Key Verse 3:11
"For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ."
The thriving sea port city Corinth was famous for its intellectual pursuits, material prosperity and moral corruption. Corinth was New York and Las Vegas combined. Maybe the motto for Corinth was "What happens in Corinth, stays in Corinth." Paul began his ministry in Corinth on his second missionary journey (Acts 18:6-17) God worked mightily. Greeks, slaves, Roman and Jews accepted the gospel. Paul remained for about one and a half years in Corinth. After five years, fellow workers told him about the problems within the church. Fights, immoral behavior, lawsuits, gender issues, etc began to plague the church. Rather than bringing the spirit of Christ into the community and culture. The members began to bring the culture of the Corinth into the church. It soon became like a malignant cancer and the church was on the verge of dying.
Paul wrote the letters of Corinthians to deal with the spiritual cancer. Paul's tool of choice to rid the cancer is to simply give the gospel message. In today's passage Paul deals with the church. What is a church? The English word "church" was translated from the Greek word "ekklesia," which has the basic meaning of an organized assembly. It is not a building, but a group of believers. In chapter 6, Paul uses the church as an individual. How does he help the group of believers who are in such disarray? He teaches them that God grows church. Second, Jesus is the foundation of church. Third, The Holy Spirit dwells in the church.
First, God grows the church.
In verse 1-4, Paul address the church's spiritual condition. Look at verse 1 "Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ." When they should have been spiritual, they remain "mere infants in Christ." In other words, they were babies. Babies believe that they are the center of the universe. They are self-centered and self absorbed. They get really mad if they don't get their way. They have expect you to clean up their mess. As parents we lovingly accept that as long as they're babies. But if they continued this behavior when they are adults, it would be annoying. This was the problem in the church at Corinth. They had a severe case of stunted spiritual growth. Instead of growing up to maturity, the Christians there had remained in a state of spiritual infancy.
As a result of their immaturity were dividing the church between teams based on their favorite church leader (4). Some said I follow "Paul", others said I follow "Apollos." They boasted when their favorite teacher gave an inspiring message. They became jealous when another leader had more members. They were like little kids in the playground who boasted "My dad is stronger and smarter than your dad." Paul became like a mother trying to pacify crying and demanding babies.
Look at verse 5-7 "What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow."
In these verses, Paul wanted them to have a right view of church leaders. They are only servants! The Corinthians worshipped Apollos and Paul as if they were super athletes or rock stars. But Paul said they are nothing more than janitors or busboys. Church leader are like everyone else. They are weak and prone to sin. But God uses them. Paul said he planted the seed, Apollos watered. But neither of them could make the seed grow. The Corinthians had no idea who was behind the growth! Paul helped them focus on God who is the master gardener who makes things grow! His invisible hand gives life to the seeds to become a beautiful flowers or plants that feeds the multitude. Paul gives credit to God for his growth. He said in 1 Cor. 15:10 "By the grace of God, I am what I am." Paul gives credit to God for the changing lives. Paul says back in 1:13 that he didn't die for their sins, and they weren't baptized in his name. He said in 1:30, It is because of God that you are in Christ. God is the one who deserves our boasting! Sometimes, when we experience success in our jobs, school, in ministry or in our families, we have a habit of patting ourselves in the back and say "Good job." But we must realize, it is God who blesses us our faith and labor. It is God who blesses us with growth.
Look at verse 8-9 " The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building." In these verses, Paul is basically saying "No need to fight, we are all on the same team!" Paul was the first one there, the evangelist, the church planter; and when he left, God sent Apollos, the Bible teacher who continued to build the church up. Paul and Apollos didn't compete but complemented each other. They aer working for the same purpose and goal. They were like Batman and Robin. Christians have a bad habit of thinking their ministry is better than others. I use to think our college ministry is far superior, but this is immature. A few years ago, I met a Pastor who serves and prays for male prostitutes in the south side of Chicago. His ministry is equally important as ours and I should pray for him. We are all on the same team as God's fellow workers.
Second, Jesus Christ is the foundation of the Church.
Look at verse 10,11 "By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. "
In verses 10,11, Paul's concern here is about the quality of the workmanship that are contributed to the building of the church. The most important structure of any building is the foundation. It doesn't matter how ornate the facade of the building is. If the foundation is not solid or secure, the house will easily topple and fall like a house of cards. Look at verse 11 "For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ."
Jesus laid the foundation by laying down his life for us. Paul mentions the foundation in 1 Cor. 2:2b "...Jesus Christ and him crucified." Christ set the foundation through his blood, sweat, tears and his death on the cross. We sinned and deserved God's wrath. Sin demands payment. Someone had to pay sins. Jesus paid the penalty of our sins on the cross. Jesus took our places on the cross. Through his death on the cross, he reconciled us with God. This foundation is our salvation. Only a church built on "Jesus Christ and him crucified" survives. What does this mean to us practically? A foundation of Jesus means, a church is sustained simply by the grace of Jesus. What happens? The people in the church serve joyfully remembering what Jesus has done for them on the cross. They resolved all issues remembering Jesus and the gospel message.
But then, there is a danger to lose that foundation. This is the reason why he said in verse 11, they must be "careful how he builds." Look at verse 12-15 "If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames."
Verse 12 says that we have a choice of two opposite kinds of building materials. The first three things that are listed, gold, silver, and precious stones, have some things in common: They are permanent, beautiful, valuable, and difficult to obtain. They are of highest quality. Verse 14 says that they remain through the test of fire. A very interesting fact is they thrive on heat. Precious stones such as diamonds are forged by fire; gold and silver is a conductor of heat and electricity. Imagine a house built solely on these materials. The house will be virtually indestructible. The other three things listed, wood, hay and straw, are just the opposite. They are low quality, cheap, and easy to obtain. Verse 15 says that they will burn up. They are a fire hazard, highly combustible. In the first three chapters, Paul identifies these precious stones and elements as "the message of the cross", "Christ and him crucified", "the wisdom of God." While the materials that are cheap and low quality are the wisdom of men, feelings, boasting, and even our good works. Other shoddy materials can be on your career, money, career, material possessions and relationships.
Paul is saying all human beings are builders. So what is your foundation built upon? We must be careful how we build our "life house." If we build using garbage, then we produce more garbage. What we build will impact our lives, our children and even our eternal destiny. Recently, I read an alarming statistic. About 80 % of all churches have plateau or in the state of decline. Some 3,500 churches close each year. In a survey by Lifeway Research, 70% of high school students leave the church who belong to a church. Researchers say the issue is foundational. Two main reasons for leaving is they simply wanted to break from the church. The other reason they leave church is members seem judgmental or hypocritical. If church members don't have the foundation in the gospel, how do they expect the youth to know the gospel? Youth want to know what does it mean to live a life in Christ. Many of them misunderstand the Gospel, they think it about following rules, rather than what Jesus did for them. May God help us to build our lives and our church on the foundation of Jesus Christ.
Third, The Holy Spirit fills the Church.
Look at verse 16-17, "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple."
Here Paul wanted each of them to have a right view of one another. They viewed each other as rivals or enemies. They used and abused one another. Paul wanted them to see that each are created in the image of God and God's holy temple. Each of them is sacred and a building where the holy spirit dwells. Anyone who destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. Here destroy means to "corrupt."
How do we damage or corrupt our temples? Look at verse 18, it is to apply the deceptive "standards of this age" or the "wisdom of this world" on others. This is exactly what the Corinthians were doing with each other. When the church members got on each other nerves, they applied the wisdom of the world: "I don't get mad, I get even." We see this happening today. When one girl accepted Jesus, she decided to live a pure life before marriage. Her father didn't honor her decision rather he thought she was crazy and brainwashed. When I decided to accept Jesus, my parents said, "It is good to believe in Jesus, but you have to make money!"
How does the holy spirit work in our lives? Verse 18 says become a "fool" so that you may become wise. In other words, we must be humble and acknowledge we are nothing. We can't change others nor can we change ourselves. We must rely on the power of the Holy Spirit. We must ask the Holy Spirit to dwell in our temples.
Look at verses 21-23 "So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God." As a conclusion, he admonishes them to not boast in men, who are nothing. A mature Christian can learn from Apollos, Cephas, the world or life or death or the present and the future. The idea is Christ can be discovered in every aspect of life. Even things as painful as death can point us to Christ.
In this passage, we learn we church leaders are nothing; it is God who makes things grow. We learn Jesus Christ is the true foundation to any Church. Finally, the Church is where God's temple is. We can learn to respect and learn from other ministries. May God bless our prayer that our lives and our church may be firmly secure in the foundation that Jesus Christ laid.
