The Corinthian church had a tendency to judge spiritual things by earthly standards. Therefore Paul, a godly man if ever there was one, did not seem to measure up in the eyes of some of them. In this chapter Paul tries to clarify the issue for them. They need to begin seeing things from God’s perspective rather than through the eyes of this world. Why? For starters, in the unseen, spiritual realm a serious war is raging. Our duty is to take up our weapons and fight.
I just left the City-County Building, where I filed forms for a property tax exemption on a house that was donated to the church a while back. While there I asked about our most current bill for that property, which said we owed $0.00, due to an overpayment. The lady there simply reiterated that we had overpaid.
“How did we overpay? I don’t believe we ever paid more than what our bills told us to pay. Why would we pay more?”
She said, “Our records show that someone paid toward your bill on March 15, 2010 – just last month. So it looks like you are covered for the year. That’s why your bill says $0.00.”
So, to whoever paid that: Thank you!!
“Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God. For the administration of this service not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God.”
– 2 Corinthians 9:10-12 (NKJV)
Giving is a much abused and, therefore, often misunderstood aspect of the Christian life. The Bible clearly tells us we should give, but so do a lot of con artists who pretend to be servants of Christ. We need to avoid being taken in by charlatans, but we don’t do this by ignoring what God really wants us to know about giving as part of the practice of our faith. Along with chapter 8, which we did a couple of weeks back, this chapter is one of the more important chapters that teach us how and why to give.
What’s the point of the resurrection of Jesus Christ? What’s the purpose of it, the sense of it? What does it mean? Why did it happen? Why did Jesus Christ rise from the dead – and why should we care whether He did or not anyway? These are the questions we will explore in the message today.
Central Reflections 