Now, we're going to spend some time together in the introductory words from Paul of 1 Corinthians,
page 1144 of our church Bible.
We're going to read verses 1 to 9.
As we think together about that statement, we believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son,
our Lord, let's note together, even as we read, how often in which ways Paul describes Jesus,
and we'll think together why that matters.
1 Corinthians chapter 1 at verse 1.
Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God and our brother Sosthenes,
to the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be His holy people,
together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I always thank my God for you because of His grace given you in Christ Jesus,
for in Him you have been enriched in every way, with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge,
God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you.
Therefore, you do not lack any spiritual gift, as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.
He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
We're going to begin this week, as we did last week, with a question, perhaps a question that you have had asked
or you've heard debates about, are all religions basically the same?
Don't all roads lead to God?
Don't all roads lead up the same mountain?
So you may have heard that from a secular context, people without any religious background
imagining that all religions are basically the same.
You sometimes find it from people from within religious backgrounds,
trying to smooth over the differences that exist to create that idea that,
well, so long as everyone is worshipping, we're all worshipping the same God.
I want us to ask the question, does that make sense?
And to ask the question another way, what would Jesus say if He was asked the question,
are all religions basically the same?
In John chapter 8 verse 42, Jesus said, if God were your Father, you would love Me.
So there's a particular connection between the Father and the Son and how we should feel about the Father and the Son.
John 14 verse 6 that we just read, I am the way, the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through Me.
And to go through all the Gospels, we would find Jesus making many exclusive claims, exclusive demands to loyalty.
And to read the New Testament, we begin to understand that without Jesus,
the Bible says we're not worshipping the true God.
Without Jesus, there is no Trinity.
Without Jesus, there is no final revelation from God.
Without Jesus, there is no salvation.
Without Jesus, there is no way back home to our God and Creator.
So to listen to the whole testimony of the Bible is to understand that true worship must be Christ-centred.
And so it's really important to be precise, especially about the person and the work of Jesus.
Whenever you read, whenever we share the Apostles' Creed together,
you maybe notice that there's so much of the Creed devoted to Jesus.
Why is that?
Because He is at the center.
And there's so much confusion and misunderstanding that the Apostles' Creed helpfully clarifies for us.
So when there are suggestions that good intentions is what matters,
that being sincere as a worshipper is what it's all about,
we need to understand from Scripture that it's no value if we're not worshipping in and through the Lord Jesus.
When other religions say, well, Jesus was a good man, or a great man, or a wise guru,
even if someone says He was a chosen by God man,
that is no help for salvation or for worship.
So the Jesus we must worship and proclaim is Jesus Christ, God's only Son and our Lord.
And that's why we read from the book of 1 Corinthians.
Because I think we have a lot to learn today from this letter and from what was happening in the church.
So imagine, so Corinth was a large city, a significant city.
Imagine the church kind of around this size, maybe slightly larger.
Imagine if we were the only Christians in this city.
And in this city, we were surrounded by pagan worship everywhere.
And in fact, until a few months ago, that had been our background.
And the city was known for immorality, famous or infamous through the Roman Empire,
for its wild living.
And in this city, there's competition and fighting,
because everybody wants to be top dog and number one.
And within this city, there's also the pressure of political rule claiming absolute loyalty on its citizens.
Welcome to Corinth.
But in some ways, welcome to Edinburgh.
The challenge that Paul faces as he writes this letter to these young Christians in Corinth,
is that while the gospel is intended to both break down boundaries because of grace,
but to establish boundaries, because God set apart people who are called to be holy,
the boundaries between the church and the world is almost non-existent.
Worldly values have been accepted.
And so Paul is writing to a church divided.
See if you have time to read the letter of 1 Corinthians and read it through that lens of,
here is a people who are divided.
You'll see it coming everywhere.
The first four chapters, we discover they're divided over leadership.
I think Paul's the best.
I think Peter's the best.
We are of the Jesus party.
They're a church divided over sexual ethics.
In chapter 5.
In chapter 6, we understand they're divided because they're taking each other to courts of law.
They're divided over, what should we do about food offered to idols?
Chapter 8.
How should we practice public worship?
Chapter 11.
How do we exercise our spiritual gifts?
Chapters 12 and 13.
They're even divided over how to understand the resurrection, as we discovered in chapter 15.
And so Paul writes to this young church, this divided church,
and he really gives them one answer to their division.
And the answer is Jesus.
Takes them back to Jesus.
To understand that he is everything.
They're understanding the truth about who Jesus is,
and the difference that Jesus makes is what will create a Christ-centered worshiping community.
That's where their holiness will come from.
That's where their unity will come from.
In the present, before the writing of Paul's letter,
they're spotting the difference between the church and the world.
It was like doing those Where's Wally puzzles.
If you've done Where's Wally, you know you're looking really hard.
It's really difficult to find Wally.
It's really hard to spot because they all look kind of similar.
What Paul calls the church towards is the kind of difference that's night and day.
And that can only happen as Christians are rooted in the gospel.
And so what we're going to do is we're going to sort of focus in on Paul's introduction.
And then we're going to sort of zoom out together.
We're going to consider the titles that he uses for Jesus.
And then we're going to pan from Corinth towards Edinburgh
and think about why we also need the same truths that Paul was sharing in Corinth.
The first thing to think about is the church's one foundation.
Did you notice as we were reading these nine verses how often Jesus was mentioned?
Nine times in nine verses with a variety of titles.
Let's read them again with that emphasis.
It is verse one, Christ Jesus who called Paul.
So they are to hear that the authority for this whole letter comes not from Paul,
but it comes from Jesus Christ.
Verse two, to the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus.
It is Christ Jesus who has set this church apart for God,
who has made the church holy and has set them apart that they would call on His name in true worship,
uniting them with everyone who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse three,
grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
This Jesus who gives grace and peace is co-equal with the Father.
That the undeserved love of God, right relationship with God,
the flourishing of life from God comes from the Son as it comes from the Father.
It comes from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse four,
I always thank my God for you because of His grace given you in Christ Jesus.
Christ Jesus doesn't just give grace,
He is God's gift of grace to the church.
God's greatest gift is Himself in giving His Son to be our Savior,
a gift to all who trust in Him.
Christ Jesus in verse five is the source of all their spiritual riches.
That they are able to teach the Bible and share the Bible and encourage one another in their faith
is down not to themselves and their own greatness, but to Jesus and His grace.
In verse six,
we discover Jesus is the subject of Paul's teaching.
God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you.
Remember, this was Paul who resolved to know nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
Chapter one, verse 30,
Christ Jesus who has become for us wisdom from God.
That is our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.
Therefore, as it is written,
let the one who boasts,
boast in the Lord.
Paul's message, Jesus is everything.
Verse seven,
we discover Jesus is the basis for Christian hope.
Therefore, you do not lack any spiritual gift
as you eagerly wait
for our Lord Jesus Christ
to be revealed.
The same Lord Jesus Christ
who gives spiritual gifts
is the same Lord Jesus Christ
who will return one day
to finish the work of salvation,
to establish God's kingdom,
the kingdom of God
on the earth,
the earth as it is renewed.
In verse eight,
he reminds this church
that Jesus is the key figure in history.
He will keep you firm to the end
so that you'll be blameless
on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The end of history,
the beginning of the eternal reign of God
is known as the day of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And Jesus is the one who both
keeps and perfects His people
and returns as judge and king
to bring His people in the end
into His kingdom.
Verse nine,
God is faithful
who has called you
into fellowship with His Son,
Jesus Christ,
our Lord.
It is God's Son.
It is Jesus Christ,
our Lord,
who brings us fellowship
with God.
He is the subject of worship.
He is the center of the church.
First Corinthians is an amazing letter
for so many ways.
One of the ways I think it's amazing
is that Paul can be thankful
for this church
and see God's grace in this church
where there's so much confusion
and there's so much crazy stuff happening
where if we were invited
to write the letter,
we would probably just tell them
to stop it.
Just,
what are you doing?
But Paul celebrates grace
and calls them back to the gospel.
And Paul does another wonderful thing.
He moves beyond the surface problems,
divisions over leadership,
divisions over public worship,
divisions in the law court,
to go to the heart issue,
to say to the church,
and we hear it so clearly
in this introduction,
what we need
is to center
and to re-center
on the Lord Jesus Christ.
The gospel that unites,
the gospel that gives life,
the foundation that needs
to be built on
is the reality
that we are all one
in Christ Jesus.
What we boast about
is not our intellect
and skill and wisdom.
Our boast is to be in Jesus.
How is the church to live, Paul?
The church is to be holy
in response to
the call of Jesus.
He has set us apart
by His grace.
How are we supposed
to make our decisions, Paul?
Your decisions are based
on what's going to give
most honor
to the Lord Jesus.
So Paul is making
really clear
to this young church
that the foundation
for their life of faith
is Jesus Christ,
the Lord.
Now let's just slow down
a little bit
and think about
each of these titles
that Paul uses
on numerous times
to ask ourselves
what are we to believe
about Jesus?
Maybe you've been struck
if you've walked
or driven past
the mosque up the road,
they have the big banner
Muslims believe in Jesus too.
It's a really interesting
way to communicate
with the city, I think.
I imagine wanting
to break barriers
and create a talking point.
But again,
the question that we would
need to ask,
respectfully ask,
is could they confess
what we confess?
Could they confess
the Apostles' Creed?
Could somebody
from any other religion
that has a high view
of Jesus,
but not an ultimate view
of Jesus,
could they confess
what we confess?
And the answer is no.
What makes Christianity
unique is what
the New Testament teaches
to explain and defend
that Jesus is the Christ,
God's anointed one,
He is God's Son,
and He is the Lord.
But that sign up the road
reminds us
that in the post-Christian
and multicultural city
and society
that we live in,
not dissimilar in some ways
to Corinth,
we need to know
precisely what we believe
or better,
who we believe in.
And we need to be ready
to hold on to
what makes us different,
even if there is pressure
from culture
to try and flatten out
the differences.
And we need to graciously
look for ways
to both defend
and share
what we believe
about Jesus.
So let's begin
with that.
We believe
in Jesus.
Whenever we hear
the name Jesus,
it reminds us
that He is a real figure
in history.
This is the Jesus
who was born
in Bethlehem,
who was raised
in Nazareth,
who worked
with His Father
as a carpenter,
and then became
a traveling preacher,
the Jesus
who was executed
by the Roman authorities
sometime around
30 AD.
This is the Jesus
whose life was recorded
in the history
of the Gospels.
Not unbiased accounts,
but deliberately
saying,
this is what we have
come to discover
about Jesus.
And they wanted
to persuade
and to convert
through these
redemptive histories,
showing Jesus
at the center
of the story of salvation.
The figure in history
also recorded
in non-Christian sources,
Jewish and Roman.
Historians make reference
to the life,
the death,
and also
that His followers
believed in His resurrection.
And of course,
there is eyewitness testimony.
Paul was one
who saw
the risen Lord Jesus
and was taught
by Him.
The apostles
who wrote
the Gospels
bearing witness
to His ministry
and His miracles,
His claims to be God,
His death
on the cross,
His resurrection
and ascension.
The Jesus
that we believe in
is a historical figure.
And we have
accurate,
eyewitness,
reliable testimony
in the New Testament
to give us confidence
in that figure.
Secondly,
we believe in Jesus Christ.
sometimes those two words
come together
so often
that we might
kind of just skip over,
maybe even get confused
and think,
well,
is this just a descriptor
of who He is?
It's not a surname,
but rather it's a title
or a job description.
And it's a job description
that is loaded
with information.
So boys and girls,
if I was to talk to you
about a teacher
and the job of a teacher,
you'd probably have
lots of ideas
about what a teacher does
because you've been
in a classroom
and you know
they teach you numbers
and they teach you
how to write
and to spell
and they teach you geography
and all kinds of information
on different subjects.
They correct,
they control,
they do all kinds of things.
When it comes to the Christ
or the Messiah,
we find His job description
throughout the Old Testament.
Christ or Messiah
means the anointed one,
anointed by God,
given a task.
And the remarkable thing
about the Lord Jesus
is that all these various strands
that we find
in the Old Testament,
all these hopes
and longings
and promises
come together
in this one man.
Jesus the Christ.
Let's mention,
just for our own benefit,
six expectations
for God's Christ.
Firstly,
that He is anointed
in the sense
that He is God's prophet,
someone who speaks for God.
John's Gospel begins
describing Jesus
as God's Word.
And when God the Father
sends Jesus the Son
into the world,
He is God's final
and decisive revelation
to the world.
And Jesus,
the Word who became flesh,
fully reveals God's will
for our salvation.
Jesus speaks for God
because He is God.
So, He is anointed
as prophet.
But the New Testament
also recognizes
Jesus is our true priest
or high priest.
So, in the Old Testament,
we meet the priests
and they represent
the people before God.
Principally, perhaps,
we think of them
offering sacrifices.
And as we read the Gospels
and as we read
the New Testament letters,
we recognize
Jesus is understood
both as the priest
who represents
us before God
and the one
who offers Himself
as the perfect sacrifice.
And in Hebrews chapter 7 to 10,
we're reminded
that Jesus in heaven
still functions
as our great high priest.
What's Jesus doing now?
He's interceding for us
and He's sending
the Spirit to us
and He's speaking
through His Word.
And then Jesus is anointed
in the sense
that He is God's King
with the authority of God
to rule over us
by His Word,
the Gospel Word,
by the Spirit.
And as a King,
not only does He rule over us,
He also defends
and protects us
so that when our faith
is in Jesus,
our salvation is secure.
He is our great prophet,
priest, and King.
But also we find
within the Gospels
reference to Jesus
as the Son of David.
At one place,
it would be Luke chapter 18.
We'll get there in a few weeks.
Blind Bartimaeus.
Remember Bartimaeus,
he hears that Jesus
is walking by
and he cries out,
Son of David,
have mercy on me.
The great hope
of Old Testament Israel,
2 Samuel 7,
was that a king
from the family line
of David,
would be established
to rule and reign forever.
Bartimaeus was blind,
but he saw it.
And Jesus,
in His teaching,
says that He is the king,
but perhaps not the kind of king
that the people expected.
He would bring in
the glory of God
in His reign,
but it would be the glory
of a spiritual kingdom,
not an earthly one.
And His kingdom
wouldn't come instantly.
It would be both
a kingdom that would come now
and there would be more to come.
There's now
and there's not yet.
So He'd tell parables
about the growth of the kingdom
from a mustard seed
until it became a great tree.
Or He'd tell parables
about a king
who goes away
in a long journey
and he delays
on His return.
So the kingdom is here,
but we're still waiting
Jesus' return
when it will be brought
in decisively.
But Jesus is recognized
throughout the New Testament
as the son of David,
the promised king
and saviour.
Jesus is also
the son of man.
That was His favourite title
He used of Himself.
As He would say to Zacchaeus,
again, we'll get there
in a few weeks,
the son of man came
to seek and to save the lost.
Who is the son of man
in the Old Testament?
He is this glorious figure.
Daniel chapter 7,
we meet Him
in the throne room of heaven
and God the Father
gives Him glory
and authority
and eternal rule.
And the amazing thing,
as Jesus says,
He's the son of man
and He claims
that glory
for Himself,
He is also the one
who comes near
and shows compassion
and suffers
and substitutes Himself
and sacrifices
for our forgiveness.
And that takes us
to another of those promises
in the Old Testament
that Jesus is
the suffering servant.
Perhaps this is where
the people in Jesus' day
often got Him wrong.
They were big on the glory part
but struggled to see
how suffering could be good news.
He is the servant
who brings this great hope
of rescue and salvation,
not by force of might
but by the way
of humble sacrifice.
And so Jesus turned
expectations upside down.
Jesus is the Christ,
the Anointed One
and His work for us
is good news.
He is also
God's only Son.
He is Jesus,
He is Christ,
He is God's
only Son.
We thought about that
last week
when we thought about God
and the Father Almighty,
that God is the Father
of believers
by adoption.
That's such a wonderful,
precious truth.
That He loves us
and invites us
into His family.
But uniquely,
He is the Father
of His Son
from all eternity.
the testimony
that the Father gives.
We heard it
as Jesus was baptized.
This is my Son
and I love Him.
Or we can think about
the testimony
of John 3,
16.
For God so loved
the world
that He gave
His one
and only Son
that whoever
believes in Him
shall not perish
but have
eternal life.
life.
And we discover
this mystery
within the teaching
of the New Testament.
Something that's
perhaps impossible
for us to wrap
our minds around.
That Jesus is
the eternally begotten
Son of the Father.
That Jesus is always
Son to His Father
and the Father
is always
the Father
to His Son.
There is no beginning
to Jesus.
He is eternally
the Son.
How does that work?
We may never know.
But we do need
to know
that Christ
is the Son of God.
And that's clear
in Scripture.
He's not just
a good man.
Absolutely He was
a good man
but He was more
than that.
Not just a God
inspired man.
He is God man.
He's not just
our moral example.
Not just our
great teacher
to follow.
He is the one
who saves us
as God.
The one
we worship.
And that takes us
to the last title
that we hear
a number of times
in 1 Corinthians
that He is
the Lord
Jesus Christ.
He is our
Lord.
The word Lord
when the Greek
Old Testament
was being written.
It's the same word
that's used
for God
in the Old Testament.
To go back
to John's Gospel
he had a purpose
statement
as he wrote
that Gospel.
He wrote that
we might believe
that Jesus
is the Messiah
the Son of God
and that by believing
we might have life
in His name.
And one of John's
purposes
as he writes
is to show
the uniqueness
of Jesus.
Remember those
I am sayings
where Jesus claims
the name of God
and the authority
of God
so that when we hear
Jesus say to us
follow me
we understand
that this is
the Lord
who is speaking
to us.
Not a wise guru
and not
just a man
this is the Lord
who is speaking.
And it's not surprising
then that the first
confession
of the church
was
Jesus
is
Lord.
If we go back
to Corinth
that's set
against the background
where they're beginning
to hear
the demands
that they proclaim
along with every
other citizen
Caesar
is Lord.
These competing
loyalties
perhaps we recognize
competing claims
for our own
heart
and loyalty
and worship
and ultimately
for the early
Christian martyrs
it was as they
testified
that Jesus
is Lord.
That's where the
pressure came.
That's where the
persecution came.
Paul's message
to the Corinthians
surrounded by
the pressures
of the Roman Empire
was to live
with Jesus
Christ
as Lord.
G.I. Packer
to come much
closer to our own
day
says that if
Jesus is God
the Son
and the anointed
Saviour
King
he has a right
to rule us
and we have no
right to resist
him.
It's the Lordship
of Jesus
and it reminds
us
just as we
close
that what we
believe
about Jesus
matters.
It's not
incidental.
We don't want
to do
Jesus a disservice
we don't want
to do other
people a disservice
by trying to
airbrush out
the differences
and to suggest
that well
we're kind of
all the same
if we're
worshipping
some way.
If we are
to take
Jesus
on his own
terms
thinking about
what C.S.
Lewis said
borrowing from
Rabbi Duncan
who used to
teach in the
Free Church
College
if we take
Jesus and his
claims seriously
we are left
to conclude
either he's
a liar
or he's
a lunatic
or he is
indeed the
Lord.
That's what
Paul wrote
to the church
in Corinth
Jesus
is
Lord
therefore
as God's
people
we should
live
in
him
uniting
around
him
as
our
centre
lifting
him
up
and
not
ourselves
living
holy
lives
for the
sake
of
his
honour
and
not
our
own
worshipping
in ways
that
please
him.
We need
that same
message
always
that we
would have
that same
controlling
centre
for our
church
and for
our
individual
Christian
lives.
And as
we thought
about a lot
of truths
about Jesus
let's just
close by
reminding
ourselves
that more
than simply
knowing
truths
Jesus Christ
is Lord
we must
trust him
and be able
to say
that Jesus
Christ is
my Lord
and be
ready to
submit to
him
in worship
and obedience
and to
live under
his rule
because he
is God's
son
Jesus
Christ
our
Lord.
Let's pray
together.