Title: The Mirror of Our Life
Contents
♡♥♡ Mirror of our life / 1 Corinthians 10:1-13
*** Introduction
Everyone, have you looked in the mirror today?
There are probably very few people who do not look in the mirror more than once a day. Some people carry a portable mirror and look at it frequently, especially women, to check their makeup or clothes. The reason you look in the mirror like this is to check and correct your appearance.
A mirror reflects only the external shape of an object. But there are also mirrors that reflect a person's life. In this time, we are going to take a look at the mirror that reflects our life, not the mirror that reflects our appearance. As in the text of the text, there is a mirror that reflects a person's life according to God's standard. It is the Word of God. The Old and New Testaments are a wonderful mirror that reflects the Christian life into the will of God. This is to allow the saints to reflect their lives in the light of God's will. What would it be like to see your life in the mirror of God's Word? James 1:23-25 shows how. “If anyone hears the Way and does not practice it, he is like a man who looks in a mirror and sees his own face. When he sees himself, he goes and immediately forgets what he is. But whoever is looking into the perfect law of liberty hears and forgets. Not a man, but a doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.”
The Word of God allows man to see himself for the will of God. A mirror that allows you to see the outside is made of silver powder on one side of the glass. However, the mirror that reflects human life is God's word that interpreted the lives of our ancestors as God's will. In this respect, the text can be said to be a usage for a mirror that reflects life. Let's find out what God's will is to us through this text.
First, let's look at the background and broad meaning of the Word.
The content of this text is directly addressed to the church in Corinth. Because the city of Corinth was only 50km away from Ephesus, where Paul was staying, he was able to hear the news frequently. At the time this letter was written, the church in Corinth was confused by various problems. In particular, the biggest problem was the division of the church by forming factions. In 1 Corinthians 1, it is said, “There are strife among you. This is no different; each of you say, “I am of Paul, I am of Apollos, I am of Cephas, and I belong to Christ.” And the other was the sexual immorality of idolatry and the sin of pursuing pleasure. In other words, we live in the flesh and turn away from God.
For this reason, the text emphasizes in verses 1-4 that the entire people of Israel are one belonging to God. And it emphasizes the fact that the Israelites were disciplined by God in the wilderness and many people died. The reason they were killed in the wilderness was because they provoked God with their lives entangled in the flesh. Typical sins were 'idol worship', 'adultery', 'testing God', and 'murmuring'. Referring specifically to this fact, he said that it is our mirror. In other words, the present church in Corinth is intertwined with these things, and if such a state continues, it is a warning that the church in Corinth will have no choice but to receive God's discipline.
So, in verses 12-13, the conclusion of the text, he warns us to be careful because these things are testing the Corinthian church. At the same time, he encourages them to be able to bear the test that is approaching the Corinthian church because God is a sure person and an absolute trustworthy person. Through these words, the Apostle Paul is admonishing the Corinthian church to become one again and to become one with the hope of resurrection to become a church that puts more effort into the work of the Spirit. So, the last part, 1 Corinthians 16:13-14, says, “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, and be strong like men. Do all your things with love.” And in verse 22, “If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be accursed. The Lord is coming,” he warns sternly.
Even today, the forces of Satan who oppose God's people are using all kinds of methods to test and oppose God's church, members' families, and individual Christians. Satan knows each person's weaknesses very well. So, we focus on that weakness with temptation and temptation. In particular, it divides the church and tempts and encourages the lives of the saints to follow the desires of the flesh. Because following the flesh is disobeying God and turning away from God. Galatians 5:17 (Joint Translation). “The desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh. You can't do what you want because these two are opposites." This matter should be taken seriously because our spirit life is at stake. Then let's look into the mirror that reflects the life of our spirits.
1. God's people show that all are one.
The most serious problem the Corinthian church was experiencing was division. Factions followed Paul, Peter, and Apollos, the leaders of the time, and even the Christian sect. Perhaps they followed the leader who baptized them. Knowing the seriousness of this incident, Paul explains and teaches that God's people are all one by the time of the Exodus.
It was when the Israelites came out of Egypt and came to the entrance to the wilderness. The Red Sea stood in front of Israel. God performed miracles in front of the anxious and troubled people of Israel. He parted the Red Sea and made a way. As the people of Israel passed along the road in the middle of the sea, they saw a strange sight of water standing like a wall. They passed through the midst of the waters into the wilderness to the Promised Land of Canaan.
We Christians today are one. We are one member who serves one God, is baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and has been redeemed by the cross of Jesus Christ. It can never be divided. This is God's will. In John 17:11, Jesus said, “I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to the Father. In verse 22 he says, “I have given them the glory that you have given me, that they may be one, just as we are one.” Division is like tearing apart the body of the Lord. Therefore, believers should strive to become one. Ephesians 4:3 says, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
2. He shows the way to destruction.
Israel was trained as God's people in the wilderness. But they did not come up to God's standards. They could not forsake the spirit of slavery in Egypt and what they had seen and learned at that time. They followed the desires of the flesh to worship idols, commit adultery, test God, and complain. The road the Israelites took was the road to destruction. Let's take a look at that path.
1) It is the path of idolatry.
When Israel reached Mount Sinai, God called Moses. For the covenant to be made with the people of Israel, Moses gave the commandments that Israel had to keep for 40 days. The people waiting at the foot of the mountain could not wait for Moses, so they asked Aaron to make a golden calf. They leapt and worshiped before the golden calf. God was angry and 3000 people were killed because of this (Exodus 32).
2) It is the way of carnal pleasures.
When Israel came to Sittim, Moabites seduced Israel, and many people committed fornication with Moabites. Even more frightening was not adultery of the flesh, but adultery of the spirit. The Moabites invited the Israelites to sacrifice to their gods, and they worshiped and ate together and rejoiced. Because of this, God became angry, and the plague turned and killed twenty-four thousand people in one day (Numbers 25).
3) This is the way to test God.
It was when Israel passed through Mount Hor and passed through the plains of Edom. The people's hearts were broken because of the rough road in the stone mountain and the dry desert road. The people said, “Why are you bringing us out of Egypt to die in this wilderness? There is no food here, there is no water, and I am tired of this poor food.” He complained to God and Moses. Even though they experienced God's miracles countless times, they doubted and tested God's power. Because of this, God sent a fiery serpent to kill all who complained.
4) This is the path of resentment.
There are many instances in which Israel complained against God. Especially when they came to the Wilderness of Paran. When they had to cross over with Canaan in front of them, the people suggested that they send spies to find out in advance. The spies reported, 'It is a land flowing with milk and honey.' But in the next moment, it was reported that 'the people there are giants, and they have tremendous military power and strong walls, making it impossible to capture.' All the Israelites wept and murmured against God and tried to kill Moses. Because of this, at the time of the Exodus, they were punished by having to wander in the wilderness for 40 years so that all those over 20 years of age died.
This is the mirror that reflects our life. How are you?
Is there nothing more dependent on God than on God? Anything more dependent on God than God is an idol. He even called “covetousness” idolatry.
And are you not indulging in the pleasures of the flesh by following worldly habits? You cannot love God and love the world. They eat, drink, and have fun, and then they die.
Do I always rejoice and give thanks to God in my life? Forgetting the grace of God who saved me and gave me eternal life, and blaming God for the inconveniences and hardships of life that is given for a while is a path that leads to destruction. God not only gives us the path of suffering, but also gives us the strength and ability to overcome. So, under no circumstances should you be resentful. Grieving is testing God and distrusting God.
The trials and difficulties that come sometimes do not make us fail. Rather, it is to lead us to a more glorious and better place through this process. Therefore, we pray that you will follow the Lord with all your heart, striving to be one in the Lord, looking forward to the eternal glory prepared for you.