As
Paul the apostle continued to share how the church in Corinth should
be unified rather than divided, he showed the superiority of Jesus
Christ who was the “wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification and redemption” of
God. God's idea was to use the “foolish,
weak, base and despised things of the world to confound the mighty
and bring to nothing the things that are”.
This was so “no flesh should glory”
in God's “presence”,
and in chapter one and verse thirty-one of
First Corinthians, Paul continued his letter by quoting scripture
where it says, “He that glories, let him
glory in the Lord”
where we read:
That,
according as it is written, He that glories, let him glory in the
Lord.
The
verse begins, “That,
according as it is written, ...”
Paul began
with the word, “That”
which means “In order and so that”, “according
as” which
means “just as, in proportion, in degree, when and after that”
“as it is written”
which means “what Paul is about to declare is expressed in written
characters for those things which stand in the sacred books of the
Old Testament”. Paul refers to the Old Testament scriptures as he
begins to make his concluding statement about God's provision in
Jesus Christ.
The verse goes on to
say, “...
He that glories, let him glory in the Lord.”.
Paul
continued with the words, “He that
glories”
which is the Greek word “kauchaomai”
or “the
person who vaunts, boasts, joys and rejoices”“let
him glory” which
again is the Greek word “kauchaomai”which
means “vaunt, boast, joy and rejoice”
“in the Lord”
which means “in he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which
he has power of deciding; master and the title given to God the
Messiah”. Paul referred to Jeremiah chapter nine and verses
twenty-three thru twenty-four as he exhorted the Corinthian church
members to give “glory”
or “honor, praise and worship” to “the
Lord” for
His awesome salvation plan for man.
When
we meditate upon these words from Paul, we see where we should place
our “glory” as well. “The Lord” deserves all
“glory”, honor, praise and adulation for His great plan to
save us. Jesus Christ, and His crucifixion, was “foolish”
in the world's eyes, but it was used by God to provide forgiveness of
sins and eternal life for all who believe. Let us give “praise and
honor” to God Almighty and Jesus Christ His Son for their marvelous
work of salvation provided for all mankind.
Next
time we
begin a new chapter and see Paul tell the Corinthian church he “came
not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto” the
people in Corinth “the
testimony of God”,
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.
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