The
apostle Paul continued the introduction to his letter to the church
in Corinth by sharing about “the
testimony of Christ”
which “was confirmed in”
them. In chapter one and verse seven of
First Corinthians, Paul continued his letter by desiring that they
“come behind in no gift”
while
“waiting for the coming of
our Lord”
where we read:
So
that you come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ:
The
verse begins, “So
that you come behind in no gift;”
Paul began
with the words, “So that you come
behind”
which means “insomuch, wherefore and then that the people within
the Corinthian church would come late, be tardy or fall back” “in
no gift”
or “within any favor or gift of faith, knowledge, holiness or
virtue”. Paul desired for the church members to be “confirmed
in the testimony of Christ”
so they would not lack in any “favor of faith, knowledge, holiness
or virtue” available to them.
The
verse goes on to say, “...waiting
for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:”.
Paul
continued with the word, “waiting
for” or
“assiduously and patiently expecting and looking for” “the
coming”
which means “the revelation, manifestation and appearing” “of
our Lord”
or “of he to whom a person or thing belongs and about which he has
power of deciding; master and the title given to God the Messiah”
“Jesus”
which means “Jehovah is Salvation” and is “the Son of God, the
Savior of mankind and God incarnate” “Christ”
or “the anointed one, the Messiah and the Son of God”. Paul knew
while the church members were “waiting”
for Jesus Christ's return, they would need “favor” of God in all
these areas.
When
we meditate upon these words from Paul, we recognize the importance
of “gifts” from God while we “wait” for Jesus'
return. After Jesus died, He was raised from the dead and continued
on the earth for forty days. He then ascended into heaven, was seated
on the right hand of God and angels promised that He would come back
again. (See Acts 1:1-11) During the “waiting time”, the
people within the church of Corinth needed “favor” in “gifts”
from God even as we need those “gifts” today. May we enjoy
the idea of being “confirmed” in “the testimony of
Christ” that we might not “fall behind” in any “favor”
the Lord desires to give us.
Next
time Paul shares how God will “confirm”
the
church members of Corinth
“unto the end”,
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