“GOD IS FAITHFUL, WHO CALLED YOU…” (Outline)
January 15, 2023 – Epiphany 2 – 1 CORINTHIANS 1:1-9
INTRO: “God is faithful…” Powerful words in our text this morning. Our encouraging theme today. Especially when we consider God’s faithfulness and ours. We are not always faithful. At times we are faithless. Our sins are acts of unfaithfulness. God remains faithful! “If we are faithless, he (God) remains faithful, because he cannot deny himself” (2 TIMOTHY 2:13). Adam and Eve sinned. Unfaithful. God remained faithful. Promised a Savior (Genesis 3:15). The Lord who promises faithfully fulfills every promise made. “GOD IS FAITHFUL, WHO CALLED...” I. …with grace. II. …into Christ.
I. GOD CALLS BELIEVERS WITH GRACE, UNDESERVED LOVE.
A. Verse 1. Paul was called by God’s will. Called as an apostle by God when on his way to Damascus.
1. Paul saw Jesus when called (Acts 9:3-5). Sosthenes, a brother in the faith, is with Paul.
2. Paul is rightly called an apostle. Paul is the inspired author of this letter to believers.
B. Verse 2. Letter addressed to the church of God in Corinth.
1. These are believers made holy (sanctified) by the Holy Spirit. Also called believers (saints).
2. God’s message for “for all in every place who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…”
a. For all believers everywhere. b. All generations. c. All who call on Jesus’ name.
C. Verse 3. “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!”
1. Grace is God’s undeserved love. Peace with God comes from sins forgiven. Blessings.
2. Verse 4a. Paul always thankful for believers who have been given God’s grace. Faith.
D. Our eternal welfare is vitally important for each and everyone of us. It is so important that our loving, heavenly Father places the responsibility for inheriting heaven solely upon himself. God is faithful. Even in the midst of our faithlessness. We cannot save ourselves. We cannot earn heaven. We cannot buy our way into eternity. Certainly, none of us deserve to live forever. In perfection. With God. God is faithful. His undeserved love saves us. Grace alone. We are saved by grace, not be works. We cannot boast. “But God, because he is rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved!” (EPHESIANS 2:5). Once dead cannot do a thing. We were dead in sin. We are made alive by grace. Saved!
E. God is faithful. Day after day he showers his undeserved love on us. This is grace. Grace is one of those divine concepts almost beyond human understanding. In this world our lives are tainted by sin. God calls us by grace. Calls out of darkness into his light. Freely saves us. Scripture helps us understand the depth of God’s great love for us. For all believers. Christ-followers. “At one time you were not a people, but now you are the people of God. At one time you were not shown mercy, but now you have been shown mercy” (1 PETER 2:10). There are millions of different tribes, languages, and nations. By grace God has called us out of them into his kingdom. He calls us to be his people. God is faithful.
F. As the people of God, we belong to him. Our loving, heavenly Father does not stop there. There is more, much more to the love of our faithful God. Yes, we are now God’s people. We have been shown mercy. God’s grace is even greater. “See the kind of love the Father has given us that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are! The world does not know us, because it did not know him” (1 JOHN 3:1). There is a special relationship in families. Parents and children have a love for each other beyond description. We are God’s children. The Lord makes us members of his family. Jesus is not ashamed to call us brothers, sisters, and family. Think on that powerful truth. God’s grace = undeserved love!
“GOD IS FAITHFUL, WHO CALLED YOU…” Our faithful God calls us by grace, undeserved love.
II. GOD CALLS BELIEVERS INTO CHRIST, OUR SAVIOR.
A. Verse 4. Paul always thankful: God’s grace given in Christ Jesus. Believers saved by Christ.
1. Verse 5. Believers were made rich in speaking and wisdom of God through Christ.
2. Verse 6. Their faith was now founded on Christ alone. He was their Rock. Strength.
B. Verse 7. The believers did not lack any gift as they looked forward to Jesus’ return on the Last Day.
1. They eagerly waited for Judgment Day. They had God’s divine gifts to joyfully watch.
2. By grace they knew Jesus Christ as Savior. Gifts: faith, forgiveness, grace, joy, and hope.
C. Verse 8. On their journey through life the Lord would keep them strong. Last Day found blameless.
1. Blameless? Who is innocent before the Lord? Believers. Sins paid for. Forgiveness in Christ.
2. Verse 9. “God is faithful, who called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.”
D. God is faithful. Grace is the Lord’s undeserved love for sinners. Christ is God’s ultimate gift of Love for sinners. Christ is the fulfillment of our loving, heavenly Father’s faithfulness. Amazing grace. All too often we act with faithlessness. Our sinful thoughts, wicked words, and evil actions are deeds of unfaithfulness. Yet, the Lord God is faithful. Always. Perfectly. We are sinners = Law. Sinners saved = Gospel. “…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…” (ROMANS 3:23, 24). We need to hear the gospel every day. We forget the gospel every day. Not forget to not remember. Forget by sinning. Disobedience.
E. The essence of the gospel is Jesus Christ our Lord. Our Savior took on human flesh. Jesus lived among his creation with a human body. He was crucified. Died. Was buried. Rose again. Ascended into heaven. This is the message of God’s faithfulness our ears need to hear. Hearts yearn to believe. Thankfully the Lord has called us to know Christ, our Savior. It is important for us to hear his name. Share his name. “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved” (ACTS 4:12). Salvation is realized in Christ alone. Way. Truth. Life.
F. We are called God’s people. Chosen to be God’s children. This truth changes our lives. Actions. We belong to the Lord. What joy is ours! We know that the Lord God, Creator of the heavens and the earth loves us. Calls us to be his own. Even knows us by name. In our first reading (Isaiah 49:1) Isaiah spoke how God called him from the womb. In the womb, the Lord mentioned his name. The Lord knows us by name. Knew us by name even before the creation of the world. God is faithful. Our Savior Jesus Christ has the same intimate relation with us today. “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I am now living in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (GALATIANS 2:20). Think on that: Christ lives in us. By faith the sinless Son of God dwells in our hearts. Perfect God inside of imperfect people. Grace. This Jesus also died for us. Amazing grace. God is faithful. Called us into fellowship with Christ Jesus.
CONC.: Today’s verses teach us valuable lessons about our loving, heavenly Father. God is faithful. We are saved by grace alone. We are saved through Christ alone. (By the way: the name of Jesus is used 9 nine times in these 9 verses!) The Apostle Paul loved proclaiming God’s gospel. He also faced opposition for his gospel preaching. Near the end of his life he was confident of God’s grace. His salvation by Christ alone. May his confession also be ours. “The grace of our Lord overflowed on me along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus” (1 TIMOTHY 1:14). “GOD IS FAITHFUL, WHO CALLED YOU…” Called by grace. Saved by Christ. Now. Forever. Amen. Pastor Timm O. Meyer
EPIPHANY 2 rdgs.: ISAIAH 49:1-6; COLOSSIANS 2:6-15; JOHN 1:29-41; PSALM 89
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