BOOK
BY BOOK BIBLE STUDY
larrydalexanderbiblestudies.blogspot.com
BIBLE
STUDY LESSON
For
the week beginning Sunday January 14, 2018
ALL WE NEED IS LOVE
1 Corinthians 13
Faith,
Hope, and Love, are the three great enduring things. They are the spiritual
elements that must be embodied in every person, who desires to be a true
follower of CHRIST JESUS, and, who wishes to worship GOD, in spirit, and in
truth. Out of those three elements, “Love” is the greatest.
The word “love” in this chapter is
“charity” or, in the Greek, “agape” and it is “benevolence and affection toward
people”, and “adoration and obedience to GOD”. JESUS says that, we show love
for HIM by obeying HIM, and by obeying HIM we remain in HIS love, just as HE
obeys the FATHER and remains in HIS love (John 15:10). And then HE tells us in Matthew
25:31-46 that HE will “judge” us, when HE returns, and that judgment will be
based on how we reacted to “human need”, or, how we showed or didn’t show
“agape love” towards one another.
In the Apostle Paul’s first letter to the
Corinthians, the segment we now know as chapter 13 is the best-known passage. In
fact, with the exception of Psalm 23, it may be the most well-known chapter in
all of Scripture. Over time, it has come to be known the world over, as the
“Love Chapter”.
In this, now famous passage, Paul, moves
from explaining how to recognize “spiritual gifts” that come from GOD, in the
previous chapter, to how one can measure and express, his or her spirituality,
in the “most excellent way”. Here Paul insists that we succeed in exercising
our gifts, only by showing “Love”, an element of quality so vital, that without
it, not even the greatest of man’s GOD-given abilities can enrich and enhance
the lives of those who possess them, nor, the lives of the people that they
seek to help with those abilities (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
Paul clearly understood that “Love” is not
just an abstract, philosophical idea, but rather, it is practical, and must be
expressed in the everyday actions and attitudes of the believer (verses 4-7).
Even the greatest of spiritual gifts are limited and distorted, by their own
mortalities and imperfections. In other words, no spiritual gift lasts forever,
but rather, they fade and deteriorate in conjunction with the aging process of
the human body (verses 8-12).
However, through it all, we can rely on our
Faith, Hope, and Love, which is, GOD personified, to sustain us. And “Love” is
the greatest quality, because it, quite literally, is the foundation of the
Christian Faith, and, life itself. Understanding that, we can see, quite
vividly, why “Love” is the true measure a person’s spirituality, and it also
exemplifies the closeness of one’s relationship with GOD.
Paul sought to make sure that we realize,
quite readily, who, among us is truly spiritual. And the only way to do that
was, by first, making sure that we understood the true nature of love, and
then, by presenting to us, the criteria, by which we can evaluate the
spirituality of others. This is so we won’t be duped into following the
leadership and advice of false teachers.
Paul, quite simply, shows us in his own
brilliant sort of way, the true “behavioral definition” of “Love”. In this
passage, Paul is saying that, any person, who is a spiritual representative of
GOD, “acts like it”, not just “talks like it”. GOD is love, and when JESUS came
to earth, HE clearly demonstrated that Love to us, and for us, time and time
again. As a result, HE became “LOVE” personified, in the eyes of men, for all
times. HE served to show us what “Love” is supposed to look like as an integral
part of the human, earthly experience, or, in other words, how we are to
incorporate this “Love” into our everyday actions, attitudes, and indeed, into
our existence.
And while it is true that perfection won’t
come to the Church until GOD’s program
for it is consummated with the “second coming” of our LORD and SAVIOR, JESUS
CHRIST, and until then, a church is only perfect when no human being is in it,
we as Christians can still, all reach a high level of maturity, by learning and
becoming accustomed to practicing the immortal acts of Love, already exhibited
to us, by CHRIST JESUS, during HIS first advent.
As for “Faith” and “Hope”, they are merely
manifestations of “Love”, but because of it, they too, will endure forever.
All, that we know now, is partial and incomplete, because we are yet, mere
children in CHRIST. And when we are children, we are expected to act like
children, just as, when we grow up, we are expected to put away childish things
and behavior.
Before we come to know CHRIST, we’ve
already long become accustomed to looking at ourselves, through an unclean
mirror, and, as a result, we do not see ourselves, as we really are. The blood
of CHRIST gives us something, by which we can use, to clean that mirror off,
and begin seeing ourselves clearly, for the very first time.
We are then able to walk into the store of
GOD, and pick us up a free bottle of “faith”. And then, we can take it home and
use it to spray some “hope” on that unclean mirror. And with “Love”, we can
wipe away the old life, and usher in the new. Then, and only then, will we be
able to turn ourselves around, and begin heading in the right direction, in the
newness of life, that is found only in CHRIST JESUS.
A
Sunday school lesson by,
Larry
D. Alexander
LARRY D. ALEXANDER- Official Website
No comments:
Post a Comment