Paul
the apostle introduced himself as “an
apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God”,
and he addressed his letter to “ the
church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in
Christ Jesus, called to be
saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus
Christ our Lord”.
In chapter one and verse three of First
Corinthians, Paul the apostle continued his introduction, by
pronouncing
“grace” and
“peace from God”
and “from the Lord Jesus Christ”
upon
the church where we read:
The
verse begins, “Grace
be
unto you, and peace,...” Paul
began with the word, “grace”
which is the Greek word “charis”
that means “that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness,
charm, loveliness, good will, loving kindness and unmerited favor”
“be unto you”
which refers to “the people within the church at Corinth”, “and
peace”
which is the Greek word “eirēnē”
and the
Hebrew word “shalom” that means “rest, quietness, exemption
from rage and havoc, harmony, concord and security”. Paul began
many of his letters or “epistles” with these two words, “grace”
which was the Greek greeting and “shalom” which was the Hebrew
greeting. “Grace”
always precedes “peace” because until a person experiences the
“grace”
or unmerited favor of God, they cannot know the “peace”
with God. Paul includes them both in his opening comments.
The
verse goes on to say, “... from
God our Father, and from
the Lord Jesus Christ.”. The
Paul continued with the words, “from
God” or
“which originates from the Godhead bodily and trinity which is
comprised of God the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit”
“our Father”
which means “Paul, his companions' ”, “and
from the Lord”
which means “he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he
has power of deciding; master and the title given to God the Messiah”
“Jesus”
whose name means “Jehovah is Salvation” and is “the Son of God,
the Savior of mankind and God incarnate” “Christ”
which means “the anointed One” and is “the Messiah and the Son
of God”. The source of “grace”
and “peace”
is from God who is “Father” to all who believe in His Son Jesus,
and “from Jesus”
who is the “Lord”
and “the Messiah”.
When
we consider these words from Paul, we see the importance of “grace”
and “peace”
to the Christians within the Corinthian church. Paul knew the
condition of this church before he wrote them, and it was important
they knew God's “unmerited favor” was upon them, and the “peace”
with God through Jesus Christ was obtainable. God desires to extend
to everyone His “grace”,
and He wants “peace”
to be upon all men. Paul's introduction included God's purpose, and
they are available to everyone who will receive Jesus Christ as their
“Savior and Lord”.
Next
time Paul how he “thanks”
his
“God always on” the
church of Corinth's “behalf”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
No comments:
Post a Comment