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Scripture Reading: 2 Cor. 1:8-9, 12, 17-22
First Corinthians reveals the matter of living Christ for the church. If we read this Epistle in a thoughtful way, we may wonder if there is a pattern of living Christ for the church. We may say as we read this book, “Paul, show us a pattern. We have seen many things in our parents, relatives, neighbors, friends, and colleagues, but we have never seen a person living Christ for the church. We would like to see a pattern, for a pattern is much better than thousands of words.” Realizing the need for such a pattern, Paul presents this pattern in 2 Corinthians. Therefore, in this Epistle we see a living pattern.
Paul opens each of his Epistles in a different way. For example, the way he opens Romans is different from the way he begins Ephesians. The Epistle of 2 Corinthians also begins in a particular way. After the greetings and the word about grace and peace in 1:1 and 2, Paul goes on to speak, not in a doctrinal way or in the way of revelation, but in the way of giving a personal testimony. In 1:8 he says, “For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, as to our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were excessively burdened, beyond our power, so that we despaired even of living.” It seems as if Paul is saying, “Corinthian believers, I want to give you my testimony concerning how I live Christ for the church. When we were in Asia, we were excessively burdened, heavily pressed. We were pressed beyond our power, beyond our ability to withstand pressure, so that we despaired even of living. It was very clear to us that we were dying.” There is nothing doctrinal here. On the contrary, Paul is giving a testimony. This testimony is part of the pattern.
In 1:9 Paul continues, “But we ourselves had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not have confidence in ourselves, but in God, Who raises the dead.” Because they realized they were dying, the apostles did not have any confidence in themselves. Their confidence was in God.
The God in whom they were confident was not simply the One who created the heavens and the earth. Rather, their confidence was in the God of resurrection, in the God who raises the dead. Here Paul does not say, “I call upon the God who created heaven and earth to witness for me.” In verse 9 Paul refers not to the God of creation, but to the God of resurrection.
Paul’s confidence was not in himself; it was in the resurrecting God, the God who raises the dead. To have confidence in the God of resurrection and have no confidence in ourselves is to live Christ. If I have confidence in myself, then surely I am living myself. I am not living Christ. But here is an apostle who had no confidence in himself. His confidence was fully in the very God who raises the dead. In this matter he is a pattern of living Christ.
In verse 12 Paul goes on to say, “For our boasting is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in singleness and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom, but in the grace of God, we conducted ourselves in the world, and more abundantly toward you.” This testimony is related to the pattern of living Christ for the church. Paul’s conscience testified that he lived in singleness; being political was not his manner of living. With Paul there was no politics. On the contrary, he was single. However, Paul did not live his own singleness and sincerity; he lived the singleness and sincerity of God.
The expression “the singleness of God” implies that God Himself is this singleness. Likewise, the phrase “the sincerity of God” actually means that this sincerity is God Himself. In 1:12 Paul does not speak of his human singleness or sincerity. His singleness and sincerity were God Himself.
In 1:12 Paul also says that he conducted himself not in fleshly wisdom, but in the grace of God. Grace is the processed Triune God. First Corinthians reveals that the Triune God has been processed to become the life-giving Spirit for us to enjoy. This enjoyment of the processed Triune God is grace.
In 1 Corinthians 15:10 Paul says, “But by the grace of God I am what I am; and His grace unto me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.” The expression “the grace of God” in this verse and in 2 Corinthians 1:12 actually indicates that grace is God Himself. The grace of God is the very God. Hence, grace is not something which belongs to God; grace is God Himself.
Furthermore, the unprocessed God is not grace. Rather, grace is the Triune God in resurrection. It is not God only as He is revealed in Genesis 1; it is the God revealed in the Epistles of Paul. The God in Paul’s ministry is not merely the God of creation, but He is the God in resurrection. Resurrection involves the processes of incarnation, human living, and crucifixion. After passing through this process, the Triune God entered into resurrection. Therefore, when we speak of God as the God of resurrection, we imply the process through which He has passed.
Christ passed through incarnation, through thirty-three and a half years of human living, and through crucifixion, which lasted six hours. After he died, He was placed in a tomb. Then He went into Hades and had a tour of the realm of death. Following that, He came forth in resurrection. Now He is the God not only of creation, but also of resurrection. This processed God is now our grace. How happy I am in Him! He is my enjoyment, my feast, my rest, my strength. This is my God.
In verse 17 Paul says, “This therefore intending, did I then use fickleness? Or the things which I resolve, do I resolve according to the flesh, that with me there should be yes, yes and no, no?” Paul was neither political nor fickle. He was not the kind of person who would say yes at one time and then shortly afterward change his answer and say no. With Paul, yes was yes, and no was no. Whatever he resolved, he resolved by being one with the unchanging Christ of the faithful God.
Paul was absolutely one with Christ, with God’s anointed One. This was the reason he could say, “But God is faithful, that our word toward you is not yes and no; for the Son of God, Christ Jesus, Who was preached among you through us, through me and Sylvanus and Timothy, did not become yes and no, but in Him is yes” (vv. 18-19).
In verses 20 and 21 Paul continues, “For whatever promises of God there are, in Him is the Yes; wherefore also through Him is the Amen to God, for glory through us. But He Who firmly attaches us with you unto Christ and has anointed us is God.” Christ is God’s anointed One, and Paul was firmly attached to this One. This One is the unchanging Christ of the faithful God. As a person who lived Christ, Paul was one with the unchanging Christ of the faithful God. If we would live Christ, we must also keep ourselves one with Him.
Paul could say of himself, “I am a person who is always one with Christ. Christ is not yes and no, but in Him is yes. If you say yes and no, you are not living Christ. In Christ is the yes. Whenever He says yes, it is yes forever. With Him there is no change. I am one with this unchanging Christ. When I resolved to come to visit you, I resolved with Him. I did not do this in myself or by myself. In oneness with Christ, I made a strong decision to come to you. He is the anointed One, and I am firmly attached to Him.” This also is part of the pattern of living Christ for the church.
My burden in this message is to point out that in the introductory word to 2 Corinthians Paul presents himself to the believers at Corinth as a pattern of a person who lives Christ for the church. Paul seems to be saying, “Corinthians, in my first Epistle I gave you a revelation of what it means to live Christ for the church. Now I know that you also need a pattern of such a living. In my second Epistle, I present myself to you as this living pattern. I ask you to look at me and see that I have no confidence in myself. My confidence is fully in the God of resurrection. Because I have confidence in Him, I live Christ. Furthermore, whenever I decide something, I make a decision by taking Christ as my person. I am one who is firmly attached to Christ, to God’s Anointed. He is the Christ of the faithful God, the God with whom there is no shadow due to change. Therefore, I, Paul, am one with the Triune God.” This is a person living Christ for the church.
Paul’s purpose in living Christ was that God’s administration may be carried out through the church. If we want to know how to live Christ for the church, we need to consider the life of Paul and learn of him. He is our pattern, our example.
Among the Epistles written by Paul, 2 Corinthians is unique. This Epistle opens with Paul’s personal testimony. This testimony is not given in a brief way. Rather, it is presented in a detailed way. Paul tells the Corinthians that he did not want them to be ignorant of the afflictions they experienced in Asia. He wanted the believers at Corinth to know that the apostles were heavily pressed, that the pressure was so heavy that it was beyond their capacity to endure. They even despaired of life and had the sentence of death within themselves. According to their feeling and realization, they were dying. Why did God put them into such a situation? God did this because He wanted them to be terminated. Therefore, Paul could say, “God’s intention is to terminate us. He does not want us to live any longer. Instead, He wants Christ to live in us.”
It is easy to talk about termination. But for us to actually be terminated we need to experience a great deal of suffering. For example, the Lord will use your husband or wife and your children to terminate you. If you are a wife, the Lord will use your husband to terminate you. If you are a husband, the Lord will use your wife to cut you to pieces. Furthermore, your children will also be helpful to Him in bringing you to an end so that Christ may live in you.
It is easy to say in a doctrinal way that we have been crucified with Christ, that we no longer live, and that Christ lives in us. This may be nothing more than a teaching. It is possible to go on speaking like this for years, quoting Galatians 2:20 again and again, but still not live Christ for the church.
We all need to experience the inward cutting in a practical way so that we may be terminated. The Lord will even use the saints in the church life to accomplish this for us. In a sense, the church life is a life of slaughter, a life of termination. Praise the Lord that we are willing to be slaughtered because our desire is to live Christ.
If we live Christ, our confidence will be in the God of resurrection, in the God who raises the dead. Then we shall conduct ourselves in the grace of God, and we shall be one with the unchanging Christ of the faithful God, the Christ who is the unique yes. Thank the Lord that in all these verses in 2 Corinthians 1 we see that Paul was a pattern of living Christ for the church.
