Our Principle Assets(2023)-3

Our PRINCIPLE ASSETS-III—1Corinthians 1:3(:1-9)

ATTENTION:

After I got saved by Jesus Christ, I lost interest in my job as a marine biologist. But before God could convince me to pastor, I had to pick up a ‘bread route’ with Flowers Baking Co. I ran the route in Rowan & Cabarrus County, NC.

Every morning at 2:30am, I would load up individually designated ‘stacking crates’, with freshly baked white bread & various other breads & bakery items.

Then, I would load the filled crates onto my ‘delivery truck’ with a ‘hand-truck’, & then place the racks in a specific order, with a metal ‘pull-stick.’. Then, I would drive to the stores & restaurants that I was responsible for.

Lots of times, I would NOT remember ‘how’ I got to my first Food Lion, because I was always sleepy!

•My ‘bread truck’—Without the truck, I would have been ‘dead-in-the-water’ as it were!

•The ‘delivery truck’ in particular, plus the ‘stacking crates’, & the ‘hand-truck’ & ‘pull stick’, were Principle Assets that made possible the completion of my daily deliveries!

*Likewise, the Church has many Assets, that are necessary & eternally significant!

NEED:

We must administer the Good News to each other, & to a world that is lost in sin! If we ‘forget’ or ‘neglect’ the assets, which God has provided, then we will fail our God-ordained mission!

An ASSET— ‘A useful or valuable thing, person, or quality’; ‘An advantage or A resource.’

Paul & Sosthenes opened their letter to the Corinthian church by informing them of their most important spiritual assets.

The local(our) church has important spiritual assets.

We will attempt to answer the question:

‘?What are some of our church’s most important spiritual assets?’

1Cor. 1:1-9 reveals some principle spiritual assets of the Christian Church.

In previous weeks we found that...

1. APPROPRIATE APOSTLES(:1)

&

2. SANCTIFIED SAINTS(:2)...

...are principle assets of the Christian church.

Today we’ll find that...

3—Another Principle Asset of the Christian church is...

GOD’s GRACE & PEACE(:3)

Explanation:(:3)Experiencing/Receiving

:3—“Grace to you & peace from God our Father & the Lord Jesus Christ.”

“Grace to you & peace...”

The phrase is similarly repeated in: Rom. 1:7; 2Cor. 1:2; Eph. 1:2; Php. 1:2; Col. 1:2; 1Thess. 1:1; 2Thess. 1:2; Philemon :3

1Tim. 1:2; 2Tim. 1:2; Titus 1:4—“To Timothy, a true son in the faith: Grace, mercy, & peace from God our Father & Jesus Christ our Lord.”

1Pet. 1:2—“elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience & sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you & peace be multiplied.”

2Pet. 1:2—“Grace & peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God & of Jesus our Lord,”

God’s desire for all people, & particularly His people—the church, the saved— is for them to experience His “grace” “& peace.”

And so, the desire of God’s SERVANTS, including Paul & Sosthenes, is for all of God’s people to experience the fullness of “grace” “& peace” that are offered to them & come “from God.”

*“GRACE”:

God's “Grace” encompasses/subsumes all of God’s unmerited favor that is extended/offered to mankind.

God shows His love for all of mankind by ‘graciously’ offering & providing redemption for them as individuals, even when they/you had no love for Him. That is, “salvation is freely given by God to undeserving sinners.”[ISBE 1982(‘Grace’)]

Rom. 5:8—“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Eph. 1:7, 8—“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom & prudence,”

1John 4:9-10—“In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us & sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

*Consider parents. They love their children so much that they are ‘gracious’ to them, providing for them what they cannot provide for themselves.

The acronym, “Grace”[G. R.A.C.E.]—‘God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.’

“Grace” is shown to us thru God’s actions. His perfect & divine choice is to lavish us with the ‘unearned’ beauty of His forgiveness. Therefore He forgives us by His “grace.”

*“To you”—“To” all the church. All who belong to God thru Christ.

*“& PEACE”:

Biblically speaking, the word “peace” describes SPIRITUAL satisfaction, completeness, soundness, & wholeness.[WAElwell’s EDOT1984; ISBE] All of those aspects are manifested in the ‘rest for the soul’ that Jesus described & invites us to take part in(Mat. 11:28-30).

•Mat. 11:28-30—Jesus said,—“Come to Me, all you who labor & are heavy laden, & I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you & learn from Me, for I am gentle & lowly in heart, & you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy & My burden is light.”