! Corinthians 1:9-17 Part 2

The Apostle Paul highlighted the problem of divisions when he asked: “…is Christ divided?” The answer, of course is a resounding NO. The gospel message is the same regardless of the personality that proclaims it. 

Act 16:31
And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved….”

Jesus is the only person that can save. 

Thus, those who proclaim him are merely messengers.  Regardless of how sophisticated or eloquent the speech; regardless of how erudite or plain spoken the speech, the message is still the same “…Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved….”

If they brought any other message, they were working on the side of Satan.

Gal 1:8-9
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.  As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

It was the message, not the messenger that mattered.  To focus on the messenger was to empty the cross of its power.  No matter how eloquent or plain spoken the messenger, the astounding fact remained the same. God, himself had left his place in heaven and come to earth.

Mat 1:23
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

Joh 14:9
Jesus said …Whoever has seen me has seen the Father….

But more than that he had come with the express purpose of sacrificing himself for the sake of his rebellious creation.  He allowed his creation to abuse him, mock him, curse him, beat and brutalize him and finally attempt to kill him.  The Lord of the universe humbled himself and let his creation abuse and attack and try to kill him all in an effort to save them from themselves.  What matchless humility.

Philippians 2:8 ESV
And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Why? The Apostle Paul says it is because he loves us so much.

Rom 5:8
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

His sacrifice was the only one that was large enough and pure enough and sufficient to cover all the sins of all mankind, past, present and future. Only God was able to supply what was needed in the way of sacrifice and he without hesitation was willing to do it for us. The cross was not only proof of his love but also a measure of the depth of that love.  With divine intent he willingly submitted himself to the brutalities and indignities imposed on him by those to whom he had given life and breath itself.

With his sacrifice came the possibility of salvation and eternity in the presence of God.  All that is required is to believe and accept his freely given gift to us. When we do we become part of his ecclesia/church regardless of who the messenger is who brought us the message.