Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, 2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours: 3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge— 6 because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.
Life is full of problems. Every person I know, or have ever known, and will ever know, has had to face problems. That’s just the way life is. For everyone, life is full of challenges, difficulties, and obstacles to overcome. Even so, we seem to never get used to it. And often, we act surprised when those problems come our way.
Even Christians have problems! That’s right, the people who have given their lives to God also have problems. And sometimes we don’t handle them very well. So many times we deal with our problems just like people who do not know God. The temptation is to get lost in the problem–– to focus on it. As Christians, we need to focus on what makes us unique. What is it that makes us different from people who do not know God? The answer is simple–– God! What makes us different is that God is at work in a unique way in our lives. Jesus is living his life in us and through us. That’s what sets us apart. That’s what makes us unique. And we need to learn to handle our problems as those who have the Divine Son of God living within us.
Churches have problems too. The message of First Corinthians is written to a troubled church. The church in Corinth was full of problems. And the apostle Paul is writing to that church in order to deal with all of the problems that have been reported to him. Even the early church had problems! Often, I hear people say that if we could just get back to the way things were in the early church, all our problems would be solved. We need to remember that Corinth was the early church! The fact is that every church has problems. And we will continue to have problems as long as we have people.
The key to what he says is found in verse 9, in the phrase, God is faithful. Just like in the picture above of "Old Faithful". God is faithful. In all that we are and have in Christ, God is faithful. God is at work in our lives in every way that we need him to be at work. God is faithful. Today look for ways God is at work in your life.
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