This is the final episode of our six-part series, “A Vision of a Church Alive in Christ.” In this episode, Paul concludes his vision for the Church with the “Why” we’re in the world as a Church (1 Corinthians 3:18-23, Ref. Job 5:13, and Psalm 94:11).
Why are we here? As believers in Jesus Christ, what’s our purpose? When we believe, why doesn’t God just take us to heaven? Why doesn’t God save us from this messed-up world?
Why do you think you’re here? There are two perspectives when answering this question; 1) A Worldly perspective and 2) A Spiritual perspective.
The worldly perspective tells us we’re here for personal fulfillment and happiness. We’re here to learn, evolve, grow, acquire things, and achieve personal success. Aren’t these things what we spend our lives chasing? Why? Because this world tells us these things are what we’re here to accomplish. But Paul tells believers this is a deception.
Do not deceive yourselves; Have we all deceived ourselves, or have we all been deceived? In Greek, Paul’s phrasing means “willingly open to being deluded.” He’s saying we’re a willing part of the process of deception. In other words, we’re deceived “Because we ‘want’ to be deceived.”
The promises of this world are like bait on a hook. The bait is being successful, being loved, obtaining things, being famous, rich, respected, and admired by others. This is the ‘glory’ or the ‘outcome’ promised to us if we align ourselves with the gospel of the world. By accepting the deceptive bait, we become one with the message passed on from generation to generation. We are complicit and unified with the world’s deception of mankind.
I’ve known many wealthy and popular men and women. Some are worth ten’s, even hundreds, of millions of dollars. Millions of people idealize them. Some were so powerful that their decisions affected the lives of millions of people. They all had one thing in common; All their money, their fame, and their power couldn’t defeat death. Sooner or later, death will overpower everyone. But the deception is somehow you’re going to be the exception to the rule.
The truth is there’s only one person who has the power to overcome death; Jesus Christ. And he didn’t receive his power through wealth, popularity, amassing possessions, or having a great army. His power to defeat death came from the truth of God, not a deception. Jesus came into the world to bring us the truth about life so that we could reject the world’s delusions.
If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, What does this mean? Does it mean that we are to put aside education and understanding the ways of the world? No. Paul says, ‘If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age.’ His meaning is you can learn everything there is to learn about the world, mankind, the universe, or anything else, just know that the world’s knowledge doesn’t make you smart or wise. How many books have been written by someone who’s figured out the keys to success? They think they have unlocked the wisdom and knowledge of this world to find happiness, love, success, fame, and wealth.
You should become fools so that you may become wise; How do we become fools? Does Paul mean to become fools of the world is to become wise of the Spirit? To become a fool (Moros; to shut out or shut up. From musterion; meaning being silent) in this context means, when compared with spiritual knowledge, to recognize our insufficiency. To become a fool is to take God’s word simply and acknowledge our inability to comprehend it without the assistance of God’s Spirit. Paul is saying you can learn all you want about the world, but learning the ways of the world and the ways of God are vastly different. And if it came to which knowledge was best for us, it would be the knowledge of God is superior to the knowledge of the world. But this is the opposite of the way the world understands it.
For the wisdom of the world is foolishness in God’s sight; The world’s wisdom is foolishness (moria; absurdity) or meaningless to God. Think of the ramifications of this statement. This statement shows that humanity’s knowledge is distinct from God’s. It reveals to us there are two paths in life; 1) the ways of mankind and 2) the way of God. Whatever plans or inventions the world comes up with is of no use in the sight of God. Any plan of salvation invented by the world’s knowledge is silly to God. This is why you can’t use the world’s knowledge or wisdom to prove the existence of God or the spiritual realm. God proves this in these two verses; Job 5:13 and Psalm 94:11. The worldly thinking of the knowledgeable and educationally sophisticated is ‘empty.’
No more boasting about human leaders; Stop bragging about your accomplishments and the accomplishments of others. Your bragging is silly to God. Why is such boasting silly?
It’s silly to boast because All things are yours, whether Paul, Apollos, Cephas, the world, life, death, the present, or the future. You have access to everything that is of God. Those who minister to you are a gift from God. They’re servants giving you the wisdom of God. Those who serve you in Christ don’t come up with their knowledge on their own. It was given to them. Their gifts are given to them. There is no boasting. Your life, my life, and Paul’s life are gifts from God. Our future life after death is a gift from God. Tomorrow and the days after that are a gift from God. Everything in creation belongs to God. All the wisdom, knowledge, and understanding of the world, life, death, the present, the future, the Spirit, everything belongs to God. And you have access to all of it; as Paul says, all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God. Why do we have access to all of this? Because we are in Christ. God has privileged you and me with the gift of union with Christ, who is in union with God. In John 14:11-14 Jesus tells us All things are ours.
Jesus said if you have seen me, you have seen my Father. All are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God. If you have seen the church, then you have seen Christ; if you’ve seen Christ, then you’ve seen the Father (John 13:34-35).
Why are we here? In John 17:20-23 Jesus says we are here as a remedy for the world. God sent Jesus into the world to save mankind, and Jesus accomplished God’s will for humanity. As Paul presented his vision for the Church Alive in Christ, Jesus gave his vision for the church to the disciples. His vision was one of unity, glory, and love. The vision Jesus had for the church was a vision of a Family of God.
Glory; doxa – to be thought of in a very apparent way, with honor or reputation.
The Glory the Father gave his Son is the same glory the Son gave to all who believe in the Son. This glory is given to believers by the admittance into the union with the Father and Son.
Matthew 5:14-16
All who believe in Christ are made one with the Father and Son. We’re not one in nature, but we are one in our purpose. Our purpose is the same as Christ’s: to seek and save what was lost. God doesn’t take us out of the world because we’re a cure for the world deluded by evil. We’re continuing the ministry of Jesus to bring salvation to a world deceived by evil by speaking the wisdom of God and overcoming the darkness of death with the light of the life of Christ.
The church is God’s creation, his workmanship, and his gift to mankind. The Church Alive in Christ is eternal and beyond human accomplishment or comprehension. The Church is exclusive to no single human doctrine or philosophical concept. The Church doesn’t belong to a privileged group with special insight or knowledge. The Church is a gift from God; all who are united with Jesus Christ by faith have received all the accomplishments of Christ through God.
The church is a cure for the deceit of the world;
The church is a cure for the pride of the world;
The church is a cure for the foolishness of the world;
The church is a cure for the poverty of the world;
The church is a cure for the division of the world;
The church is a cure for the death of the world;
Believers in Jesus Christ are united with the Father and the Son. This unity is the church, God’s cure for a delusional world. The lies of this temporary life deceive the world, but the church offers the truth of eternal life. This is what the church is supposed to do, but is it? Is the church fulfilling its glory as a cure and shining light on the deception and foolishness in the world? Or has the church become part of the deception? That’s a question each of us must answer for ourselves to discover “WHY” we’re in the world. What are you doing to shine a light on the delusion?
I hope this episode has helped us all to understand how important our purpose is as a Church to the world. We are the cure for the craziness going on in our world. We ask why the world is upside down; it’s upside down because the Church is going along with the deception rather than being the cure for it.
