Fellow
Redeemed in Christ Jesus,
The congregation of Christians in
In that sense, the Christian church is unique
from all other organizations. People do not form the church. The church is not
to base its unity on human standards. God unites us in a way foreign to the
world’s way of thinking. In fact, God does things his way to frustrate the
world’s ways.
Paul began his first letter to the
Corinthians on this note. The Corinthian congregation was facing the problems
of divisions and interpersonal conflicts that can infect any congregation. It
is imperative that believers understand we have no reason to boast. The world’s
ideas of wisdom and strength have nothing to do with our standing.
God extended his call. The apostle summed up
that point in the words of our theme, “Because
of Him You Are in Christ Jesus.” Paul calls the Corinthians and us first to
take a realistic look at the makeup of our congregations. Second,
at God’s unique wisdom and working on our behalf.
God established a church there in both senses
of the word; God called people to faith in Jesus Christ by the gospel, and
gathered them as a congregation through Paul’s mission work. What was his
standard for doing that? It was not human wisdom, strength, or influence. It
was just the opposite. The Corinthians believers were to take a realistic look
at themselves. When they did, they would see the truth
in what Paul had been telling them. God had not chosen each of them because of
some personal, individual greatness in them. “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus.”
What would the Corinthians
recognize in themselves? What do we see when we take a realistic look at
ourselves as Christians and as a congregation? “Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were
influential; not many were of noble birth. But God
chose the foolish things of this world to shame the wise; God chose the weak
things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this
world and the despised things-and the things that are not- to nullify the
things that are.”
As far as the world is concerned, Christians are
the unwise. We are the un-strong and the un-influential. The Greeks called
Christians the “things that are not”
an idiom that means, “You don’t even exist.” Yet God chose us in just those
conditions. To God we are the anti-wise, the
anti-strong, and the anti-influential. He chose us to nullify, to counter-act what the world considers important and the only things to seek.
We are the antidote to what ails the unbelieving world.
So instead of thinking that there is
something that makes me wiser, or stronger, or more influential than my fellow
Christians for which God chose me, “Let
him who boasts, boast in the Lord.” Rather than have some idea of
self-importance cause divisions and conflicts, we love each other and care for
one another. We recognize that what Paul says is true when it comes to why I am
a Christian and one of my fellow believers in a congregation. “It is because of him you are in Christ
Jesus.
That brings us to the second aspect of God’s
call we want to look at; God’s unique wisdom and working in our behalf.
God’s stated
intention for us to see our lowly estate is this “so that no one may boast before him.” We cannot boast before God
because it was his unique wisdom and working in our behalf that brought us into
his church. In his letter, Paul wrote broadly about Jesus Christ being the
“wisdom of God.” Here the apostle says
that Jesus became for us wisdom before God then defines that wisdom- “righteousness, holiness, and redemption.”
We go back to the comparison. In the world’s
wisdom, I am righteous by my own intentions and actions. In God’s wisdom, I am
righteous in his sight through Christ’s actions on my behalf under the law. In
man’s wisdom, my works are holy because they are good in men’s eyes. In God’s
wisdom, my sanctification is holy and acceptable because it flows only from
faith in Christ. In the world’s wisdom, redemption is being free from human
trouble we cause by our own weaknesses. In God’s wisdom, redemption is the
final deliverance Christ brings when he comes on Judgment Day.
We cannot know God or serve God by human
wisdom. We did not become Christians by human wisdom. It is because of him that
you are in Christ Jesus. God is the author and finisher of our salvation alone
as he redeemed us in Christ’s cross and called us to faith in Christ’s work by
the Holy Spirit. So, “Let him who boasts,
boast in the Lord.”
God has called us to our family unity in
Christ. We love and care for each other but brothers and sisters, “Think of
what you were when you were called.” We can restate that question and still
keep its meaning. Paul words mean, “Brother and sisters, as you regard and take
a look at yourselves you will know what I am saying is true. As you take a look at the God’s unique wisdom and working on your
behalf, you know what I am saying is true. “It
is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus.” Amen. <SDG>