Here is our key scripture for this week!
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The
Corinthian church was a mess. If you don’t know anything about the Corinthians
or the trouble they were causing Paul, just think of them as a modern Harvard
or Yale. The Corinthians were a bunch of intellectuals who happened to love
debating, arguing in court, and the all around debauchery of their Greek
culture. (Sound like any fraternities you’ve heard of?) Paul came along and saw
all the corruption and intellectual endeavors of these Greeks and knew that God
wanted to use them for growing His kingdom. Paul planted a church in Corinth
but shortly following this church plant, Paul had to confront the Corinthians
about their behaviors and misunderstood theologies.
Like
us, the Corinthians were fallen humans who found Christ, but they still were
working out their salvation while living in their Greek culture. They struggled
with understanding why certain activities or ideals were immoral in their new
Christian life and they fought against so many new rules. As Paul reminds them
in chapter 6 about their old ways of life and how they used to live in sin, he
also reminds them about how Christ has changed them from their old lives to
their new lives. At
one point, the Corinthians were living their lives in sin, but once they
accepted Christ into their lives, He cleansed them and set them as righteous
before God. They became new creations and so they set aside their old lives and
old ways of thinking, and they began their new lives.
We
also lived lives of sin and were separated from God, but once we accepted Jesus
as our Savior, we were cleansed and given new lives in Christ. We put away that
old life; the life of lies, shame, disgrace, unbelief, uncertainty,
selfishness, greed, spite, vanity, and a life of death. We instead embrace our
new life in Christ; a life of love, of assurance, peace, refreshing, and a life
actually filled with life. In Christ
we finally see the death we were living in and only through the washing and cleansing of Christ can we fully
appreciate the new life we are given. Jesus gave His all so that we can live
and live life to it’s fullest. Only in Christ can we really live life to the
fullest. Nothing else can satisfy us
the way that Jesus can. Not our families or jobs or schooling or friends or
husbands or boyfriends or money or fame can give us what Jesus gave us when He
died on the Cross and made a way to restore our relationship with God.
There is nothing greater we can do than to acknowledge that Jesus is our Savior and to live our lives for Him. Everything we do after that is because we have been brought into God’s family and we live in that new status as daughters of the King of Kings. How we conduct ourselves at work, how we raise our families, how we interact with our friends, and how we live our lives all reflects back to our status as His daughters. Nothing else matters apart from that. Embrace your status and live your life fully in Christ because you were washed, sanctified, and justified before the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
ABOUT ERICA
I live in Springfield, MO. Working on my Masters and getting ready to start my PhD next year. After Jesus, Nerd culture is my life. Can't wait to teach other nerds in the future.
Connect with Erica on Instagram (@ericabennington).
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