Our great pursuit is to keep gazing at the glorious gospel. As we behold Christ, we come to love him more, and our love for him spills over into deeper love for our neighbors. Let us not forget that “whoever loves has been born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7). The gospel that united us to God is the glue that holds God’s people together despite the challenges and obstacles we face. In fact, it is often the greatest trials that God uses to bring greater love.
If you’ve been to a few weddings, you know the joy of seeing friends and loved ones celebrating some of the greatest moments of their lives. If you’ve had such a wedding yourself, you know exactly how they feel. There’s a rush of excitement and anticipation for a life spent together. The stomach flutters seem like they’ll never end.
Yet, if you’ve been married more than a few months, you know what the end of the honeymoon phase feels like too. Real life hits and you’re back to pressing the snooze button and waking up with morning breath. You suddenly have real conflict with your spouse, and you’re the one who’s wrong and has to confess this time. The love has certainly grown stronger, but you don’t feel in love like you did when you first got married.
Something similar happened in Corinth during Paul’s missionary days (circa AD 53–54). Just a few short years after Paul brought the gospel to these saints, they were already out of the honeymoon phase. One group in the church favored Paul, the apostle and planter of the church. Others sided with Apollos, the eloquent Alexandrian (Acts 18:24). They were caught up in mere men rather than the God-man, and it was bringing deadly sepsis to their local body. In addition to the division there was grievous sin, idolatry, impure worship, and false teaching threatening to flatline the Corinthian church.
A Fresh Application of the Gospel
Paul, under the guidance of the Great Physician, sought to bring healing to the Corinthian church. Near the end of his first letter to the Corinthians, he urged them to focus on what was “of first importance” (1 Cor. 15:3). As a way of reminder, he once again declared the gospel to the Corinthians. They needed a fresh application of the message that brought them from death to life. As redeemed people, we too are prone to forget the most powerful message in all of the universe. We need to be constantly drawn back to the good news of Jesus Christ.
Before expounding the gospel to the Corinthians, Paul reminded them of four aspects of the gospel that are equally relevant for the bride of Christ today:
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The gospel message was preached to them. Who can hear the gospel message without a preacher (Rom. 10:14)? It was Paul himself who “planted” the gospel seeds by preaching to them, and he stood so firmly in the message that he could call it “my gospel” (1 Cor. 1:6; Rom. 16:25).
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The gospel message was received by them. The Corinthians had welcomed Paul and received the words he preached, and he was confident to call them brothers and sisters in the Lord. He addressed them as the church at Corinth because he was confident that the gospel had transformed them and made them new creatures.
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They made their stand in the gospel message. When they heard the gospel, they responded and found their standing in that message, and they were still standing in that message when Paul wrote to them. They continued to stand firm as they trusted the work of Christ on their behalf.