...Christ Jesus...

1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, 2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:

3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, 5 for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind— 6 just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you— 7 so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8 He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord”                 

1 Corinthians 1:1-9.

Dear friends, today we begin a study and daily reflections on the 1st and 2nd Letters of Paul to the Corinthians. And I must say how moved I am to read Paul’s opening remarks, a description of who the Christian person is — to whom he is writing this 1st letter: the Christian person is one who is “sanctified in Christ Jesus…called to be a saint…and who calls upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (verse 2). We have been made a holy people in the heart of Jesus Christ. We didn’t achieve holiness — or sanctification — on our own merit or strength or choice. We receive it from Jesus Christ. We are also called by Jesus Christ to be a saint, a holy person wholly devoted to and following Jesus Christ. Our devotion to and love of Jesus Christ is not sporadic, not as we please, not when our guilt overwhelms us. No, our devotion to and love of Jesus Christ is our daily call, in fact, our entire life. And finally, we Christians are people who call upon, talk to, listen to, and do whatever Jesus Christ tells us to do. We are not passive Christians, sitting around doing what we wish until God blesses us. We are in pursuit of Jesus Christ constantly.

But the most important words spoke by Paul in these introductory remarks are the words, Jesus Christ, spoken no less than eight times in these nine verses. What this tells me is that Paul wants us Christians to have Jesus Christ at the center of our understanding of the world and of history and of our lives. In the city of Corinth most of the population were Gentiles, which suggests that this letter is written to people who are caught up in a new and great movement of love and the power of God to change the entire world forever! And this is why Jesus Christ is the center of this great and new picture and world! Every day we are part of a new world family who “call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours” (verse 2).

This is why Paul “gives thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus” (verse 4). This “grace” is God’s riches that have enriched us all (verses 5, 6). They have become (you have become) a community of learners, growing eagerly in knowledge about God and His new life, able to teach one another, and so strengthening and confirming the original royal proclamation, “the messianic message”, that had been made known to them (verses 5-7).

Take time today, dear friends, and ponder these opening words — and their meaning for your life! And today, “give thanks always…for the grace of God in Christ Jesus” in your life!

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.

Today’s Prayer

Oh Lord, I praise you and give You thanks

for Your grace in my life, for Jesus Christ.

I praise You and give You thanks

I praise You and give you thanks

for the chance to live out my life as a faithful Christian

and follower of Christ Jesus.

Have mercy on me and fill me with new Life

that comes to me in Christ Jesus.

Turn me around again, and bring me back to You.

Light a lamppost on the path of my life,

so that I may see You and follow You

all the days of my life.

And this I pray in your holy Name,

Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.