A letter to us!

To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:  - 1 Corinthians 1.2

A few weeks ago Hannes, a man in our church was sharing at the Table Service. He was pointing out that in several epistles the writer addresses ‘all them who are in Christ Jesus’ or something of the sort. I thought of that when I started the book of 1 Corinthians this morning.

Paul writes to ‘to the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ, who are called to be saints’ and then he writes ‘with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, and indeed not only our Lord, but theirs as well.’

I know Paul probably was just trying to show the importance of the universality of the gospel message for the Corinthians and to remind them that they were one with the rest of the body of Christ, but I like the message and I think there may be a hint here for us.

Paul does, after all, say ‘to everyone in every place who calls on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, who is also their Lord.’

‘Everyone in every place.’ Wouldn’t that include those of us who are saved now?

The body of Christ is an amazing thing. We share ‘our Lord Jesus Christ’ with the Corinthian believers and with everyone else who has believed through the centuries.

Praise God that the letter written to Corinth is for us today as well. Praise God that from the very start He was thinking of us. It reminds me of Jesus prayer for the disciples and not for them alone, but for all who believe through their words.

It certainly makes the word of God seem vital to us today!