who is in the seat of authority. In the past history of the world, great kings and kingdoms with great charismatic military leaders have reigned over great territories; but the fact is: they ‘rise and fall’, one after another.
The New Testament pictures Jesus’ heavenly activity as standing ready to act (Acts 7:56), walking among his people (Rev. 2:1), and riding to battle (Rev. 19:11-16), but it regularly expresses his present authority by saying that he sits at the Father’s right hand – not to rest, but to rule. It is a picture not of inactivity but of authority – it is a picture directly applied to Jesus Christ, who since the Ascension actively reigns in the mediatorial kingdom of God.
Christ rules over all the spheres of authority that exist, both angels and human (Matt. 28:18; 1 Peter 3:22). His kingdom in a direct senses is the church, which he leads as his body and governs by his Word and Spirit (Eph.1:22-23)
Christians take great comfort in knowing that Christ is Lord of all: they seek in every sphere of life to do his will and to remind themselves and others that all are accountable to Christ as judge, whether they be governors or governed, husbands or wives, parents or children, employers or employees. All rational beings will ultimately give an account of themselves to Christ as judge (Matt. 25:31;Acts 17:31; Romans 2:16; 2 Cor. 5:10).
Every human being and angelic being must acknowledge that Jesus is Lord, whether they like it or not – He is the transcendent almighty Creator of the universe and all that is within; even the breath of our life is in his hands and he can extinguish it in a moment.
To be a Christian is not just having an intellectual worldview; it is to be personally committed to the infinite-personal Lord of the universe. And it leads to an examined life that is well worth living; it also leads to a humble acknowledgement, adoration, and worship of the One who truly seats in the seat of authority with everything (in heaven, on earth, beneath the earth) under His feet!!
THE LORD JESUS’ STATEMENTS PRIOR TO HIS DEATH
In John 12 and 13, Jesus predicted his death and what he said to the crowd and to his disciples prior to going to the cross are significant, not only then, but also to us today, living in the last days, and awaiting his second advent.
“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified (John 1223).
“Those who love their life will lose it, while those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant will be. My Father will honour the one who serves me” (John 12:25-26).
“Father, glorify your name!”….”Now is the time for judgment in this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself”(John 12:28a,31-32).
In predicting his death (and alluding to the crucifixion), Jesus referred to his impending death as judgment in this world and the driving out of Satan; Jesus’ statement reveals the significance of the momentous event of his crucifixion, and this has to do with the defeat of Satan (judgment of the evil one) and the ‘birth’ of the new age and humanity in Him, subsequent to the dealing with, and reversing the horrendous effects of the Fall at the cross (when ‘death’ is defeated and the enemy is also defeated, resulting in the destruction of the guilt and power of sin).
It is noteworthy to hear Jesus referring to his death as him being glorified, and also as the Father being glorified. The death of Jesus was not specifically due to the intention of evil men; it was not just an unfortunate incident; it was predicted by God and His Son, and it glorifies the name of the heavenly Father, and it also glorifies the Son (for it is an event that destroys the negative effects of the Fall and brings about a new creation, a new age and humanity in Christ).
It is also relevant to hear the Lord saying that whoever serves him (as believers) must follow him (as disciples), and will be honoured by the heavenly Father. Following him involves hating their life in this world (as compared with treasuring the eternal life offered in Christ), and such ones who love this life will lose it, while those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. It is helpful to see that this is part of the explanation of a grain of wheat falling into the ground and dies, then it produces many seeds (vs 24) – it points to self-denial (supremely exemplified by the sacrifice and death of Christ on the cross) and that which is expected of those who follow Him.
To the crowd around him, Jesus said, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Those who walk in the dark do not know where they are going. Put your trust in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light” John 12:35-36a).
The ‘light’ refers to Jesus, the God-man: “The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognise him…Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, not of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God” (John 1:9-l13). ‘In him was life, and that life was the the light of all people” (John1-4).
It is clear that before his impending death, Jesus made a final appeal to the crowd to believe in him and to receive him, for, indeed, he is the ‘light’ and the ‘life’ the people of the world need to overcome the darkness (evil and the devil). The time for them to respond was limited; just as the time for many today who are still walking in darkness, and refuse to come to the light, and to receive the eternal life.
It is recorded that many of the Jewish leaders then believed in him, but because of the fear of the Pharisees, they would not openly acknowledge it. Jesus branded them as those who loved human glory more than the glory of God – do we all belong to the same group??
Finally, before his crucifixion, in the washing of the feet of the disciples, the Lord told his disciples to serve one another with a servant’s attitude, following His example. He also said, “A new command I give you; love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples” (John 13:13-17; 34).
Which group do you belong to? – those who walk in darkness, or those who have come back to the light? If you are in the light, you must not return to darkness – you must love one another and serve one another sacrificially, like your Master!
THE HOLY SPIRIT AND SCRIPTURE
THE NEED TO DEAL WITH INTELLECTUAL PRIDE
What will break men and women of the habit of looking to the authority of reason in religion? Only regeneration will break it in the natural man or woman; only ‘revival’ will break it in a regenerate church.
Fallen man cannot of himself escape from bondage to sin. Sin he must, whatever he does. It is not in him to acknowledge God’s authority, or to receive God’s truth when presented to him. “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him,and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned” (1Cor. 2:14). Only regeneration can cure this condition. Only the man who is born again of the Spirit of God will repent of the sin of intellectual self-sufficiency and consent to be taught of God through his written Word.
But sin remains in the regenerate, in the mind no less than in their members. And when the fires of spiritual life burn low in the church, the sinful lust for intellectual autonomy reasserts itself. Intellectual apostasy is definitely connected with spiritual lethargy and barrenness – each has fostered the other.
Only a new outpouring of spiritual life can clear the spiritual vision and bring home to the minds of Christians the power, the authority, and the meaning of ‘God’s Word written’ and enable them to see their ental sins, their intellectual compromises and betrayals of truth, for what they are, and give them strength of mind to repent and cast out the sinful ways of thinking.
God’s people must once again learn to think and live to his honour and glory. And that can only be achieved when Christians know the intimate interrelationship between the Holy Spirit and the written Word (Scripture). Indeed, the Holy Scripture is the creative product of the Holy Spirit. As the Nicene Creed declares, ‘He spoke through the prophets.’ And as apostle Peter affirmed, ‘men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit’ (2 Peter 1:21). It is the precise relationship between the Spirit and the Word that we are going to dwell on subsequently. Before the members of Christ’s body can relate wholesomely with the head, the Lord Jesus, and with “one another’, the relationship between the Spirit and the Word must be understood and experienced.
And this affects every member of the body:The one who preaches; the one who teaches; the one who leads Bible study; the member who spends time with God in reading the Word, meditating on the Word and applying the Word. It is so very possible to depend on our natural intellectual ability, our human reasoning and logic; even receiving instructions from Bible commentaries, dictionaries, and from BIble colleges and end up without applying and affirming the importance and interaction between the Spirit and Scripture in all our spiritual activities in the church.
God willing, we shall share further on this subject.
THE THIRST AND HUNGER FOR POWER
Today Chinese all over the world celebrate Chinese New Year. In the greetings to ‘one another’, one cannot miss that the wishes conveyed include “wealth, health, prosperity, happiness”.
As I reflect on this, there is the realisation that still today, the three major human ambitions (the pursuit of money, fame and influence) are all a concealed drive for power. Indeed, we see this thirst for power everywhere – in politics and public life, in civil conflict and the resort to arms and war, in big business and industry, and in the professions in which professional expertise threatens those without.
Sadly, we see the same power-hunger in the church: in top-level ecclesiastical power struggles, in denominational disputes, in some local churches which are driven by market forces, and in others in which the clergy hold all the reins of power and refuse to share it with the lay people, in para-church organisations that dream of expanding into world empires, and even in the pulpit, which is an exceeding dangerous place for any child of Adam to occupy. There is even the quest for the power of the Holy Spirit.
Why do we want to receive power? Is it in reality a mask for personal ambition, a craving to boost our own ego, to minister to our self-importance, to impress, to dominate or to manipulate? For Christians, can we honestly say we need power for witness (Acts 1:8); or power for holiness, or power for humble service?
Let us pause and consider two verses in 2 Corinthians, written by apostle Paul: In 4:7, Paul wrote that the reason ‘we have this treasure (the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in Christ) in jars of clay’ is ‘to show that this all-surpassing power is from God…and not from us (the jars of clay).
In 2 Cor. 12:9, Paul revealed what the Lord said to him: ‘my power is made perfect in weakness’. In consequence, the apostle Paul said he would boast in his weaknesses: ‘so that Christ’s power may rest on me (i.e. Paul).
At no point does the Christian mind come into more violent collision with the secular mind than in its insistence on humility, with all the weakness it entails. The wisdom of the world values power, not humility.
In Paul’s epistles to the Corinthians, the central theme is not power (as we might think at first sight), but power through weakness, divine power through human weakness. In Chapters 1 and 2 of 1 Corinthians, Paul brings together three striking illustrations of this principle.
First, we see power through weakness in the gospel itself, for the weakness of the cross is the power of God. God’s power operates best in human weakness – weakness in the arena in which God can most effectively manifest his power – in the gospel, in the converts and in the preacher or evangelist.
WEAKNESS IN THE GOSPEL ITSELF
The gospel is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (1Cor. 1:18). This rests on the fundamental fact that human beings cannot reach God by themselves. God is infinite; we are finite. God is holy; we are sinners. So God takes the initiative to do what we cannot do, namely to bridge the gulf between us. God is pleased to save those who believe through the gospel. For since the world failed to reach God through its own wisdom, God was pleased to save us through the foolishness of what we preached (the message of the gospel). Wherever the world failed through its own wisdom to know God, it pleased God through the folly of the gospel to save believers. The contrast stands out starkly between the world and God, between not knowing God and being saved, and between the world’s wisdom and the foolishness of the gospel (vs 21).
In verses 22-25, Paul elaborate on wisdom through the folly of the cross and power through the weakness of the cross:
First, Jews demand miraculous signs (v 22a). They were expecting a political Messiah, who would drive the Roman legions out and establish the lost national sovereignty of Israel. They demande appropriate evidence, especially signs of power, to give plausibility in Jesus’ messianic claims.
Secondly, Greeks look for wisdom (v22b). Greece had had a long tradition of brilliant philosophy. The Greeks believed in the autonomy of the human mind. So they listened eagerly to every new idea, every speculation, so long as it seemed to them ‘reasonable’.
So Jews demanded power and Greeks sought wisdom (still the basic idolatries of our fallen world). But over against ‘the wonder-seeking Jew’ and the ‘wisdom-seeking Greek’, Christians preach Christ crucified(v23).
Christ crucified was a stumbling-block to Jews (v23a). They were expecting a powerful military Messiah, but not a pathetic, crucified weakling! How could God’s Messiah end his life under the condemnation of his own people and under the curse of God?
Christ crucified was foolishness to Gentiles (23b). Crucifixion in the Roman world was not only a painful execution; it was also a public humiliation. It was reserved for the dregs of society, slaves and criminals. It was inconceivable therefore that God’s Son should end his life on a gibbet.
In spite of what the cross may seem to be, it was not weakness but God’s power, not foolishness but God’s wisdom. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength (v25)
The cross is still a stumbling block to all who worship power, and who are confident in their own power to save themselves, or at least to contribute substantially to their salvation. They imagine that they can accumulate merits and so put God in their debts. But the cross tells them it is impossible. Christ died to save us precisely because we cannot save ourselves and if we could, then ‘Christ died for nothing’ (Gal. 2:21).
The cross is still folly to the intellectually proud. It makes no sense to them.
The cross is still to God’s people the power of God and the wisdom of God. As stated, it is the power of God because through it God saves those who cannot save themselves. It is the wisdom of God because through it God has not only solved our problem (sin and guilt), but has also, in a sense, solved his own. It arises from God’s character of holy love. How could God express his holiness in punishing sinners without compromising his love? How could he express his love in forgiving sinners without compromising his justice? How could he be at one and the same time ‘a righteous God and a Saviour’ (Isaiah 45:21)? His answer to these questions was, and still is, the cross. For on the cross he took our place, bore our sin, died our death, and so paid our debt.
Thus on the cross God demonstrated both his justice (Rom.3:25) and his love (Rom. 5:8). And in this double demonstration the wisdom of God is displayed: his wisdom in the foolishness of the cross, his power in its weakness!
Why did God choose foolish, weak and lowly people ( in the converts and in the preacher)? It was so that no one may boast before him (v29). The credit for their salvation belonged to God alone. It is because of him (God) that we are in Christ Jesus (v30a). God the Father had united us to Christ and so Paul now associates himself with believers. Christ has become for us on the one hand wisdom from God, and on the other our righteousness, holiness and redemption (v30b). These are the three great blessings that believers enjoy in Christ: our justification (past), our sanctification (present) and our glorification (future- which includes redemption of our bodies in the resurrection). All these are due to God’s sheer grace (unmerited favour), to his wisdom and power displayed in and through Christ crucified.
So, in my appreciation of all these, in my Chinese New Year greeting to all, it is not that you may have wealth, health, prosperity and power; rather may I wish you “True blessings in Christ for this CNY”.
THE ESSENTIALS OF EVANGELICAL TRUTHS
In our previous sharing on the church (from 1 Corinthians), we noted the godly view of the church as a unique community, the redeemed and covenant people of God. In this community, ministers give humble service; there is no room for boasting about human beings, but all boasting is directed to God, and all glory belongs to Him.
God the Father alone gives growth to the seed; God the Son alone is the foundation of the church, and God the Holy Spirit alone indwells and sanctifies the church.
In the outworking of the church, in order to keep this godly view of the church, certain essentials of truths are in order – essentials of evangelical truths. When we use the adjective ‘evangelical’, we are referring to a certain continuity of belief and practice that can be traced down the centuries of church history; in other words, we are focusing on the essentials of apostolic Christianity (truths passed down from the apostles based on revelation from God through the prophets and apostles and recorded in the Scriptures through the ministry of God in words).
Any departure from these essentials would amount to not being faithful to God’s revelation, and the teachings and communication of the prophets and apostles – it would result in a distorted lifestyle, an impure faith, a distorted gospel and irrational Christianity; and above all, there would be the prospect of receiving the stern judgment of the Triune God which may result in serious eternal consequences. Of course, we can only highlight the essentials of evangelical truths in this brief sharing; but the purpose is to bring all these ‘essentials’ together in one sharing so as to encapsulate all that are essential for the wholesome outworking of the Christian faith in the Christian church.
The first three essentials relate to the three persons of the Trinity – the (1) authority of God in and through Scripture, the (2) majesty of Jesus Christ in and through the cross, and the (3) lordship of the Holy Spirit in and through his manifold ministries.
The next three characteristics (conversion, evangelism and fellowship) are not so much an addition to the first three but an elaboration of them.
It is God himself, the Holy Trinity, who causes and effects conversion, promotes and enables evangelism, and creates and sustains fellowship. Essentially, we may limit the evangelical priorities and truths to three – the revealing initiative of God the Father, the redeeming work of God the Son, and the transforming ministry of God the Holy Spirit. All other essentials will then fall under the threefold or trinitarian rubric.
Note how significant it is for believers not just to believe in the Trinity but to see the important implications of this belief and understanding, for the meaning and appreciation of God’s church, and the implications of healthy churchlife and outworking, are so tied up with the TRINITY.
To define what it means to be evangelical, we need to start with the GOSPEL. Both the theology and our outworking and outreach derive their meaning and their importance from the wholesome Gospel.
Going back again to 1 Corinthians, we see the apostle Paul stating his position over against the false teachers who were disturbing the Corinthian church:
“When I came to you,brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.” (1 Cor. 2:1-5)
The gospel is not a human invention or speculation, but the revelation of God. It is not human wisdom (1 Cor. 1:17) or ‘the wisdom of the world’ 1 Cor. 1:20); on the contrary, Paul calls it ‘God’s wisdom’ (1 Cor. 1:24;2:7).
Paul identifies his message as truth, indeed as revealed truth from God. The gospel is God’s good news for the world! Let us look at six aspects of the gospel, which are noteworthy:
1. The gospel is Christological. The heart of the message is that ‘Christ died for our sins…(and) that he was raised. The gospel is not preached if Christ is not preached, and the authentic Christ is not proclaimed if his death and resurrection are not central.
2. The gospel is biblical. The Christ proclaimed was the biblical Christ, who died for our sins ‘according to the Scriptures’ and who was also raised ‘according to the Scriptures’ (1Cor.15:3-4). Take note that many may proclaim that they believe in Jesus Christ, but it is a ‘different’ Jesus and not the biblical Jesus.
3. The gospel is historical. The burial of Jesus testified to the reality of his death while the appearances testified to the reality of his resurrection. The resurrection was also a datable historical event, since it took place ‘on the third day’.
4. The gospel is theological. The death and resurrection of Jesus were not only historical events; they had a theological or saving significance. He not only died, but ‘died for our sins’. The sins were ours, but the death was his.. He died our death. He bore our penalty. Only thus could we be ‘saved’ (vs 2). This points clearly to the substitutionary nature of the cross.
5. The gospel is apostolic. It is an essential part of the authentic message received and transmitted by the apostles. It indicates a unity of faith among the Twelve, and between the apostles and the church, indeed between the first generation of believers and all subsequent generations.
6. The gospel is personal. The death and resurrection of Jesus are not just history and theology but the way of individual salvation. Believers had received it, taken their stand on it and been saved by it, so long as they continued to hold firmly to it (vs. 1-2).
The origin of the gospel was not speculation but revelation; its substance was not the world’s wisdom but Christ’s cross; and its efficacy was due not to rhetoric but to the Holy Spirit’s power. Thus, the gospel comes from God, centres on Christ and his cross, and is confirmed by the Holy Spirit.
There are four aspects of divine revelation – general and special, progressive and personal. Evangelical Christians emphasize that without revelation the knowledge of God is impossible. God himself is veiled, and so are our minds, until by his grace and power both veils are torn. Evangelical Christians also emphasize that what God has revealed is true, and that our only reaction must be to listen, to believe, and to obey.
Inerrancy and Infallibility
The inerrancy of Scriptures is a word requiring elucidation. It means ‘total trustworthiness as a consequence of entire truthfulness’ – it affirms that the BIble is true and therefore trustworthy. Evangelicals hold the Bible to be God’s Word and therefore completely true and trustworthy (and this is what we mean by the words infallible and inerrant).
While affirming the entire truthfulness and trustworthiness of Scripture, we are referring to Scripture (a) as originally given and (b) as correctly interpreted. It will mean more work for us as we labour to interpret and apply Scripture accurately, and it will remove from us some of the easy certainties which our critics suggest Christians are longing for. But it will enable us to guard our integrity. For although we sometimes disagree on our interpretations, the biblical text itself remains normative, and we have the permanent duty and right to keep returning to it, to keep scrutinizing all interpretations in the light of it, and to keep revising them accordingly.
When faced with an apparent discrepancy in the Bible, the most Christian response is neither to make a premature negative judgment, nor to resort to a contrived harmonization, but rather to suspend judgement, waiting patiently for further illumination to be given us. Many former problems have been solved in this way.
Pastors should commit themselves to the wholesome discipline of biblical preaching, and lay people should encourage the pastors to do so.
The conscientious exposition of the Word of God from the pulpit remains an essential characteristic of evangelical churches.
We must struggle to make time every day for some personal Bible reading,since our spiritual life, health, and growth are nurtured by it.
THE CHURCH AS DEPICTED IN 1 CORINTHIANS 3
In the chapters of 1 Corinthians, we see the image of the church as extremely ambiguous – there is a paradox at the heart of the church. It is the painful tension between what the church claims to be and what it seems to be; between the divine ideal and the human reality; between our ultimate final glorious destiny in heaven and our present, inglorious performance on earth. This was what the Corinth church was like; this is also what the present church today is like in so many ways. It is very helpful for us to ‘study’ the church in the context of what is written in 1 Corinthians; we see that the church in Corinth is both already holy and not yet holy; it has been sanctified, and it is called to sanctity. On the one hand the Corinthian community is ‘the church of God’; on the other hand, we shall see much unholiness remains in the holy people: quarrelling, pride, complacency, immorality, taking one another to court, disorders in public worship, and boastfulness in relation to their spiritual gifts. Paul’s letter to this church in his epistle in 1 Corinthians, particularly in chapter 3,
reveals that the issue in Corinth concerned personalities primarily, not principles. The groups were divided from each other by a celebrity cult, by pride, jealousy and boastfulness, which greatly distressed apostle Paul. In looking at this chapter, we shall discover that many of the issues have their similarity in the church today – and if we can understand and correct them, by God’s grace, it would go a long way to ‘mend’ the problems today. It is also needful to realise that although the issues in Corinth were not doctrinal in origin, they had profound doctrinal implications, especially in relation to Christ and the gospel.
The effect of the Corinthian divisions was to undermine the essentials of the gospel. It was to deny that there is only one Christ, who was crucified for us, and into whose name we have been baptised. Clearly, the person of Christ, the cross of Christ and the name of Christ are all at stake when the church is divided. The Corinthians were effectively insulting Christ by dislodging him from his supremacy and by replacing him with human leaders.
Paul attributes the divisions in the church at Corinth partly to the sins of jealousy and quarrelling, but especially to the Corinthianss’ fundamentally defective view of the church. If they had a true view of the church (including their own spiritual states), they would have a true view of the leaders of the church as well.
THEIR SPIRITUAL STATE
Paul told the Corinthian Christians that they do not qualify as spiritual people; in fact, not only could he not address them as spiritual, instead, he addressed them as fleshly (carnal) or worldly believers. In calling them ‘carnal’, Paul is not suggesting that they are unregenerate; earlier on, he had addressed them as brethren.
Yet he indicates that they are not truly spiritual Christians, governed and controlled by the Holy Spirit. Paul also develops the antithesis between those who live according to the Spirit, and those who live according to the flesh, and he sees the Corinthian believers as those living according to the flesh. The Corinthian Christians are noted to have many spiritual gifts and they seem to boast about them; but despite their many gifts, Paul still considers them as carnal in their spiritual state and behaviour.
Today, we rejoice in the statistics of church growth. but it is often growth without depth; there is superficiality and immaturity everywhere. Just as Paul termed the church at Corinth as carnal (fleshly, not spiritual, infantile and not mature, in the current context, the state of the church is no different.
There are two ways we can tell a child and its age – diet and behaviour. This applies also in assessing whether believers are ‘infants’ or immature in their faith.
The Diet: Paul told them, “I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed you are still not ready” (vs.2). One of the differences between milk and meat is that milk is food already digested by another …one’s mother or a cow or goat. Too often, we believers want our food pre-digested by another, whereas the Lord wants us to digest his word ourselves. Hence Paul told them that he was obliged to keep feeding the Corinthians with spiritual milk, or the rudiments of the gospel, because they were not yet ready for more solid instructions and teachings. In spite of their knowledge, with which they had been enriched, and of which they boasted, they were still at an elementary stage in their Christian development.
Similarly, in today’s context, many Christians (including those who claim to be believers for many years) are still in the elementary stage spiritually in their Christian life. The difference between milk and strong meat….is simply the difference between the more or less perfect development of the things taught. As milk is the good news of salvation; solid food is understanding that the entire Christian life is predicated on the same reality…we never grow out of the cross, we rather grow more deeply into it and into the fullness of its implications. Too many believers just receive the word of God in an indifferent manner; they prefer not to diligently study the word and to spend time meditating and thinking through the relevance of Scripture to their lives – it is easier to get ‘predigested’ spiritual food from commentaries, books, meeting after meeting to get the ‘highs’ only to sink to the ‘spiritual lows’ once again (that does not mean there is no place for commentaries, good books and helpful meetings). Hence many such individuals remain as spiritual ‘babes’ even though they have been in church for so many years and claim their involvement in so many activities.
The Behaviour: “For since there is jealousy and quarrelling among you, are you not carnal (worldly)? (vs.3). Both ‘jealousy’ and ‘quarrelling’ are included among the works of the flesh (Gal. 5:19-20). If we behave like this, are we not acting like mere men, following human instead of divine standards? When various ones claim to follow Paul, while others follow Apollos, this is merely human outlook rather than godly perspective.
Their behaviour was carnal, not spiritual; babyish, not mature. The Corinthians have a defective understanding of the church; otherwise they would never behave as they are doing. What about Christians today? Is it not true that many believers claim allegiance to certain leaders, pastors, or speakers rather than to realise that their sole loyalty should be to the Lord Jesus? Such ones somehow believe that these leaders they ‘cling to’ can do no wrong and whatever they say is the ‘gospel truth’ despite the inconsistency of what they preach and teach (in comparison to the proper interpretation of Scripture).
Paul develops three images or pictures of the church:
1. ‘You are God’s field’ (9b),using an agricultural metaphor.
2. ‘You are God’s building’ (9c), using an architectural metaphor.
3. ‘You are God’s temple’ (16), using an ecclesiastical metaphor.
YOU ARE GOD’S FIELD (3:5-9b)
Paul asks two questions – what, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul?
He answers his own questions: Only servants, through whom the Corinthians came to believe (5b). Paul and Apollos are not masters, to whom the Corinthians owed allegiance, but servants, only servants. They are not the objects of their faith; neither are they servants from whom the Corinthians had believed, for they were not the authors of their faith. They are just instruments through whom God had worked to elicit their faith. So neither the Corinthians nor their leaders have anything to boast about – note this important statement!
There are three tasks to be done if a field is to produce a harvest – planting the seed, watering the seed, and causing the seed to sprout; or sowing, irrigation and growth.
Paul makes it clear that he planted, Apollos watered, but it is God who made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything. For both planting and watering are unskilled and somewhat mechanical jobs. It requires no professional expertises to drop seed into soil or to sprinkle water on the seeds sown. A PhD is not necessary. What really counts is the mysterious third stage – only God makes things grow (7b).
So it is foolish to exalt the ministries of the one who plants and the one who waters; both of them have the same goal, that is, to secure a good harvest, and each will be rewarded according to his own labour. God will do this on judgment day; so it is silly to set these two in competition with each other. In God’s field (the church) it is God’s activity that really matters. God allocates the tasks; He gives the growth; and He rewards the labourers. So leaders must give glory to God alone – not to themselves or to their fellow-workers.The church does not belong to the leaders, nor do leaders have any proprietary rights over the congregation – they are in fact servants or ministers to the people of God.
Unfortunately, there are many churches today with leaders behaving as if they own the church and that they have a right to ‘lord it over’ the people under their care. On the other hand, there are congregations who do not give the due respect to the office of the leaders appointed by God. We must not define the church, however, in terms of its leaders, but rather define leaders in relation to the church. We must renounce secular views of the church as if it were a merely human institution like any other corporate body, with human leaders wielding human authority and being celebrated as celebrities – all that has to go.
Instead, we need to develop a godly view of the church as a unique community, unlike any other, the redeemed and covenant people of God. In this community, ministers give humble service. There is no boasting about human beings, but all boasting is directed to God.
YOU ARE GOD’S BUILDING (3:9b-16)
Just as in God’s field one plants and another waters, so in God’s building one lays the foundation, while another erects the superstructure. Yet the two metaphors do not make precisely the same point.
The emphasis in God’s field is that only God gives the growth, while the emphasis in God’s building is that only Christ is its foundation, indeed only Christ crucified.
Paul is actually sounding a warning to all Christian teachers in regard to the foundation they lay and the superstructure they erect on it – each one should be very careful how he builds (10b).
Those who build should not tamper with a house’s foundation once it has been laid. “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid which is Jesus Christ (v. 11).
Builders should also be careful about the materials they use in erecting the superstructure. They should be valuable and durable; and represent true Christian teaching that will stand the test of time and of the judgment day. The other possibility is cheap, perishable materials and represent false teaching or the wisdom of the world.
If what we teach is true, biblical and balanced, we shall be adding a valuable building to the foundation, and it will last. However, if our teaching is unbiblical, the wisdom of the world, then we are adding a shaky, weak superstructure that will not survive. What we teach will bless or harm the church, not only for time but even for eternity.
What we teach has been entrusted to us in the Scriptures; it is not our responsibility to invent or compose our message or teaching. God requires Christian leaders and believers in general to be faithful; they are not to reject the authority of the Word of God; they are not to neglect to study it, not to manipulate it to mean what they want it to mean, selecting from it and discarding what they do not like, contradicting its plain meaning an substituting for it their own speculations and disobeying God’s revelation in their own lives. It is no wonder that in many places the church languishes. So we must resolve to be faithful, to be disciplined in studying the Word in order to relate with and to pass on God’s revelation to each other (not only from leaders to the congregation, but from the more mature believers to the younger, from the sunday school teachers to the students, from the spiritual parents to their spiritual children in the context of God’s family in churchlife).
Listen to the words of Jesus: “Woe to you when all men speak well of you (Luke 6:26). Beware of the temptation to be a popular preacher or teacher! It is hardly possible to be popular and faithful at the same time. Either we go for popularity at the expense of faithfulness, or we are determined to be faithful at the expense of popularity. Paul reminded the Christian leaders and pastors that they are God’s stewards and what is required of stewards is principally faithfulness to God!
YOU ARE GOD’S TEMPLE (1Cor. 3:16-17)
Paul sees Christian understanding as the key to Christian hoiness, especially our understanding of our identity as the people of God. The church is the dwelling p;lace of God by His Spirit. The ‘church’ means people, not buildings, and God’s presence is tied not to buildings but to His covenant people, to whom He has pledged Himself.
Because of the sacred nature of the Christian community as the dwelling- place of God, it must not be dishonoured in any way; neither divided by jealousies and rivalries, nor deceived by false teaching, nor defiled by immoral conduct. These things are acts of sacrilege: they effectively destroy the church, for they destroy its unique identity as the holy people of God indwelt by the Spirit of God.
And “if anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred,and you are the temple” (vs. 17). This is a severe statement to ponder: To destroy the church *by dividing, deceiving or defiling it) is an extremely serious offence – a deliberate act of violence against the church is an act against God. This surely shows that the perpetrator in mind is not a true believer. He will be destroyed in hell, for that is what ‘destruction’ means in the New Testament.
Looking at the three images of the church by the apostle Paul, we note a threefold (trinitarian) portrayal of the church. It highlights the role of God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) in relation to the church, and it downplays the role of human beings, especially of leaders. What matters most about the church is that as God’s field God himself causes the growth, as God’s building Jesus Christ is the only foundation, and as God’s temple it is the dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit. The church owes its existence and growth to God the Father. It is built on the foundation of God the Son. It is indwelt by God the Holy Spirit. It is a unique, trinitarian community!!