I am preaching a series on 1 Corinthians, and just a couple of chapters in, I am being reminded of the great glory and depths available to those who have His Spirit. And I am struck by a disparity that I have encountered over these past couple of decades of pastoral ministry. What accounts for the gap between what the apostle Paul says is true of God’s people, and what believers truly experience?
And it seems like the book of 1 Corinthians was written to address this very topic. We have so much available to us in Jesus. We have the power of the cross. We have Christ who is both the power of God and the wisdom of God. We have been given His Spirit who actually wrote His Word (the Bible), AND gives us insights into how to apply it to our lives. And Paul also says that we have been given the mind (mindset) of Christ. There are other little things mentioned like salvation, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption that belong to those who believe as well.
We have been given so much. So why are we so content to stay on the surface?
I am convinced that we need regular reminders of the great things God has done for us in the gospel so that we are motivated to draw near to Him in gladness and joy. Without regular reminders of the gospel, we will slide back into wrong shallow thinking. Thinking that either says, “I am doing great things for God and He must be blessed to have me!” or “I need to steer clear of God for a while because He’s probably really mad at me!” Either error leads to the same place . . . Shallow swimming in the deep end.
I am encouraged, when I take the time to regularly reflect on the amazing, jaw-dropping things that God has done for me through His Son Jesus Christ! And when I trust Him enough to take the floaties off, I find that there is so much more to this life with God than just staying on the surface in the deep end.
