Life Study of 1 Corinthians
The
Message 10 - FOUR CRUCIAL MATTERS FOR THE PARTICIPATION IN
CHRIST
Scripture Reading : 1Cor.1:2,9; 6:17; 10:16
THE RICH ENJOYMENT OF CHRIST AS OUR PORTION
Let us now put these four matters together and see what kind
of picture they present. In 1:2 we see that, based on His economy, God
has given Christ to us to be our portion. As our portion, Christ is both
theirs and ours. We may enjoy Christ as our unique portion simply by
calling on His name. When we call on the name of the Lord Jesus, we
get His Person, and then this Person becomes our portion.
According to 1:9, God has called us into the fellowship of His
Son, Jesus Christ. This means that He has called us into the enjoyment
and participation of the very Person of Christ as our portion. Because
God has called us into the enjoyment of such a Person, we now should
be those who call on His name. The word called in verse 9 is a repetition
of the same word in verse 2, where Paul speaks of called saints. Through
the faithful God we, the called saints, have been called into the
fellowship, the participation, the enjoyment, of His Son. By calling on
the name of the Lord Jesus, we enjoy Him as the One who is both theirs
and ours. This is the connection and continuation between verses 2 and
9.
Knowing that we have been called into the fellowship of Christ
and that we should now call on Him to enjoy Him as our portion, we
may wonder how we can have this experience of Christ in a practical
way. We may experience Christ through the Spirit as the heavenly
electricity. We have pointed out again and again that in 6:17 Paul says
that he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. The word joined in this
verse is a synonym for fellowship in 1:9. Fellowship and being joined
refer to the same matter. For example, if you are joined to a saint, you
have fellowship with him. The joining is actually the fellowship. This
enables us to see the connection between 1:2 and 9 and 6:17. The
word called in 1:9 connects that verse with 1:2, and the word joined in
6:17 connects that verse with 1:9.
The way to enjoy the Lord experientially is through Him as the
Spirit in our spirit. Today Christ is the life-giving Spirit, and we have a
regenerated human spirit. When we are joined to Him, we become
one spirit with Him. Whenever we are one spirit with the Lord, we are in
the fellowship of Christ. Furthermore, when we exercise our spirit to call
on the name of the Lord Jesus, we apply this fellowship and enjoy
Christ. What a rich enjoyment this is!
This enjoyment is signified by the Lord’s table in chapter ten.
table is a symbol of enjoyment, for the table is a feast. Of course, the
word fellowship is used twice in 10:16 with reference to the fellowship
of the body and blood of the Lord. In 1:9 the fellowship is that in the Son
of God, but in 10:16 this fellowship becomes the fellowship of the Lord’s
body and blood. This indicates that Christ has been processed through
death and resurrection to become the food on the table for our
enjoyment.
The process Christ has gone through can be illustrated by the
process of preparing a chicken to become our food. Before a living
chicken can become food for us, the chicken must be slain, prepared,
and cooked. The Son of God, Jesus Christ, has also been slain,
prepared, processed, “cooked,” to be the body and blood on the
table, ready for us to eat. In this way He is available for our enjoyment.
When we put these four matters together, we have the full
enjoyment of the processed, “cooked,” Son of God. He has become
the Spirit, we have a regenerated spirit, and now these two spirits have
become one. When we exercise our spirit to call on the name of the
Lord Jesus, we enjoy Him as our portion and experience the fellowship
of Christ in a practical way.
The four matters covered by Paul in these verses are tools used
to deal with the problems among the Corinthians. Because these
matters were deep in Paul’s spirit, they came out of his being as he
faced the problems. However, Christians who read this Epistle
superficially do not have any understanding of these matters. But if we
consider these matters and understand them, we shall have a deep
and more comprehensive view of the Lord’s table. Furthermore, if we
have this view when we come to the table, it will make a difference as
far as the enjoyment of Christ is concerned. Also, if we are those who
enjoy the Son of God in this way, all problems will be solved. Praise the
Lord for Paul’s way of dealing with the problems among Christians! We
need to consider the connection between these four verses until our
view becomes very clear. Then we shall touch the depths of the first
ten chapters of 1 Corinthians. It is crucial that we all touch the depths
of this book.
CALLING ON THE NAME OF THE LORD
The One in whom we believe, whom we have received, and who has
entered into us should also be the One upon whom we call. However,
many Christians today pay no attention to this matter of calling on the
name of the Lord Jesus. As we have seen, Paul speaks of this in 1:2, when
he refers to “all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in
every place.” Here the Greek word for call is epikaleo. This word means to
call aloud. To pray in a soft, gentle way is very different from calling aloud
on the name of the Lord Jesus. Suppose a sinner hears the preaching of
the gospel and is persuaded to believe in the Lord and call on Him. He
may pray quietly, “Lord Jesus, I am a sinner. I thank You for dying for me. I
believe in You. Your blood cleanses me. You give me eternal life.” A person
who prays like this can be saved, but he may not be saved in a strong way.
Suppose another person is convinced that he should believe in the Lord
Jesus. But instead of praying quietly, he calls aloud on the name of the
Lord, declaring that he believes in Him and receives Him. If he calls on the
Lord in this way, his experience of salvation will be very strong.
When we call on the name of the Lord Jesus, the One whom we have
received, He becomes ours. This means that He becomes our portion, even
our all-inclusive portion. As our portion, Christ is our life, our life supply, and
everything to us. He is whatever we need: comfort, patience,
righteousness, holiness, power. Then He becomes wisdom to us from God.
This Christ who is our portion is both theirs and ours.
THE MEANING OF FELLOWSHIP
In 1:9 Paul says that God has called us into the fellowship of His Son. The
meaning of the word fellowship is deep and profound. The New Testament
illustrates this fellowship by a feast. In the Gospels the Lord Jesus said that
a feast had been prepared and that people were invited to it (Matt. 22:1-
3; Luke 14:16-17). We all have been invited to a marvelous feast. Here at
the feast we are enjoying course after course. This enjoyment of the feast
is a mutual participation, a co-participation. Thus, in the fellowship of God’s
Son we have enjoyment. This enjoyment, however, is corporate, not
individualistic. As we enjoy this feast together, we have fellowship,
communion.
Some versions translate the Greek word for fellowship, koinonia, as
communion. Fellowship definitely implies communion. To have
communion is to share something in common. When you eat breakfast
alone, you do not enjoy communion. But when you come to a feast
attended by a large number of people and enjoy the feast with them, you
have communion. This communion is a co-enjoyment, a co-participation.
Fellowship also includes communication. Whenever we feast together with
others, there is communication. You communicate with others, and they
communicate with you.
The fellowship into which God has called us is the fellowship of His Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord. This fellowship includes the Triune God, the Father, the
Son, and the Spirit. It is the fellowship of the incarnated, crucified, and
resurrected Christ, the One who in resurrection is the life-giving Spirit. This
all-inclusive One is our feast, and this feast is the fellowship. As those who
have been called into this fellowship, we are now enjoying Christ by
feasting on Him. Furthermore, we have communion and we are in
communication with one another. This fellowship, this communion, is the
church life.
The church life is the resurrection life in which we all participate.
Furthermore, this resurrection is the life-giving Spirit, the life-giving Spirit is
Christ, and Christ is the incarnated God. Christ, an all-inclusive Person, also
implies justification, sanctification, and redemption. Christ is God, even the
Triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. As the incarnated, crucified,
and resurrected One, He is both resurrection and the life-giving Spirit. He is
even our feast. Furthermore, Christ Himself is actually the fellowship into
which God has called us. To say that we have been called into the
fellowship of Jesus Christ means that we have been called into Him. Christ
is the life, the resurrection, the sanctification, the justification, the
redemption, and everything to us. Therefore, He Himself is the fellowship.
EXPERIENCING AND ENJOYING THE FELLOWSHIP
We have seen that the fellowship is the enjoyment of Christ and the co-
participation in Christ. There is no need for us to analyze this fellowship in a
doctrinal way in order to experience it. When you eat breakfast, do you
analyze everything you eat? Do you make a study of the composition of
the eggs, the toast, and the juice? No one would be so foolish as to study
breakfast instead of enjoying it. Furthermore, we should not be concerned
about the utensils used for eating breakfast. How foolish to dispute about
the silverware, the glasses, or the bowls! Would it not be ridiculous for
someone to turn from the food prepared for his enjoyment and to be
occupied with the kind of knives, forks, and spoons on the table?
Nevertheless, this is an illustration of the actual situation among Christians
today. Instead of caring for Christ as their unique portion, many argue
about doctrines and practices.
Suppose you come to a church meeting and find the chairs arranged in a
very unusual way. If this bothers you, it proves that you have not yet seen
what the church is. The proper church life does not depend on a particular
arrangement of chairs. The church is the fellowship, the communion, the
co-participation, the mutual enjoyment, of Christ. This Christ is now the
resurrection and the Spirit. If you have seen that the church life consists in
this fellowship, you will not be concerned about such things as the
arrangement of chairs in the meeting hall. Furthermore, you will not be
distracted from Christ by doctrines or practices.
I would encourage you all to seek the experience and the enjoyment of
the fellowship of God’s Son. The more we enjoy the co-participation in this
fellowship, the better the church life will be. We need to enjoy this
fellowship both at home and in the meetings. Then we shall not be troubled
by opinions, gossip, or different teachings, for we shall not care for anything
other than the practical co-enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ who is to
us the Spirit, the resurrection, and the Triune God. This fellowship is the reality
of the church. Thus, we must seek to experience this fellowship all the time.
Then we shall enjoy Christ in the church.