1 Corinthians 1:9 ~ 20130127 ~ Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

01/27 1 Corinthians 1:9 The Faithful God and the Fellowship of His Son; Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20130127_1cor1_9.mp3

¹ Παῦλος κλητὸς ἀπόστολος ⸂Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ⸃ διὰ θελήματος θεοῦ καὶ Σωσθένης ὁ ἀδελφὸς ² τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ, ⸂ἡγιασμένοις ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, τῇ οὔσῃ ἐν Κορίνθῳ,⸃ κλητοῖς ἁγίοις, σὺν πᾶσιν τοῖς ἐπικαλουμένοις τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ ⸀αὐτῶν καὶ ἡμῶν· ³ χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη ἀπὸ θεοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν καὶ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ.

⁴ Εὐχαριστῶ τῷ θεῷ ⸀μου πάντοτε περὶ ὑμῶν ἐπὶ τῇ χάριτι τοῦ θεοῦ τῇ δοθείσῃ ὑμῖν ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, ⁵ ὅτι ἐν παντὶ ἐπλουτίσθητε ἐν αὐτῷ, ἐν παντὶ λόγῳ καὶ πάσῃ γνώσει, ⁶ καθὼς τὸ μαρτύριον τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐβεβαιώθη ἐν ὑμῖν, ⁷ ὥστε ὑμᾶς μὴ ὑστερεῖσθαι ἐν μηδενὶ χαρίσματι, ἀπεκδεχομένους τὴν ἀποκάλυψιν τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ· ⁸ ὃς καὶ βεβαιώσει ὑμᾶς ἕως τέλους ἀνεγκλήτους ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. ⁹ πιστὸς ὁ θεὸς δι’ οὗ ἐκλήθητε εἰς κοινωνίαν τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν.

We have been examining the content of Paul's thanksgiving to God for the church in Corinth. With their divisive spirit and disregard for authority and self-centered attitude and actions, we might be hard pressed to find anything to give thanks for in this church. But listen to the gracious God-centered words of Paul:

1 Corinthians 1:1 Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes, 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, both their Lord and ours: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge-- 6 even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you-- 7 so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

This is a God-centered, Jesus saturated greeting and thanksgiving. Paul mentions Jesus by name 9 times in these opening nine verses. And he mentions the will of God, the church of God, God the source of grace and peace, he offers thanks to God for God's grace given, and now he points to the faithfulness of God. This word of thanksgiving was addressed to God in verse 4, and now in verse 9 as he closes his thanksgiving, he draws our attention back to the faithfulness of God. When you receive a gift, you don't thank the mailman who delivered the gift; you address your thanks to the giver of the gift. Anything good in the Corinthians, anything worthy of thanks, is a direct result of God's grace and God's gift, and so God gets the praise and the thanks. God's grace was given, God in Christ Jesus had enriched them, had confirmed the gospel among them, had equipped them with grace-gifts, caused them to anticipate the return of Jesus, and was sustaining them guiltless. God is faithful.

Faithful

In the original, the adjective 'faithful' is placed first in the sentence for emphasis; faithful the God. What does it mean to be faithful? To be faithful is to be trustworthy, one who can be relied on. If you are faithful you are dependable, you follow through and do what you say you will do.

Numbers 23:19 God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

It is characteristic of mankind that we are fickle, we do not always follow through. Sometimes we make a bad decision based on a limited amount of information, and when we are informed of more of the facts, we change our minds. Sometimes we make a good commitment or resolution, but because of laziness or selfishness or distractions, we don't follow through. Sometimes we have good intentions, but we simply forget, or circumstances beyond our control prevent us from keeping our word. God is not like that. God does not base his decisions on only some of the facts. God is not fickle, selfish, distracted, or lazy. God is not forgetful, and nothing - nothing can frustrate his purposes. With him 'there is no variation or shadow due to change' (James 1:17).

Isaiah 14:24 The LORD of hosts has sworn: “As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand, ...27 For the LORD of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?

God is faithful. No one, no thing can prevent him from doing what he has said he will do.

Isaiah 46:9 ...for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ 11 … I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.

God 'works all things according to the counsel of his will' (Eph.1:11).

So the confidence of Paul that the Corinthians will be sustained to the end guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus is based not on the fickle Corinthians, but on the unfrustratable faithfulness of an omnipotent God.

By Whom You Were Called

Paul's confidence for the Corinthians rested in the fact that a sovereign God had called them. In verse 1, Paul said that he was called by the will of God to be an apostle. In verse 2 he said that the believers in Corinth were called to be saints. Here he points to a faithful God as the one who called them. In Romans 8, Paul refers to believers as those who love God, as those who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

And for those whom God calls, there is absolute confidence that all things will work together for good, because, as he goes on to say, those he calls he also justifies and glorifies. When the faithful King calls you into his service, he will overcome every obstacle and see to it that the purpose of his call is carried out. He will see to it that you are sustained to the end guiltless. He will see to it that you are glorified. Paul's confidence rests not on man, but squarely on the always faithful God.

Called into the fellowship of His Son

Look with me at what we are called to. Ponder for a moment on what we are invited into. Meditate on what we have been made participants of. Savor the gracious goodness of God in our calling.

9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

We were called into the fellowship of God's Son. Fellowship. The rich Greek word koinonia [κοινωνια]. Fellowship is a word that means having things in common. Fellowship means sharing life together. Jews would not eat with Gentiles, because Gentiles don't follow the same kosher laws of food preparation and ceremonial washing. For a Jew to eat with a Gentile would mean contamination. We might look at it as sharing germs. This separation could lead to a feeling of superiority. God addressed this with Peter in Acts 10, where God said three times 'what God has made clean, do not call common'. Paul had to deal with Peter again later on this issue in Antioch, when Peter withdrew from table fellowship with Gentiles (Gal.2:11-14). Paul confronted his hypocrisy publicly, because his conduct was 'not in step with the gospel'. At the cross, Jesus broke down the dividing wall of hostility, abolished the commandments and ordinances, and made peace between those who were alienated (Eph.2:11-22). We are now brought near by the blood of Christ. To have fellowship with someone is to let them into your life, to invite them into your home, into your family, to have a meal together, to share your things with them, to share yourself with them. Fellowship is being connected, being community, being close.

Relational Intimacy

What does it mean to be called into the fellowship of the Son of God? This is staggering! We are called by God into the fellowship of his Son. We are brought into a relationship with Jesus where there is intimacy, where we do life together, where we have everything in common. Real relational intimacy with the Son of God! We can talk to him and he listens! We don't have to make an appointment three weeks in advance. He is there for us always. He is available. He is for us. He cares. He understands. He will carry our sorrows. We can enjoy his presence. We are invited to 'cast all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you' (1Pet.5:7). He said 'come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest' (Mt.11:28); 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink' (Jn.7:37); 'I will never leave you nor forsake you' (Heb.13:5); 'I am with you always, to the end of the age' (Mat.28:20). He is the 'friend who sticks closer than a brother' (Pr.18:24). You were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Doing Life Together

Fellowship means that we do life together. Listen in on the prayer of Jesus for you before his crucifixion.

John 17:20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

Jesus prays that we believers would share in the intimacy and fellowship of the triune God! That we would be one with each other, just as God the Father and Jesus are one with each other, in perfect unity and community, sharing everything. As the Father is in the Son and the Son is in the Father, we must be in the Father and the Son, and the Father and Son are in us. In John 14, Jesus said:

John 14:19 ... Because I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.

Jesus is in his Father, we are in Jesus and Jesus is in us. John 15 helps us understand this connection. Jesus commanded his followers:

John 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

If we are in Jesus and Jesus is in us, if we are connected to Jesus like a branch is connected to the trunk, then the life of Jesus is flowing through us, and Jesus is alive in us. Listen to how Paul expresses this thought in Galatians:

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

The me who I once was is dead. I am now grafted into Christ, and it is now Christ's life that is living in me. I am living a life so intimately connected to Jesus that I can really say it is Jesus who is living in me.

Paul prays that this union with Christ would be realized by the Ephesian believers. He prays:

Ephesians 3:16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith--that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Strengthened in your inner being through his Spirit, Christ residing in your hearts through faith, rooted, connected, drawing life from his love, experiencing the depth of Christ's love, filled up with all the fullness of God. This is the power at work in us, able to accomplish more than we could ever dream. Strengthened by his Spirit in your inner being; Christ dwelling in you; filled with all the fullness of God. I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Abiding in the vine.

Everything in Common

Fellowship means that we have everything in common. We share everything. When we got married, we entered into a fellowship. My possessions, my decisions, my body, my bank account, my joys and my sorrows are no longer mine, they are ours. What is mine is yours and what is yours is mine. Everything is in common. If I have fellowship with Jesus, then everything Jesus has is mine. Because he is the only Son of God, I can call God Father. Jesus said 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God' (Jn.20:17). I am adopted into his family (Rom.8:15; Gal.4:5). I share in his relationship with the Father. Jesus as the Son of God is the only heir; because of fellowship with Jesus I am an heir of God and joint-heirs with Christ (Rom.8:17). I share in his inheritance. Because Jesus is righteous, I am clothed in his righteousness (Is.61:10, Rom.5:17; Phil.3:9). When the Father looks at me he can find no spot or wrinkle or blemish or any defect whatever. What the Father says to Jesus, he says to me: 'well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your master' (Mt.25:21; 3:17; 17:5). What inestimable treasures are ours because our fellowship is with Jesus!

But if we have everything in common, then not only is everything that belongs to Jesus mine, but everything that is mine he shares in. Hebrews 2 tells us:

Hebrews 2:14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,

Jesus, infinite God from all eternity, shared in flesh and blood. And in that real humanity he tasted death for everyone (Heb.2:9). I am a sinner.

2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Jesus became sin for me. As a sinner I am under God's curse.

Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us--for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”--

Jesus became a curse for me. As a rebel I deserve God's wrath.

1 John 4:10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Jesus propitiated the wrath of his Father against my sin. The result of my sin is suffering, sorrow, grief, pain.

Isaiah 53:4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

My iniquities have caused a separation between me and God (Is.59:2).

Matthew 27:46 ...Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ...“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

What fellowship is this! Everything he has is mine, everything I am is his. But this fellowship with Jesus extends farther, maybe farther than I am comfortable with. Paul says in Philippians 3:

Philippians 3:10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share [κοινωνια] his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

1 Peter 4:13 But rejoice insofar as you share [κοινωνεω] Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

Called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. We are called into the fellowship of his sufferings. Fellowship with Jesus. Relational intimacy, doing life together, everything in common. All that he has is ours; and all we are is his. If he has willingly taken our sin, our cross, our shame, should we not also offer him our time, our talent, our treasure? Should we not offer him our very lives to spend as he sees fit? Let us pursue deeper, richer, more satisfying fellowship with Jesus. God is faithful. He has called us into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our King.