Unity under the Spirit

Over the last few months there has been a growing tension within my home. It grows in spits and spurts. Some days the tension grows exponentially, being added to hour by hour, moment by moment and at times the tension will grow still and quiet for a day’s or a week. You begin to believe that the time of trial may have come to a close. Fading away as inexplicably as it came. The tightness in your shoulders begins to ease, hope for a long life and a full head of hair is on the horizon…Only to have the tension scream back to life without a skerrick of warning. The tension is of course, the shrill screams of my disunified daughters. Nails on a chalk board are a sweet melody in comparison to the twin banshee cries of my daughters. The reason for such peace destroying disunity is of course something minor. After all, why would you save blood curdling shrieks only for major instances! A Toy not shared or taken without consent. A plan or instruction for play given by one and ignored by the other. A wrestling session that grew so involved that biting was deemed appropriate. What ever the reason for those few moments the sacred bond of sisterly love is discarded into a shredded, tear-soaked ruin upon the floor. Where to from here? who will revive this torn relationship, and restore unity and peace? It is up to Kat and I in those moments to restore the family equilibrium. To clean and mend the bonds of love between sisters and bringing them back into unity. In order to do this a trap must be laid. First you take an item or occasion that they both love. Something that they want or fondly remember. A trip to the zoo, visiting nana and papa, dancing for example. Then you hang the bait by reminding them of how good that thing is. How exciting the zoo is, what animals there are, what noises do they make. Then step back and watch as they talk excitedly, hand in hand straight into the trap of unity that you have laid. Having now forgotten or laid aside what once divided them for something far grander. Unity is restored, peace once again had, and they believe them selves to be better off for it. This perhaps sounds a little conniving, but nothing is hidden in the process, the girls know mum and dad want unity, this is just a painless way of achieving it. This is in fact the very technique that Paul uses on the Corinthian Church in 1 Corinthians. In 1:10-17 Paul makes it clear that like my house, there was tension in the air for the church in Corinth. The shrill screams of disunity that they are producing are loud enough that Chloe’s people have reported it to Paul. And like Kat and I, Paul is seeking to bring unity back to church. To pick up, clean and mend the tattered remains of their saintly bond and restore them. And just as I do with the kids, Paul uses what they have in common to bring them back together. He uses what they all desire, and love to trap them back in unity. And what they love is the idea of being wise! To posse’s wisdom. It is something that is prevalent in the Greek culture that they are in at that time. Wisdom is held in the highest regard. And so it is the tantalising bait of wisdom that Paul uses to bring the church back into unity.

We have seen in the last two sermons that it is not just any old wisdom that will bring them back into unity. Paul wants the Corinthian church to lust after Godly wisdom rather than worldly wisdom that they are currently hungering for. So, for the remainder of Chapter 1 and the start of chapter 2, Paul tears strips off of the wisdom of the world by comparing it to God. In doing so he continues to build the image of how much better God is. 1:25 “For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.” You can see Paul laying out the trap first by making very clear how much wiser God is, how much stronger God is than what the world has to offer. He is making the bait of God’s wisdom more and more appealing, so that when the time come to hand the bait the Corinthian church will not be satiated by what the world has to offer but rush with abandon toward the bait Paul is laying.

We have seen in the last two sermons that it is not just any old wisdom that will bring them back into unity. Paul wants the Corinthian church to lust after Godly wisdom rather than worldly wisdom that they are currently hungering for. So, for the remainder of Chapter 1 and the start of chapter 2, Paul tears strips off of the wisdom of the world by comparing it to God. In doing so he continues to build the image of how much better God is. 1:25 “For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.” This is all apart of Pauls trap. He is making it very clear how much wiser God is, how much stronger God is than what the world has to offer. Paul is making it clear that what God has is so much better than what the world has to offer. And he is doing it so that when he lays his bait down, and sets his trap to bring about unity in the church they will throw aside the wisdom of the world and rush head long with abandon toward Pauls trap. It is in the setting of the bait that we meet Paul in . Listen to his words. 6 Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish. 7 But we speak God’s wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. After a chapter tearing the wisdom of man down, here is Paul in possession of the Wisdom of God. And he spends 3 versus describing the rarity and succulent flavors of the wisdom of God. Rarity in that it is not of this age, the rulers of this age do not have it

We have seen in the last two sermons that it is not just any old wisdom that will bring them back into unity. Paul wants the Corinthian church to lust after Godly wisdom rather than worldly wisdom that they are currently hungering for. So, for the remainder of Chapter 1 and the start of chapter 2, Paul tears strips off of the wisdom of the world by comparing it to God. In doing so he continues to build the image of how much better God is. 1:25 “For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.” This is all apart of Pauls trap. He is making it very clear how much wiser God is, how much stronger God is than what the world has to offer. Paul is making it clear that what God has is so much better than what the world has to offer. And he is doing it so that when he lays his bait down, and sets his trap to bring about unity in the church they will throw aside the wisdom of the world and rush head long with abandon toward Pauls trap. It is in the setting of the bait that we meet Paul in . Listen to his words. 6 Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish. 7 But we speak God’s wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. After a chapter tearing the wisdom of man down, here is Paul in possession of the Wisdom of God. THE WISDOM OF GOD! And he is not afraid to talk it up. He spends the next 3 versus describing the rarity and magnificence of the wisdom of God. Rarity in that it is not the common wisdom of this world. It is not the wisdom of this age, even the rulers of this age, the kings, the governors, the scribes and priests are not in possession of this wisdom. It is a secret and hidden thing. But it is something that God has ordained from before time for your glory. Paul certainly knows how to butter a church up. He is pointing out just how special, unique, privileged these people are, as well as how rare the wisdom of God is, and how sparingly it is given.

We have seen in the last two sermons that it is not just any old wisdom that will bring them back into unity. Paul wants the Corinthian church to lust after Godly wisdom rather than worldly wisdom that they are currently hungering for. So, for the remainder of Chapter 1 and the start of chapter 2, Paul tears strips off of the wisdom of the world by comparing it to God. In doing so he continues to build the image of how much better God is. 1:25 “For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.” This is all apart of Pauls trap. He is making it very clear how much wiser God is, how much stronger God is than what the world has to offer. Paul is making it clear that what God has is so much better than what the world has to offer. And he is doing it so that when he lays his bait down, and sets his trap to bring about unity in the church they will throw aside the wisdom of the world and rush head long with abandon toward Pauls trap. It is in the setting of the bait that we meet Paul in . Listen to his words. 6 Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish. 7 But we speak God’s wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. After a chapter tearing the wisdom of man down, here is Paul in possession of the Wisdom of God. THE WISDOM OF GOD! And he is not afraid to talk it up. He spends the next 3 versus describing the rarity and magnificence of the wisdom of God. Rarity in that it is not the common wisdom of this world. It is not the wisdom of this age, even the rulers of this age, the kings, the governors, the scribes and priests are not in possession of this wisdom. It is a secret and hidden thing. But it is something that God has ordained from before time for your glory. Paul certainly knows how to butter a church up. He is pointing out just how special, unique, privileged these people are, as well as how rare the wisdom of God is, and how sparingly it is given.

Perhaps we should put it in terms that we understand hear at BCSA. This bottle of wine is one that no one in this age has, not even the rulers of this age are in possession of it. It has been kept secret and hidden by God just for you! That you might become more glorious.

This beer or this bag of roasted coffee beans is has been planned and created by God just for you, from the beginning of time. To possess it is to possess that which even the rulers of this world cannot possess. Do we begin to understand to temptation that Paul is making the wisdom of God out to be for the Corinthian church? Do we begin to understand the moth frothing frenzy that this will put them in? Can we begin to see that this is the moment in which they begin to become once again unified. No longer shouting that one is wiser than the other, and elevating them selves above the other. Paul has made it clear that the different plateaus of worldly wisdom are nothing in comparison to the wisdom that God has on offer. And they are all about to rush to come into possession of it. To rush and find themselves in the same place, of the same mind, in possession of the same thing. Now with the bait of God’s wisdom in place the trap is set for any who would fall into it.

This beer or this bag of roasted coffee beans is has been planned and created by God just for you, from the beginning of time. To possess it is to possess that which even the rulers of this world cannot possess. Do we begin to understand to temptation that Paul is making the wisdom of God out to be for the Corinthian church? Do we begin to understand the moth frothing frenzy that this will put them in?

It is in v9 we see the first indicator in this passage as to the nature of the wisdom that they are seeking to come into possession of. As tantalizing as the wisdom is in its rarity, what exactly is it about? None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. What we can tell of this wisdom is that it is in extricable linked to the perception of the Lord of glory, Jesus. If the rulers had understood the wisdom of God, the would have treated Jesus differently.

In v9 we see another reminder that the wisdom of God in all of it’s value is inextricably linked to how Jesus Christ is perceived.