Title: God's Great Grace
Contents
Title: God's Great Grace
Bible: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
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Today, this time, we would like to share the sermon with the title of “God’s great grace” through the words of the text.
This text is Paul's epistle to the church in Corinth.
At that time, there were many saints who received gifts in the Corinthian church.
There were people who could speak in tongues, interpreters, healers, cast out demons, and so on.
However, rather than being faithful with the gift they received, they measured the high and low for the gift they received and boasted about how big and small they were.
As a result, the church was divided and quarreled, and the members were greatly hurt by each other.
In this situation, Paul emphasized through the words of 1 Corinthians 13 that all the gifts the saints received are important, but the most important thing is love.
Again, the cleanliness of 1 Corinthians 13, which we know as the “love chapter,” can be said to be a chapter written to teach the Corinthian church members who do not love each other to love.
After emphasizing the importance of love to the Corinthians, Paul confesses in this chapter that he himself is living as a person who has received God's grace.
In particular, he talks about God's calling, or calling, while recalling his encounter with the resurrected Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus.
Paul speaks of himself in verse 8.
“Lastly, he appeared to me, like one who was born of infertility. I am the least of the apostles, and I am not worthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God.”
confesses.
However, I sincerely confess that it is God's great grace that I was able to preach the gospel by setting myself up as an apostle, who could not be used as a servant of God.
Most people think that they are successful because they are good, and that they live happily because of their efforts.
However, sincere saints know their own shortcomings and realize that God has given them grace.
So, I am grateful for the grace I have received.
It is very important to realize grace as grace and to know that you are a being who has received the grace of God.
This realization of Paul is our realization here, and it should be a confession.
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Then, what is the great grace of God that Paul realized today?
First, the great grace of God that Paul realized was that he “called me.”
If we look at verse 8,
“Last of all, he appeared to me as one who was born of incompleteness.”
Paul confesses.
The greatest grace among grace is the grace of the Lord meeting me.
Originally, Paul was an enemy of Jesus.
He was the one who watched the death of Deacon Stephen and went to imprison the believers in the city of Damascus.
He actively persecuted those who believed in Jesus.
Then, on the road to Damascus, he met Jesus Christ, who came with a bright light.
This bright light made Paul fall from his horse, and in this marvelous sight he heard the voice of the Lord.
According to Acts 9:4,
“He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”
Jesus is blowing on Saul who is going to arrest people of faith.
In this amazing sight, Saul asks:
According to Acts 9:5,
“Who are you, Lord?” He answered, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.”
Folks, this is the grace of the Lord.
When Paul met the Lord, he realized that the grace of God had come upon him even before he was born and before the foundation of the world.
Even at the moment of persecution of those who believed in Jesus, and even on the way to persecution, Saul was able to experience the grace of God's infinite love.
Please believe that the grace that has been given to us is great just by the fact that we are also called today.
Second, the great grace of God that Paul realized was that he “made me.”
If we look at verse 10,
“But it is by the grace of God that I am who I am, and his grace that was given to me was not in vain. I labored more than all the apostles, but it was not by me, but by the grace of God that was with me.”
If we look at Paul's life, it can be said that his life was truly superhuman.
He greatly revived the Antioch Church as a missionary church and became the first historical figure to introduce Christianity to Europe.
He suffered many hardships, was beaten numerous times, was imprisoned, and was martyred while preaching the gospel.
To others, it seems that he lived and died unfairly, but Paul himself confesses that he lived a glorious life.
We testify that our daily life is filled with joy and gratitude, and the reason we have achieved great achievements is that everything was done by God's grace.
It is because the moment he realized the grace of God that solved the problem of sin and death and gave him eternal life, the desire to work for the Lord burned in Paul's heart.
As I said before, Paul was not a man who dared to do God's work.
But God established him and entrusted him with God's work.
Many believers today are trying to do God's work with their power and knowledge.
However, our efforts hit the limit and cause us to sink.
We must become the workers God has established.
If God establishes you, you can do all things with the amazing power of God.
This is grace.
I hope that you will become all believers who experience God's establishment and giving you the power and grace that you can handle.
Third, the great grace of God that Paul realized is that “the Lord is with me.”
If we look again at the second half of verse 10,
“I labored more than all the apostles, but not by myself, but by the grace of God that was with me.”
Paul confesses that the biggest factor that allowed him to carry out his ministry was that God was with him in the place of ministry, moment by moment.
God stood by Paul's side even when he was imprisoned and spoke to him, and even when the ship was wrecked by a storm in Euraquila and everyone died, God appeared by Paul's side and reassured him, saying, 'Do not be afraid, I am with you.'
When we look back on our lives, we confess this wonderful grace of God.
We only think of difficult and difficult times, and we ask when God was with us, but after the hard times of our lives, we realize the grace of God that was with us in that time.
For example,
Among the hymns, there is a song called “Thank you Lord for saving me”.
If you look at the lyrics of verse 2 of the hymn,
“Thank you for the prayer you answered, thanks for the refusal, thanks for the storm that came out of it
It says.
We only thank you for answering our prayers, but if you look at the lyrics of the song, we say thank you for rejecting it.
We always thought of God's grace to fill us with what we need, but rejecting it is also the grace and answer of the Lord.
I hope that you will become believers in faith who experience the grace of God who is the guide in all of our lives by being with us at this time.
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Organize your words.
Compared to the Apostle Paul, we are incomparably lacking.
But nevertheless, God has called and established us by grace.
Therefore, we must realize that everything in our life is only by the grace of God.
For us, meeting God itself is grace.
Also, being with God is a greater grace.
I hope that the great grace of God that was confessed through Paul today will be added to me and you, and that we, who have become saints, become saints who live by devoting ourselves in return for God's grace, in the name of the Lord. bless you with