Scripture:
Vs 1 Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus …
Vs 2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ …
Vs 7 … you are not lacking in any gift …
Vs 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Vs 10 … be united in the same mind and the same judgment.
Vs 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
Vs 26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.
Observation:
Paul is imploring the church to not be divided in their thinking about the Gospel.
While the people in the church are disagreeing about who their true leader is, Paul keeps his focus on Jesus.
Over and over again he refocuses their mind on Jesus and the power of the cross.
16 times he mentions Jesus Christ, and 20 times he mentions God in this chapter alone.
He does this by reminding them that they have everything they could need in Jesus …
“you are not lacking in any gift”!
And Paul also gets the church to have a unity of thinking by getting them to focus on higher things.
Over and over again Paul also mentions “calling” … six different times!
Paul, “called by the will of God”.
The church, “called to be saints”.
You were “called into the fellowship of Jesus Christ”.
“Called, both Jews and Greeks”.
What am I to do in response to this call? I call back to Him and keep my mind on it!
“Call upon the name of the Lord” …. And “consider your calling”.
Application:
Is Jesus enough for me? This is the question I must always find contentment in.
If I do not have the utmost faith that Jesus is enough, then I will do what non-Christians do.
I will do what everyone in the world does … make “demands” and “seek elsewhere”.
Paul states it that the Jews “demand signs” and the Greeks “seek wisdom”.
What is it that they really want? “Signs” is just another word for Power and “Wisdom” is just another word for Superior Knowledge.
If Jesus is not enough for me, then I will just want to be stronger and smarter than everyone else. In other words, I will want to make myself … “better”.
If Jesus is not enough for me, then I will always have a sense of “lacking” … And I will go on a never-ending quest of “demanding” and “seeking” to be … better.
But Jesus is more than enough. He is everything. And in God’s grace, He called me to be a saint, and called me into His fellowship. This is the calling I must consider! It is in this this calling that I have power and wisdom!
It is in the call of Christ that I lack nothing!
Prayer:
Thank you, God, for calling me
Help me focus my mind on it
Help me stay united in fellowship with you an others
Help our unity
Help me know that in you I lack nothing
In Jesus name
Amen