Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 1:2, 9-13
In 1 Corinthians chapters one, two, and three Paul uses a number of special terms and extraordinary expressions. These terms and expressions are not found elsewhere in Paul’s writings. The first extraordinary verse is 1:2. Here Paul says, “To the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints, with all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, theirs and ours.” The expression “called saints” is unusual. Many Christians do not have the assurance that they are saints. Have you ever praised the Lord for the fact that you are a saint? Do you even have the concept, or thought, that you are a saint? If I were to declare boldly that I am a saint, some might accuse me of pride, saying that I am simply a Chinese man by blood and a Christian by faith. Nevertheless, Paul speaks of those who received this Epistle as “called saints.” This is an extraordinary term.
In verse 2 Paul also refers to the matter of calling upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place. Then he goes on to say that Christ is “theirs and ours.” The very Christ on whose name we call is both theirs and ours. Perhaps you have read this verse many times without paying attention to this expression. The significance of these words is deep and profound.
In 1:9 Paul says, “God is faithful, through Whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” Every Christian realizes that God is faithful. It is also common for Christians to realize that God is merciful, gracious, and loving. Few Christians, however, realize that they have been called into the fellowship of the Son of God, and few have an adequate understanding of what this fellowship is. Christians often ask others if they have been saved, but rarely do they inquire if a person has been called. Has anyone ever approached you and asked, “Have you been called by God into the fellowship of His Son?” In this verse Paul speaks not of being saved, but of being called. Furthermore, he does not say that we have been called to heaven or to eternal blessings; he says that we have been called into the fellowship of God’s Son.
The Christ on whom we call is theirs and ours. We have been called by the faithful God into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. This is very deep and profound. Throughout the centuries, Christians have not adequately touched the depth and the profoundness of these matters.
If we would understand these two verses, we need to go back to the beginning with God in eternity past. Before God created the universe, He had a pleasure, a heart’s desire. Every human being is seeking some kind of pleasure. God also has His pleasure. According to this good pleasure, God made a plan. This plan was to dispense Himself into a number of human beings, to work Himself into them. This is God’s pleasure, His delight. Christians cannot adequately know the meaning of 1:2 and 9 unless they realize this.
Few Christians realize that God has a pleasure and that His plan is to dispense Himself into us and work Himself into us. Yet this is revealed in the Bible. In Ephesians 1:5 Paul speaks of “the good pleasure of His will,” and in verse 9, of “His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself.” Furthermore, Paul uses the word dispensation several times. In Ephesians 1:10 he speaks of a “dispensation of the fullness of the times,” and in Ephesians 3:9 he refers to “the dispensation of the mystery, which from the ages has been hidden in God, Who created all things.” To repeat, God’s good pleasure is to dispense Himself into us and work Himself into us.
At this point we need to ask a crucial question: How is it possible for God to dispense Himself into us? First, God created the heavens, the earth, and man. Zechariah 12:1 says that the Lord stretched forth the heavens, laid the foundation of the earth, and formed the spirit of man within him. The human spirit is a special organ created by God for man to receive God. We may use a transistor radio as an illustration. A transistor radio contains a receiver which picks up the sound waves in the air. We can compare ourselves to the radio, and our spirit to the receiver. The heavens are for the earth, the earth is for man, and man, created with a spirit, is for God. Because man has a spirit, a receiver, it is possible for him to take God into him.
Long after God accomplished the work of creation, the first step toward the dispensing of Himself into us, God took the second step — incarnation. One day, the infinite God, the very God who created the universe, became a man. According to John 1:1 and 14, the Word, who is God, became flesh; that is, God became a man. In the words of Isaiah 9:6, a child has been born to us whose name is called the mighty God. The baby born in a manger in Bethlehem was actually the mighty God. The Lord Jesus lived on earth in a lowly way. He was raised in the home of a carpenter, and He Himself worked as a carpenter. Who would have thought that the very God dwelt in Him? At the age of thirty He came forth to minister. Certain of the things He did caused people to wonder about Him. His words were far more philosophical than anything uttered by the greatest philosophers. Some of those who heard Him marveled and said, “How does this man know letters, having never learned?” (John 7:15). Others were offended and claimed to know His mother, brothers, and sisters. Eventually, the Lord Jesus went to the cross and died.
By incarnation the Lord took on humanity. Man is the head of the old creation. When Adam, the representative of the entire creation, fell, the whole creation fell and became old. When God put on humanity, He put on the entire old creation. Thus, when Christ was crucified, the creation was crucified also. Therefore, by His death on the cross, the Lord terminated the entire creation, including you and me. Through this wonderful, all-inclusive death, Christ redeemed us; He brought us back to God. Not only did He terminate us and bring us back to God, but in resurrection He replaces us with Himself. Therefore, the Lord has terminated us, brought us back to God, and is replacing us in resurrection with Himself.
In John 11:25 the Lord Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life.” The Lord as resurrection is the element with which we are replaced. Furthermore, in resurrection Christ became the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). Resurrection is actually the living Person of Christ, the One who is God incarnate, who lived on earth as a man, who died on the cross for our redemption, and who in resurrection has become the life-giving Spirit. Thus, Christ is both the resurrection and the Spirit. He has become the Spirit, and the Spirit is resurrection. Now He as the Spirit and as the resurrection is our replacement.
After Christ became the life-giving Spirit in resurrection, it was possible for Him to come into us. He, the divine electricity, can come into our receiver. However, it is necessary for us to receive Him by repenting, believing in Him, and calling on His name. A sinner may pray, “Lord Jesus, I am sinful. But, Lord, You are my Savior. Now I open myself to You and receive You.” Whenever a person prays in such a way, this dear, excellent, wonderful One, the very One who is the Spirit and resurrection, enters into him. This is not mere theology — it is a marvelous fact. Every genuine Christian can testify that when he believed in the Lord and called on His name, something unusual happened to him. The Lord as the life-giving Spirit came into him. Once we have received the Lord into us, He will never leave, even if we sometimes regret that we have become a Christian. After you have believed in the Lord Jesus, you will not be able to stop believing in Him. Once He has come into you, He will never leave. Now we can see by what way God dispenses Himself into us.
Do you realize what kind of God is dispensing Himself into you? He is the Triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The One whom we have received is Christ, the Redeemer, the Savior, the life-giving Spirit, and the resurrection. All these are different aspects of one Person.
The One in whom we believe, whom we have received, and who has entered into us should also be the One upon whom we call. However, many Christians today pay no attention to this matter of calling on the name of the Lord Jesus. As we have seen, Paul speaks of this in 1:2, when he refers to “all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place.” Here the Greek word for call is epikaleo. This word means to call aloud. To pray in a soft, gentle way is very different from calling aloud on the name of the Lord Jesus. Suppose a sinner hears the preaching of the gospel and is persuaded to believe in the Lord and call on Him. He may pray quietly, “Lord Jesus, I am a sinner. I thank You for dying for me. I believe in You. Your blood cleanses me. You give me eternal life.” A person who prays like this can be saved, but he may not be saved in a strong way. Suppose another person is convinced that he should believe in the Lord Jesus. But instead of praying quietly, he calls aloud on the name of the Lord, declaring that he believes in Him and receives Him. If he calls on the Lord in this way, his experience of salvation will be very strong.
When we call on the name of the Lord Jesus, the One whom we have received, He becomes ours. This means that He becomes our portion, even our all-inclusive portion. As our portion, Christ is our life, our life supply, and everything to us. He is whatever we need: comfort, patience, righteousness, holiness, power. Then He becomes wisdom to us from God. This Christ who is our portion is both theirs and ours.
In 1:9 Paul says that God has called us into the fellowship of His Son. The meaning of the word fellowship is deep and profound. The New Testament illustrates this fellowship by a feast. In the Gospels the Lord Jesus said that a feast had been prepared and that people were invited to it (Matt. 22:1-3; Luke 14:16-17). We all have been invited to a marvelous feast. Here at the feast we are enjoying course after course. This enjoyment of the feast is a mutual participation, a co-participation. Thus, in the fellowship of God’s Son we have enjoyment. This enjoyment, however, is corporate, not individualistic. As we enjoy this feast together, we have fellowship, communion.
Some versions translate the Greek word for fellowship, koinonia, as communion. Fellowship definitely implies communion. To have communion is to share something in common. When you eat breakfast alone, you do not enjoy communion. But when you come to a feast attended by a large number of people and enjoy the feast with them, you have communion. This communion is a co-enjoyment, a co-participation.
Fellowship also includes communication. Whenever we feast together with others, there is communication. You communicate with others, and they communicate with you.
The fellowship into which God has called us is the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. This fellowship includes the Triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. It is the fellowship of the incarnated, crucified, and resurrected Christ, the One who in resurrection is the life-giving Spirit. This all-inclusive One is our feast, and this feast is the fellowship. As those who have been called into this fellowship, we are now enjoying Christ by feasting on Him. Furthermore, we have communion and we are in communication with one another. This fellowship, this communion, is the church life.
The church life is the resurrection life in which we all participate. Furthermore, this resurrection is the life-giving Spirit, the life-giving Spirit is Christ, and Christ is the incarnated God. Christ, an all-inclusive Person, also implies justification, sanctification, and redemption. Christ is God, even the Triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. As the incarnated, crucified, and resurrected One, He is both resurrection and the life-giving Spirit. He is even our feast. Furthermore, Christ Himself is actually the fellowship into which God has called us. To say that we have been called into the fellowship of Jesus Christ means that we have been called into Him. Christ is the life, the resurrection, the sanctification, the justification, the redemption, and everything to us. Therefore, He Himself is the fellowship.
Let us consider once again the background of 1 Corinthians. Paul wrote this Epistle to philosophical Greeks, to those who regarded themselves as very wise. Because of their philosophizing, some of them said, “I am of Paul,” others said, “I am of Apollos,” and still others declared, “I am of Cephas.” The believers at Corinth thus had preferences. These preferences caused them to be divided. To say, “I am of Paul,” is equal to saying, “I have been called into a preference for Paul.” The same is true of saying, “I am of Apollos,” or, “I am of Cephas.” Instead of taking Christ, the all-inclusive One, as their portion, the Corinthians were taking another person, Paul, Apollos, or Cephas, as their portion. Thus, in this Epistle Paul seems to be saying, “Believers at Corinth, you have not been called into your own preferences. God has called you into the fellowship of His Son. You should not prefer me, Apollos, Cephas, or anyone else. We all have been called into one living, all-inclusive Person. We all have been called by God into the fellowship of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.”
In the original Greek text of the New Testament, there were no verse divisions. This means that 1:10 is the direct continuation of verse 9. Again and again we have pointed out that in verse 9 Paul says that God has called us into the fellowship of His Son. Then in verse 10 he goes on to say, “But I beseech you, brothers, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be attuned in the same mind and in the same opinion.” Here we see that Paul beseeches the believers through the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the very name upon which all believers call. In particular, Paul was beseeching them to speak the same thing. Because the Corinthians were saying, “I am of Paul,” or, “I am of Apollos,” they were speaking different things. If we go on to consider verses 11 through 13, we shall see that the fellowship in verse 9 is in contrast to the divisions in verse 10. Furthermore, these divisions were caused by preferences for certain persons. We have not been called into preferences, into divisions, but into the unique fellowship, into the unique enjoyment of Christ and participation in Christ. Oh, it is vital for us to see this! Only one thing can keep us from division — the realization that the all-inclusive Christ is our portion and that we have been called into the fellowship, the enjoyment, of such a One.
Christians today are divided because of their preferences. This may also be true of us in the church life. You may be pleased with the church today because the condition of the church matches your preference. Some may say, “Praise the Lord! The church life in my locality is excellent. The meetings are high and living, and I enjoy them very much.” Perhaps after a period of time, the meetings will not be as high or as living as they are now. Then some may become disappointed, leave the church life, and pursue something which suits their preference.
To have a preference is very different from enjoying the all-inclusive Christ. If we have seen what it means for Christ to be our portion and what it means to be called into His fellowship, we shall not be concerned whether the meetings are high or low. We shall not have preferences concerning the meetings. The primary source of division among Christians is this matter of preferences. But if we have seen that God’s good pleasure is simply to work the all-inclusive Christ into us as our portion for our enjoyment, we shall not care for anything other than Christ and the enjoyment of His fellowship.
We have seen that the fellowship is the enjoyment of Christ and the co-participation in Christ. There is no need for us to analyze this fellowship in a doctrinal way in order to experience it. When you eat breakfast, do you analyze everything you eat? Do you make a study of the composition of the eggs, the toast, and the juice? No one would be so foolish as to study breakfast instead of enjoying it. Furthermore, we should not be concerned about the utensils used for eating breakfast. How foolish to dispute about the silverware, the glasses, or the bowls! Would it not be ridiculous for someone to turn from the food prepared for his enjoyment and to be occupied with the kind of knives, forks, and spoons on the table? Nevertheless, this is an illustration of the actual situation among Christians today. Instead of caring for Christ as their unique portion, many argue about doctrines and practices.
Suppose you come to a church meeting and find the chairs arranged in a very unusual way. If this bothers you, it proves that you have not yet seen what the church is. The proper church life does not depend on a particular arrangement of chairs. The church is the fellowship, the communion, the co-participation, the mutual enjoyment, of Christ. This Christ is now the resurrection and the Spirit. If you have seen that the church life consists in this fellowship, you will not be concerned about such things as the arrangement of chairs in the meeting hall. Furthermore, you will not be distracted from Christ by doctrines or practices.
I would encourage you all to seek the experience and the enjoyment of the fellowship of God’s Son. The more we enjoy the co-participation in this fellowship, the better the church life will be. We need to enjoy this fellowship both at home and in the meetings. Then we shall not be troubled by opinions, gossip, or different teachings, for we shall not care for anything other than the practical co-enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ who is to us the Spirit, the resurrection, and the Triune God. This fellowship is the reality of the church. Thus, we must seek to experience this fellowship all the time. Then we shall enjoy Christ in the church.
