In dealing with the problems in the church at Corinth, Paul includes the verses we quoted at the beginning of this message. Even 1:2 is an aspect of Paul’s handling of the problems. In this verse Paul refers to those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, both theirs and ours. It may seem to most readers of this book that this verse has nothing to do with the problems Paul confronts later in this Epistle. Furthermore, it may appear that nothing in this verse is helpful in solving these problems. When I studied this book many years ago, making a detailed outline of the whole Epistle and writing many notes, I did not pay much attention to this verse. I wondered what a statement about calling on the name of the Lord Jesus in every place had to do with the problems among the believers at Corinth. If I had been the writer, I probably would not have included this verse. Nevertheless, 1:2 contains an important tool used by Paul in dealing with the problems among the Corinthians.
First Corinthians 1:9 seems to be more directly related to the problems among the Corinthians. Paul begins this verse by saying, “God is faithful.” Then he goes on to say that through this faithful God we have been called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ. I do not think that the Corinthian believers understood what Paul meant by the fellowship of the Son of God. But why would he use an expression that his readers could not understand? What was his aim in pointing out that they had been called into the fellowship of God’s Son? What help could this render to the divisive Corinthians, to those who were saying that they were of Paul, Apollos, Cephas, or of a narrow Christ? To the Corinthians this must have sounded like a foreign language. As this Epistle was read among them, some may have said to themselves, “Paul, why do you tell us that we have been called into the fellowship of the Son of God? What do you mean by this?”
In 6:12-20 Paul deals with the abuse of freedom in foods and in the body. Suddenly, he inserts the words, “But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” We may wonder what this sentence has to do with the abuse of eating and of the body. Of course, we may gain some understanding by reading this verse in its context. But if we do not have Paul’s vision, we shall not understand why this verse is inserted. We shall not appreciate that it is a very useful tool in dealing with the Corinthians and their problems.
In 10:1-13 Paul takes the history of the children of Israel in the Old Testament as a type of the New Testament believers (v. 6). Actually, here Paul specifically uses the experience of the children of Israel in the wilderness as a type to warn the Corinthians. Paul tells them that God’s people passed through the sea and “all were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea” (10:2). Furthermore, they “all ate the same spiritual food” and “all drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank of a spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was Christ” (vv. 3-4). Then in verse 5 Paul speaks a serious word, saying, “But with most of them God was not well pleased, for they were strewn along in the wilderness.” Then Paul says explicitly “these things occurred as types of us.” If we read this portion of 1 Corinthians in a thoughtful way, we may wonder what was Paul’s main purpose in giving this warning.
This warning is related to the enjoyment of Christ as the good land. Here Paul seems to be saying, “You Corinthians must be careful. The good land lay ahead of the children of Israel as God’s promise. But most of them did not enter the land. Rather, with most of the children of Israel God was not well pleased; they died and were strewn in the wilderness. They did not receive the good land as their inheritance promised by God. You must be careful lest your situation become the same. You believers at Corinth also have a goal promised by God, and this goal is to enter into Christ as the good land. However, there is the definite possibility that you will not reach Christ as the land, but instead be scattered in the wilderness and thereby fail to receive the promise of reaching Christ as the land.” This thought regarding the good land is definitely implied in these verses.
After issuing the warning based on the type of the children of Israel, Paul goes on to speak about the Lord’s table. He says in 10:16, “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a fellowship of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a fellowship of the body of Christ?” If we have the proper realization of Paul’s purpose in writing, we shall see that this word is a continuation of the warning about losing the enjoyment of the good land, the full enjoyment of the rich Christ promised by God. Furthermore, the enjoyment of this rich Christ is the very fellowship of His body and blood. In other words, this enjoyment refers to the table.