1 Corinthians 3:16-23

                                                     1 Corinthians 3:16-23

Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.  Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” So let no one boast in men. For 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 Christ's, and Christ is God's.

The Church is very important to God.  Paul and the apostles laid her foundation.  All believers have been building it throughout history.  Christ will judge how we have built the Church when we stand before Him.  Paul wants to make sure that we all understand how serious this work is.  That which is important to God must be sacred to us.  Unfortunately, sinful men can make a mockery of the Church.  This text helps us understand how tragic that is.

 

THE CHURCH IS THE TEMPLE OF GOD: Paul is speaking to the church at Corinth.  He wants them to understand that they are a part of something far greater than an individual believer, and far greater than one local group.  They are a part of the temple of God that is the dwelling place of the Spirit of God.  That is not to say that the Spirit does not indwell every believer because He does.  However, part of His indwelling work is to place us into the body of Christ, here referred to at the temple of God.  The Corinthian believers were competing with one another and being jealous of one another.  They were making the church all about them.  They were destroying that which is sacred to God.  This is a serious matter for which God will not stand.  The church we attend is not about promoting ourselves or making ourselves comfortable.  We are a part of the Body of Christ, the Temple of God, the Church.  We must recognize the sacredness of our calling into this precious place.

 

THE CHURCH IS THE WISDOM OF GOD: Like most things on earth, it is easy for men to try to try to operate the church based on the wisdom of the world.  The operating systems of the world should not be applied to the functioning of the church.  The church is not just another business that operates for the benefit of its “shareholders.”  The church is built on faith by a God who is supernatural.  Faith does not fit on a spreadsheet and will not make sense from the perspective of the world’s wisdom.  God’s wisdom does not work in the same way as our wisdom.  He calls us to trust Him and obey Him at great personal sacrifice and risk.  We are to love enemies, risk our lives to save those who hate us, forgive those who have deeply hurt us, give without expecting a return on investment.

 

THE CHURCH IS THE GLORY OF GOD: Anything that is accomplished through the church is not about the glory of men.  God gives us the privilege of being His instruments, but it is His work, and all glory belongs to Him.  He blesses us with leaders, time, resources.  These are gifts from Him.  However, we belong to Christ because we were bought with His blood.  All that is in Christ is for the glory of God.  We must not be fooled into thinking that the church is about us or even about the various leaders that God uses in the church.  The church is about God.  He must be the purpose behind all we do.  His glory must be our priority and motivation.  Don’t allow our pleasure, positions, politics, or power become the purpose of any church we attend.  It is about Him, and not about us.

 

APPLICATION: Understand the sacredness of the church to which we belong because we as a body are the temple of God.  Don’t expect our churches to be run like a business or our pastors to be like CEOs. Recognize that faith is the primary operating procedure for the church.  Don’t allow church to become man centered, it must be about the glory of God.

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