Search
Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 1:9, 30; 2:10-13; 3:6-7, 9, 12; 15:45b; 6:17; 12:3-6, 13
We may read the Epistle of 1 Corinthians many times without understanding it. It is difficult to touch the essence of this Epistle.
To help our understanding, we may compare the essence of 1 Corinthians to the essence of a tree. A tree has a trunk, branches, and leaves. These, however, are not the essence, or the extract, of the tree. Furthermore, we may know the element and substance of a tree and still not yet know its essence. The essence of a tree is its extract. Just as we may see the trunk, branches, and leaves without knowing the essence of a tree, so we may see the “trunk,” “branches,” and “leaves” of 1 Corinthians but not be able to see the essence, the extract, of this book.
More than fifty years ago I made an outline of 1 Corinthians. When I reviewed that outline years later, I realized that I had touched only the branches and leaves of 1 Corinthians. I had not yet touched the element or substance, much less the essence, of this Epistle.
Some may think that there is no difference between the substance of a thing and its essence. But from the study of the Bible and the writings of certain great teachers, we have learned that there is a very important difference between substance and essence. You may touch the substance of a particular matter without touching its essence. Only when you touch the essence of a thing can you have the extract of that thing. First we have the element, then the substance, and finally the essence, the extract. In these chapters we are endeavoring to touch the essence of Paul’s word in 1 Corinthians. Let us now consider the extract of this book.
In 1:9 Paul says, “God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” God has called us into the partaking of, the participation in, His Son. God has called us to partake of the all-inclusive Christ as our portion. To say that God has called us into the fellowship of His Son means that He has called us into the enjoyment of His Son. God has called us into the enjoyment of the living Christ. This enjoyment is not merely an individual matter; it is also a corporate matter. God has called us into the co-participation of the enjoyment of Christ.
In order that we may enjoy Christ, God has put us into Christ. “Of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (v. 30). It is of God that we are in Christ. Christ is not only a sphere; He is also an element, substance, and essence. God has put us into this element, substance, and essence. Just as something may be put into water and then soak in the water, we have been put into Christ so that we may “soak” in Christ.
After putting us into Christ, God has made Christ His power and wisdom to us. According to 1:24, Christ is God’s power and God’s wisdom. For Christ to become wisdom and power to us actually means that He is dispensed into us. This dispensing can be compared to the flow of electricity from the power plant into the appliances in our homes. This flowing of the electricity is the dispensing of the electricity into the appliances. We have seen that God has called us into the participation of the enjoyment of Christ, the divine electricity. For this purpose He has put us into this “electricity” and now is making this electricity our wisdom and power. This is a matter of the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity.
Chapter 2 indicates that this dispensing takes place by the unveiling and communicating Spirit. In 2:9 and 10 Paul speaks of the unveiling Spirit: “As it is written, ‘Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard and which have not come up in man’s heart; things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’ But to us God has revealed them through the Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.” How do we know that God has called us? How do we know that God has put us into Christ and that God is making Christ our power and wisdom? We cannot know these things by our mental ability. We can know them through the unveiling Spirit. When we believed in the Lord Jesus, God put His Spirit into us, and this Spirit is the unveiling Spirit.
When the Spirit functions as the unveiling Spirit, the Spirit removes the veils, the covers, that keep us from seeing Christ as our portion. If we have a sincere heart to seek the experience of Christ, the Spirit will continually reveal Christ to us. In our spirit the Spirit shows us the secrets of Christ as our portion.
In chapter 2 of 1 Corinthians, the Spirit is not only the unveiling Spirit but also the communicating Spirit. This is implied by Paul’s word in verse 13: “Which things also we speak, not in words taught by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things with spiritual words.” The thought here is to speak spiritual things by spiritual words. The emphasis is not on the person to whom the speaking is addressed but rather on the means by which the spiritual things are spoken. Paul spoke spiritual things, which are the deep things of God concerning Christ, by the spiritual things, which are the spiritual words taught by the Spirit. This implies that the Spirit is the communicating Spirit.
The communicating of the Spirit involves transmitting. While the indwelling Spirit is unveiling the riches of Christ, He transmits these riches into our being.
Thus far, we have seen the extract of 1 Corinthians 1 and 2. This extract includes God’s calling us into the enjoyment of Christ, God’s putting us into Christ, God’s making Christ wisdom and power to us, and the Spirit’s revealing and communicating to us the things concerning Christ.
In chapter 3 we see the matter of the growth in life. In 3:6 and 7 Paul says, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth. So then neither is he who plants anything nor he who waters, but God who causes the growth.” It is by the divine dispensing that God causes us to grow. He gives life and the growth in life through His dispensing. Eventually, through the growth in life we will be transformed into precious materials for God’s building. Concerning this, in 3:9 Paul tells us that we are God’s cultivated land, God’s building. Then in verse 12 he goes on to speak of precious materials — of gold, silver, and precious stones. In these verses we have the essence of chapter 3.
The unveiling and communicating Spirit within us is actually Christ Himself. First Corinthians 15:45 tells us that the last Adam, Christ in the flesh, became a life-giving Spirit. We who have been put into Christ by God have actually been joined to this wonderful Spirit. In 6:17 Paul says, “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” We are joined to the Spirit, who is the resurrected Christ with the reality of His resurrection life. Now that we have been joined to Him to be one spirit with Him, we are one in essence with Him. We not only enjoy Him and not only have God’s dispensing of Him into us as our power and wisdom so that we may have righteousness, sanctification, and redemption; we have actually been joined to the very Christ who is the life-giving Spirit with all the riches of resurrection. How marvelous!
What does it mean in a practical way to be one spirit with the Lord in our daily life? We all need much more experience of this. In recent years I have been endeavoring to practice to be one spirit with the Lord day by day. However, I must confess that I still do not have that much experience. Doctrinally, it may be rather easy to understand the meaning of being one spirit with the Lord. But it is another matter to experience this. We all need more practical experience of being one spirit with the Lord.
In 15:3 and 4 Paul says, “I delivered to you, first of all, that which also I received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He has been raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” Here we have Christ’s death for our sins, His burial, and His resurrection. In resurrection Christ became the firstfruits, something full of life: “Now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (v. 20). He was the first to be raised, and we will follow Him. This means that we will become new and full of life, just as He is.
As we have seen, in resurrection Christ became not only the firstfruits but also the life-giving Spirit. God has put us into Him, and we have been joined to Him. Now God is transmitting, dispensing, Him into us day by day. When we have this dispensing, we have victory and triumph. We are victorious, triumphant, over two basic enemies — sin and death.
If we consider all these verses from 1 Corinthians, we will see that this is the extract of this Epistle. In 1 Corinthians we see those who have been called by God into the enjoyment of His Son, who have been placed by God into Christ, who have Christ as wisdom and power, who have the indwelling Spirit unveiling and communicating the riches of Christ to them, who are experiencing God’s dispensing for growth unto transformation, who are joined to Christ as one spirit, and who are triumphant over sin and death. As such persons, we need to function as members of the Body. We should not say that we do not have any spiritual gifts. On the contrary, we have a great deal with which to function.
We need to see from this book what kind of persons we are. We have been called into the enjoyment and participation of Christ. We have been put into Christ by God, and God has made Christ to be our wisdom and power. We have the Spirit in us to reveal the riches of Christ and communicate these riches to us. God is dispensing Himself into us as life so that we may grow in life and be transformed into precious materials for God’s building. We are even one spirit with the Lord. Furthermore, in the resurrected Christ, who is the life-giving Spirit, we are triumphant over sin and death. Since God has made us such persons in Christ, we can function as members of the Body, and we must function.
In order to function in the church meetings, we need to speak. By speaking we “turn on the switch” so that we may have the flowing of the divine electricity. In previous chapters we have emphasized the fact that when we speak, the Spirit functions, the Lord ministers, and God operates. Then God’s purpose is fulfilled.
As Christians in the Lord’s recovery, we need to learn to speak all the time. We need to speak at home, on our way to work, and wherever we may be. By speaking in Christ we defeat the enemy and shut the door to evil things.
Suppose a brother, his wife, and children sit at the breakfast table in silence. No one says anything about the Lord or for the Lord. Then someone speaks carelessly about a certain matter. Others disagree with what is said, and eventually the brother and his wife become angry and have an argument.
How different the situation would be if someone would take the lead to speak concerning the Lord. Suppose the sister says, “This morning I enjoyed 1 Corinthians 1:9, a verse that tells us that God has called us into the fellowship of His Son. How marvelous that we have been called into this fellowship.” The husband may then reply, “Praise the Lord! Your word is a great help to me.” This kind of speaking closes the door to the enemy and opens the door for the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity.
We all should redeem the time by taking every opportunity to speak about Christ. However, we are not accustomed to speaking about the Lord continually. Often the saints sit silently in the meeting hall waiting for the meeting to begin. Instead of speaking for the Lord or about the Lord, they may talk about other matters.
We need to speak the Lord, speak the Bible, speak God’s salvation, and speak all manner of things concerning the Christian life. We Christians should be a speaking people, those who speak wherever they are.
I would suggest that we try to practice speaking even as we are driving to work. The traffic may be heavy, and it may cause you to become frustrated. Do you know why you feel that way? You are frustrated because you do not speak. If you speak concerning the Lord, your situation will be very different. Perhaps you may need to say, “Car, I am not in you — I am in Christ!” Then you should turn to the Lord, pray to Him, and praise Him. This kind of speaking brings in the Lord’s victory.
As we speak for the Lord in the meetings, we should not only utter some praise to the Lord and declare how much we love Him; we also need to learn to speak with more aspects of the truth and with more of the Lord’s riches.
In 12:13 Paul says, “Also in one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and were all given to drink one Spirit.” This verse reveals that Christ has baptized us in the Spirit into the Body, and now we all are drinking the one Spirit. On the one hand, Christ has put us into the Spirit. On the other hand, we are drinking this Spirit. Therefore, we are in the Spirit, and the Spirit is in us. The result is that we are soaked and saturated with this Spirit. This makes us fully qualified and able to function in the meetings by speaking for the Lord and even by speaking Him forth. Praise Him for the riches of the essence of 1 Corinthians!
