After 37 chapters, God finally speaks. Many today think they know how the world began. Men who’ve barely lived 50 years speak of 5 billion years and materialistic theories. I think God laughs at man’s wisdom. I love science and history, but I trust and love God’s revealed Word more.
The Psalmist reflected on the stories told by their fathers of God’s miraculous deeds in bringing them out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. Although those stories were from “days of old,” the author still leaned on them in faith to give him hope for the days ahead. These faith stories, although not experienced first hand, yet inspired hope. Remembering the hand of God in the past, we too can be encouraged as we face the future.
The Spirit is both “of the Lord” and is the Lord. This is the paradox of the Trinity. So, the one who turns to the Lord has indeed turned to the Spirit. And where the Spirit is, “there is freedom.” Freedom from what, to do what? Certainly not freedom to do whatever we want. This would not be freedom, but slavery to the very sinful flesh which already rules human hearts. No, the one who turns to the Lord has been set free from the letter of the law that kills, to the Spirit which gives life (2 Cor. 3:6). And they have been given the freedom to understand and follow the Word of God according to the Spirit’s wisdom and power. This is true freedom. The bonds of condemnation are removed from our wrists and the veil that blinds us to spiritual understanding is removed from our eyes. We are free to no longer be slaves, but children of God.
David addressed the spiritual emptiness of his own soul by expressing his feeling towards God. His soul’s thirst for God was just as real as a deer’s thirst for water. His psalms are like prayers recorded in a spiritual journal. They reveal the heart of the man that God Himself called a “man after my own heart” (Acts 13:22). David knew that only God could satisfy his soul’s deep longing. Many today don’t recognize this need. Sure, they feel the spiritual emptiness, but they vainly attempt to fill it or medicate it with worldly things. Yet, only God will satisfy. As Augustine once said, “Thou hast made us for Thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.”
In spite of some painful differences that had occurred between the Corinthians and Paul, he reminded them of the spiritual reality of their oneness in Christ. For it was God who had put them together in Christ, establishing them as belonging to Him. God had anointed, sealed and guaranteed them with the down payment of His Holy Spirit. It is good to remember the oneness we have in Christ when disunity or disagreement may come. For the same Spirit lives in each of us as a deposit guaranteeing our future together in Christ.
Paul requested that the Corinthian church be in prayer for him and his fellow ministers of the gospel. This was a request for corporate prayers, which he called real “help.” The modern church often overlooks the help that is found in prayer, especially the combined and unified prayers of the many. Do you need help today? Ask the saints of God to join together to pray on your behalf.
The apostle Paul closed his epistle to the Corinthians with five instructions for men that are more than applicable today.
1) “Be watchful.” – Be vigilant, stay awake, stand guard. You are built to be a protector. Protect your families, churches, and neighborhoods.
2) “Stand firm in the faith.” – Persevere and grow in faith. Know and stand fast in the Word. Be spiritual leaders who never give up.
3) “Act like men.” – This is a call to biblical masculinity. Grow up. Stop acting like little boys still playing with their toys. Real men are like trucks. They run better when carrying a load. Take responsibility. Work. Sacrifice. Endure pain without complaint. Serve.
4) “Be strong” – Grow strong. Exercise your body and mind to be strengthened for defense of your family and faith. Be courageous. Gain mastery over your appetites and desires, so that you have self-control.
5) “Love” – Let love be the motive for all action. This is “agape” love, which is sacrificial and unconditional. Be full of passion and fire for God and for others. Answer the call to be a man of God with great passion and enthusiasm. Put away passivity. Love!
Job, the man of sorrow, asked, “Is there life after death?” Or more specifically, “Is there a resurrection of the dead?” Those suffering grief have joined Job throughout the centuries asking the same question. Yet, no definitive answer to this question was given until the coming of the Man of Sorrow, Jesus, who answered, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live” (John 11:25). Job’s question has been answered.
We are all children of Adam and as such, subject to the wages of sin, which is death. Yet, God has sent Christ, who is like a second Adam, that we might be born again becoming the righteous children of God and receiving eternal life. Just as Adam’s death pointed to our own, so Christ’s resurrection points to our own future resurrection. Christ is the prototype, the “firstborn among many brothers” (Rom. 8:29). Since Christ is raised, so we who believe will be raised.
The Lord is our salvation. Those who have believed and received Christ as Lord and Savior have been saved from sin’s penalty, are being saved from sin’s power and will ultimately be saved from sin’s presence. However, this salvation does not mean that his followers will not experience trouble. In fact, Jesus warned his disciples that “in this world there will be trouble” (John 16:33). Yet, He is not only our salvation, but our “stronghold,” our fortress of protection and defense. When storms of tribulation come, run to Him, for He has overcome the world.