Psalm 100-102 1 Corinthians 1

“Because of God you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God. In Christ we are put right with God, and have been made holy, and have been set free from sin.” (1 Corinthians 1:30 NCV)

The Church at Corinth was quite a trip. Paul spent a lot of time in Corinth. He wrote many letters to that church because of their problems. And still they had problems. The Church in Corinth was why you shouldn’t say something like, “If only we could be like the first century church.” But, by God’s grace, it was a church where the gospel was preached even if the people proved that imperfect people could be followers of Christ. Paul set the stage for the truth of the gospel early in the letter. It was because of God that they were in Christ, right with God, holy, and free from sin.

The ancient Greek world revered wisdom. They would sit around and discuss the wisdom found in various philosophies. Paul went to Corinth after discussing the wisdom of the gospel, or the foolishness of the resurrection in the eyes of the Greeks, in Athens. Paul made it clear that in the midst of all discussion of wisdom, Jesus Christ: God the Son who came to earth as a human being, taught, suffered and died the cruelest of deaths on the cross, and risen from the dead was the wisdom from God. What could be better than God’s wisdom? Because of Jesus Christ, we are made right with God, made holy, and set free from sin. Philosophies of this world either skirt around those concerns or dismiss them. God knows that we need a restored relationship with Him. We don’t look over our shoulders waiting for God to zap us anymore – our relationship with Him is good because of Jesus Christ. We have been set apart from this world to serve God by being made holy. We have purpose in this world. We no longer seek to find ourselves and please ourselves, but we seek to find God’s will and do it. We’re set free from sin. We’re no longer under the compulsion to do that which is wrong, but we have the freedom to do right. Guilt no longer has a place in our life because God has forgiven us and set us free from the power of sin. Jesus Christ, the wisdom of God, makes us right with God, gives us purpose, and sets us free from sin. How could we get anything more from all the philosophical ideals known to man?

Lord, You’ve given me so much. You’ve restored my relationship with You through Jesus. You’ve given me purpose as on of Your holy children, and You’ve freed me from the power and consequences of sin. Remind me that when I’ve been given so much, much is required of me. Help me to share Your love and the message of Jesus with others.

Scripture taken from the New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved