The Fellowship of the Son From 1 Corinthians 1

Today I am commenting on 1 Corinthians 1:1-19 which reads:

Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, to the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Epistles of Paul are fascinating and instructive books of the Bible. The truths we find in the have guided the Christian church in development of its theology and its ministry practice for centuries. It is not too much to say that without the Pauline Epistles the church would probably look very different than it does today. The far-reaching impact of these letters is hard to exaggerate.

The factor that many people forget, however, is that the Pauline letters are just that, letters. These epistles were the result of Paul taking advantage of the technology of the day, the Roman transportation and communication system, to provide pastoral care and guidance to churches he had planted during his various missionary journeys. No doubt, these letters were inspired by the Holy Spirit, and they are the Word of God, but they were also written to real people in real places facing real spiritual issues.

The issues faced by those early Christians are the same as we face today. Therefore, the instruction provided by Paul to his children in the faith is just as valid today. Even this short introductory passage contains important facts about our relationship to God through Jesus.

The Fellowship of the Son is to be Sanctified in Christ:

Such a simple statement but one which has a tremendous meaning!

First, we see that God calls people to Him. God loves us and wants to relate to us, we who are part of the highest level of God's created universe. God has invested Himself in us in the fullness of all that concept includes.

Second, people need to be saved and sanctified. As powerful as God's love is for us, His desire for righteousness is just as powerful. Sadly, the sin of humanity brings God's righteous wrath into play in our lives and prevents us from experiencing God's love in our natural state. Becoming disciples of Christ saves us from our sin and sets us on the path of sanctification so that we can become more and  more like Christ. This not only honors and blesses God, it also blesses us.

Finally, we see that the essential element in God's call on our lives is Christ. None of the work of saving and sanctifying can be done without the intervention of Christ. Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost, which is sinful humanity, and He sent the Holy Spirit to empower and guide our sanctification.

The call of God to people to be saves and sanctified in Christ should be focus of the Christian church as it goes in to all the world to make disciples of all peoples.

The Fellowship of the Son gives Grace and Peace:

A popular internet meme allegedly quotes John Wayne as saying, "Life is hard; it's even harder if you are stupid." He probably didn't say that (look here) but that doesn't make the sentiment any less true.

Life is hard because our world does not operate the way God intended it to operate. In fact, this world will someday be destroyed and God will start over. Until then, like Adam, our lives will be full of thorns, thistles, enmity, dust, and sweat. We need resources we don't possess to make a go of this world. Paul prayed for the Church at Corinth that they would find grace and peace.

Grace is the unmerited favor of God which is available to us in Christ Jesus. Grace recreates the broken relationship with God that was the result of our sin and it is grace that promises "in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Knowing God is on our side helps us make our way through the tragedy of this world.

Also, the promise that He will take us home to be with Him when we leave this planet comforts us with the knowledge that this world is not our final home.

Even though our ultimate future is bright in Christ, we still must slog through the daily grind of living in a fallen and dying world. That's where God's peace comes in. His peace is not like the world's peace, but is greater and eternal. God's peace calms our hearts and reassures our minds. It strengthens  us to stand fast in the storms of life and to resist the Devil and his wiles.

Like the members of the Church at Corinth we remain in need of God's grace and peace. Blessedly for us, He still provides it to His children!

The Fellowship of the Son Enriches and Equips People:

Jesus told his disciples in Luke 11:13 that, "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” God is like human fathers in that He loves His children, but He is greater and more loving than any human father. God loves His children and He wants the best for them.

What is best for God's children is to become His disciples. Here is how Paul described that in Ephesians Chapter 4:

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,  to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Later in 1 Corinthians Paul would express his frustration that the members of that church had not grown in the faith but were still "babes in Christ." Growing in our faith not only blesses us, but it also fulfills the will of our Father. "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30)."

The Fellowship of the Son is Faithfulness to His People:

Have you ever wondered why some of the disciples had doubts after the Resurrection? With this question I am referring to   Matthew 28:16-18, which says: "Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted."

No one can say why these disciples had doubts because the Bible doesn't give us that information. The events of the proceeding days were now doubt traumatizing. To see their Master arrested, abused, executed and buried was shocking and frightening, but the Resurrection might equally be confusing and shocking as well. In any case, some of His closest followers were troubled when in the presence of Jesus.

It is instructive to note His response to their doubts and fears. Jesus used what some today may call the "sandwich technique". He began by reminding them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me."

He continued on to give them a huge, God-sized task,  "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."

He closed by reassuring them, "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Do you see what He did their? He enclosed the overwhelming task of making disciples of all people inside statements designed to remind them of who He was, what He could do, and what He would do. He would be with them throughout the entire process, and He had the power and authority to help them and care for them.

God was faithful to the first disciples. He was faithful to the Church at Corinth. He is faithful to His children today. He will be faithful until Jesus returns!

Conclusion:

A former pastor, the minister who performed the wedding for me and my wife, used to describe fellowship as "two fellows in one ship."

If two people occupy the same boat, then they both have to go the same place the boat goes, and they both will enjoy the same weather, food, and living conditions. In fact, in one sense these two can become one since they make of the crew of the boat. Two people, but one crew.

As we walk more and more closely with Christ, we too will become more like Him. As Paul put it in Ephesians 4, we will attain "the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." 

May it ever be so!

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt