Tuesday 30 April 2019

Psalm: Psalm 113

Background

As with other New Testament letters, Paul begins 1 Corinthians with a preface that states who is writing and to whom the letter is addressed, and then a greeting. In this letter the greeting wishes the readers grace and peace. Those are offered in the name of “God our Father” and also “the Lord Jesus Christ”. The doctrine of the Trinity was still to be worked out in the following centuries of the life of the early Church but we see here the ‘data’ or ‘raw materials’ from which the doctrine was constructed. Jesus bears the divine name, “Lord”. “Lord” was used to translate the name of God in the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures which the first Christians used. Jesus is not God the Father, but there is a new understanding of God which cannot be separated from the person of Jesus.

The final statement in this this passage is crucial. The Corinthian Christians – like us – are called by God “into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord". The Greek word, koinonia, which is translated as ‘fellowship’ refers to far more than companionship or friendship. An insight into its meaning can be gained from John 17:21 where Jesus prays, “As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us”. This is another of the New Testament statements came to be given systematic expression in the doctrine of the Trinity.

One of the terms by which the Trinity is characterised is ‘co-inherence’ – each Person of the Trinity ‘inheres’ in the other Persons. The Son is in the Father and the Father is in the Son, and the same is said of the Holy Spirit. But Jesus’ prayer in John 17:21 is that we, his disciples, are also to be “in us”. We also are to share in the koinonia of God. As we reflect on ‘the wisdom of the cross’ this week it is important also to know that this is to be drawn into the koinonia of Christ’s suffering (see Philippians 3:10).

To Ponder:

• What does it mean to you to name Jesus as ‘the Lord’?
• In what ways do you look to God to “strengthen you to the end” (v, 8)?
• How do you respond to God’s call “into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord”?