OUR FATHER WHO REVEALS MYSTERIES

In 1 Corinthian chapter 4 verses 1 - 5, the apostle Paul clarifies the issue of factions forming around individuals like himself. He instructs the Corinthians to regard the apostles as servants of Christ to whom deep and ancient secrets have been revealed in trust by God rather than regarding them as ones to whom they pledge their allegiance to.

1 This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. 2 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. 3 I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.

The apostle explains that those who are entrusted with the mysteries of God must faithfully fulfill the requirements of the trust and as such, no opinion by men or human courts should cause the entrusted mission to be deformed or altered.

Therefore, Paul says to the Corinthians not to judge them before their time because in the end, everything will be subject to judgement by God and only then will the true motives that were concealed be revealed.

Amen.

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 OUR FATHER IN WHOM CHRIST IS

Servants of the kingdom who undertake the work of gospel must do so in accordance with the word of the Lord Jesus Christ so that every step of construction is under His guidance. This precept was referenced in Mathew chapter 7 verses 22 - 23 where the Lord Jesus says;

22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

Here, those who were working in the kingdom in Jesusˋs name were doing so under their own auspices and their work was rejected for not having been built acording to the specs of the master.

1 Corinthians chapter 3 verses 11 - 12 continues with the apostle Paul revealing the importance of the standard of work that is done in spreading the gospel where the Lord Jesus Christ Himself is the preeminent and exalted One to whom all benchmarks  and plumblines point.

11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

The work that is done that is valid and accurate is rewarded while the work that does not conform to the standard is burned away and no reward is given.

To make his position more clear, Paul asks the Corinthian church if they knew that they were the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwelt in them and as such, they needed to ensure that the work they did was uncontaminated by false doctrine or by wordly wisdom.

16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

(AMP - 16 Do you not know and understand that you [the church] are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells [permanently] in you [collectively and individually]? 17  If anyone destroys the temple of God [corrupting it with false doctrine], God will destroy the destroyer; for the temple of God is holy (sacred), and that is what you are. )

18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness”; 20 and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” 21 Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours: 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come—all are yours. 23 And you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.

Paul warns the Corinthians that destructive false doctrines and wordly wisdom would lead them to boast in men and so Paul tells them to understand that they are directly owned by Christ and Christ is owned by God and as such, it is fruitless to try to segment themselves into categories of men or ranks or any thing else that is in the world.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHOSE KINGDOM OPERATES AT AN ESTABLISHED STANDARD TO WHICH WE SHOULD ASPIRE

The apostle Paul, continuing with the reproof of those who were fostering secterianism within the church at Corinth based on personality cults, explained why this was baseless seeing that each person they were exalting above themselves was merely a fellow servant in the kingdom of God and all contributed small portions to the task of spreading the gospel. 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verses 5 - 10 says it this way;

5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.

9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. 

As each servant did the tasks alloted to them, they laid down a foundation upon which the next servant labored. 

Paul changes subjects to mention that the quality of work each person performed was subject to inspection and thus it was imperative that each builder was deliberately attentive to the standard of work they were doing as they built their  portion.

Paul, in the next section of this chapter, reveals details on how each person's works is tested against the standard of the kingdom and how credit for that work is ( or is not ) attributed to the workman who did it.

Have mercy on us.

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OUR FATHER WHO IS HONORED BY THE UNITY OF THE BRETHREN

1 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 1 - 4 captures the apostle Paulˋs rebuke of the Corinthians because they had allowed themselves to descend into envy, strife and sectarian divisions. They had developed factions within the church that were based on whose teaching and style they preffered and for this, Paul called them carnal people and labeled this conduct as the conduct of mere men. 

3 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; 3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? 4 For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?

Paul explained that for those in Christ, the expressions of envy, contentions and disunity are markers of a non-spiritual people and as such, they could not receive heavier teachings of the things of God but only the rudiments of faith which he compared to babyˋs milk.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO TEACHES US BY HIS SPIRIT

1 Corinthians chapter 2 verses 6 - 16 records the apostle Paul declaring to the Corinthians that even though he presented only the simplicity of the gospel and put the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ as the preeminent and pivotal fact, once they had entered the economy of  faith, there was an expectation that they would mature and be able to receive Godˋs wisdom that was completely separate from the wisdom generated by the temporal realms.

Godˋs wisdom was concealed in mystery such that it was completely opaque to the rulers of the age and even though it was written of in ancient scriptures, was undecipherable to them.

6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 However, as it is written:

“What no eye has seen,

    what no ear has heard,

and what no human mind has conceived”—

    the things God has prepared for those who love him—

10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord   so as to instruct him?”

But we have the mind of Christ.

This wisdom, hidden from all beings before the beginning of time, was discreetly metted out so that those who were called would find pathways to glory as the wisdom of God unfurled in their lives. Paul references Isaiah chapter 64 verse 4 which foretells the intervention of God in the lives of His people in ways that were going to be beyond their wildest imaginations.  For from days of old no one has heard, nor has ear perceived, Nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who works and acts in behalf of the one who [gladly] waits for Him. (AMP).

To those who would believe and mature in Christ, the Spirit of God transmits these mysteries to them in such a way that they are able to understand things that were utterly incomprehensible to the rulers of this world and to those without the Spirit of God.

Whereas people without the Spirit see the things of God as foolishness, those with the Spirit of God, imbued with the mind of Christ, are able to rightly judge and act on the things that are dispensed by the Spirit of God.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHOSE POWER PERSUADES MEN OF THE EFFICACY OF THE GOSPEL

The apostle Paul, in the second chapter of 1 Corinthians verses 1 - 5, reminded the Corinthians that when he was among them, he did not present himself with skillful rhetoric and deep wisdom pertaining to  the message of God.

Instead, he had come in a position of weakness and fear and trembling bearing only the message of Jesus Christ and His crucifixion. He brought only the simplicity of the gospel of Jesus and the Spirit confirmed Paulˋs words with power so that their belief and faith would not be hinged on the words of human persuasion but rather only on the power of God.

1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Amen.

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 OUR FATHER WHO MADE THE WISDOM OF THIS WORLD FOOLISH

In 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verses 18 - 21, the apostle Paul explains the inversion of the things of God vis-a-vis the wisdom of men so that the salvation of mankind did not come through the wisdom of men but rather through the things that men would reject. For Jews, the crucifixion would be considered a curse rather than a blessing while for the Greeks, who used the barometer of logic for a guide, would not see a logical pathway from the crucifixion to redemption.

18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,

And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”

20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence. 30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— 31 that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”

Most people being saved were not wise or noble by worldly standards and yet God made available to them the incredible gift of salvation because they were made able to believe the gospel of Christ crucified.  The inversion takes this structure when it comes in contact with the world of men;

• Foolish things shame the wise
• Weak things overpower the mighty 
• Despised things are more desirable than choice things
• Non-existing things destroy things that exist

By setting the pathway to salvation in this way, Paul explains that no flesh would be able to take credit for any part of the salvation story and that all who glory could only glory in the Lord.

Amen.

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