I started this series on the book of 1 Corinthians because the book shows so many of the pit falls the body of Christ can gets into when building local churches and how to resolve these problems. Each church building, in each town, is different even though they may claim to be Christ centered or have a cross on the building or have the name of Christ in it’s sign, but the true mark of whether the building houses Christ followers is whether or not Jesus is at the core of everything it does and whether it is what Jesus said he would build.

Secondly, a church may have started out with Jesus as their lord and savior to only then drifted away from that foundation to become a social cluster of social activist that barely resemble its original foundation and purpose.  Marriages can start out with the best of intentions but they often end up losing their original purpose of loving each other and sacrificing for their marriage only to become only a shell of its former self. More than 50% of marriages today end up in divorce because they drifted from their original purpose and intent and became two people who hate each other. No relationship, whether with God or people, survives and thrives unless that relationship stays grounded to the original reason it was formed.

In the first article I also spoke about Satan scheming against believers and the church to corrupt them and how the Corinthian church had drifted from the foundation that the apostle Paul gave them, which was the cross of Christ. Too many churches have followed the Corinthian church and drifted from Jesus being the Lord of their lives to being organizations that are a mere shell of the Christian faith and more of a social club made and operated for the benefits of its member. The real church, the one that Jesus died and rose again for, was meant to be a place of developing followers of Jesus that love God and seek the kingdom of God first, which compels them to go into all the world to share the gospel with a lost and dying world.

So, let’s start by unpacking the first chapter in 1 Corinthians and see if our church family is caught up in the same pitfalls or is actually living as God intended.

Paul starts out by complimenting the Corinthian church about how they are operating in all the spiritual gifts and then reveals that this church is caught up in all kinds of divisions. Paul points out that spiritual gifts doesn’t mean maturity.  The Corinthian people were caught up in a pride war over which of their leaders was more spiritual than the other.  It is very easy for the body of Christ to hide pride all the while claiming to be spiritual.

1 Corinthians 1:7                                                                                                                                                                                         Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

1 Corinthians 1:10-11                                                                                                                                                                               Now, dear brothers and sisters, I appeal to you by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ to stop arguing among yourselves. Let there be real harmony so there won’t be divisions in the church. I plead with you to be of one mind, united in thought and purpose. For some members of Chloe’s household have told me about your arguments, dear brothers and sisters. 

If the leaders of our churches are not teaching us how to avoid pride, but are actually encouraging such behavior, we should realize their teaching is more of this world than of Christ and his kingdom. True spirituality in leadership should develop Christ’s heart in us for each other and for the lost people in the world.  Paul planted this young church and invested 18 months in training them before going back on his missionary trips. Why did the church drift?  It drifted because they lost focus on Jesus. Paul continues on in the same chapter and speaks on his intention of capitalizing on the cross of Christ because this church has lost its way.

1 Corinthians 1:18                                                                                                                                                                                            I know very well how foolish the message of the cross sounds to those who are on the road to destruction. But we who are being saved recognize this message as the very power of God.

The average believer in the church today knows that Jesus died to redeem them but they probably can’t explain why. In most cases, they have never been taught why God set up the Old Testament sacrifice for Israel to focus on. The Old Testament sacrifice is the basis and foundation for why Jesus had to die to redeem humanity. When we fail to understand the purpose and importance of Jesus’ death on the cross it can lead to our spiritual downfall.

1 Corinthians 1:23-24                                                                                                                                                                                   So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended, and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense. But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the mighty power of God and the wonderful wisdom of God. 

The modern church rarely talks about the cross and when it does, it does so superficially.  If the cross is mentioned at all in a sermon it’s usually more for reference in order to pull emotional heart strings in the audience. Consider the tradition of the last supper. That event was to celebrate the day of atonement and incorporate what Jesus was about to do so there was great significance in it. Jesus explained his part in that sacrifice and fulfilled the purpose of why God first told Moses to teach it to Israel.

1 Corinthians 11:26                                                                                                                                                                                     For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.

Paul anchors all that he teaches the Corinthian church on the important truth of Jesus’ death on the cross. It is this anchor that keeps the individual believer and the church body steadfast in the purpose of God and not drifting off on some tangent that corrupts the believer and the greater body of Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:30-31                                                                                                                                                                                God alone made it possible for you to be in Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made Christ to be wisdom itself. He is the one who made us acceptable to God. He made us pure and holy, and he gave himself to purchase our freedom. As the Scriptures say, “The person who wishes to boast should boast only of what the Lord has done.”

Now that we understand that the groundwork of this Corinthian study is Christ and his crucifixion, we can proceed in future articles on specific issues that hurt the Corinthian church and us as individuals.

Questions:

1) When was the last time you heard a sermon series of the atonement?                                                                                                    The “Christus Victor” View of the Atonement by Greg Boyd

2) When was the last time you heard a sermon series or one full message on the cross?                                                                        Pray for you pastor and suggest the topic to him.

Loving to reason through the scripture …

Pastor Dale