We believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord

Now, we're going to spend some time together in the introductory words from Paul of 1 Corinthians,

page 1144 of our church Bible.

We're going to read verses 1 to 9.

As we think together about that statement, we believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son,

our Lord, let's note together, even as we read, how often in which ways Paul describes Jesus,

and we'll think together why that matters.

1 Corinthians chapter 1 at verse 1.

1 Corinthians 1 · chapter mention

Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God and our brother Sosthenes,

to the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be His holy people,

together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I always thank my God for you because of His grace given you in Christ Jesus,

for in Him you have been enriched in every way, with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge,

God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you.

Therefore, you do not lack any spiritual gift, as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.

He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

We're going to begin this week, as we did last week, with a question, perhaps a question that you have had asked

or you've heard debates about, are all religions basically the same?

Don't all roads lead to God?

Don't all roads lead up the same mountain?

So you may have heard that from a secular context, people without any religious background

imagining that all religions are basically the same.

You sometimes find it from people from within religious backgrounds,

trying to smooth over the differences that exist to create that idea that,

well, so long as everyone is worshipping, we're all worshipping the same God.

I want us to ask the question, does that make sense?

And to ask the question another way, what would Jesus say if He was asked the question,

are all religions basically the same?

In John chapter 8 verse 42, Jesus said, if God were your Father, you would love Me.

John 8:42

So there's a particular connection between the Father and the Son and how we should feel about the Father and the Son.

John 14 verse 6 that we just read, I am the way, the truth and the life.

John 14:6

No one comes to the Father except through Me.

And to go through all the Gospels, we would find Jesus making many exclusive claims, exclusive demands to loyalty.

And to read the New Testament, we begin to understand that without Jesus,

the Bible says we're not worshipping the true God.

Without Jesus, there is no Trinity.

Without Jesus, there is no final revelation from God.

Without Jesus, there is no salvation.

Without Jesus, there is no way back home to our God and Creator.

So to listen to the whole testimony of the Bible is to understand that true worship must be Christ-centred.

And so it's really important to be precise, especially about the person and the work of Jesus.

Whenever you read, whenever we share the Apostles' Creed together,

you maybe notice that there's so much of the Creed devoted to Jesus.

Why is that?

Because He is at the center.

And there's so much confusion and misunderstanding that the Apostles' Creed helpfully clarifies for us.

So when there are suggestions that good intentions is what matters,

that being sincere as a worshipper is what it's all about,

we need to understand from Scripture that it's no value if we're not worshipping in and through the Lord Jesus.

When other religions say, well, Jesus was a good man, or a great man, or a wise guru,

even if someone says He was a chosen by God man,

that is no help for salvation or for worship.

So the Jesus we must worship and proclaim is Jesus Christ, God's only Son and our Lord.

And that's why we read from the book of 1 Corinthians.

Because I think we have a lot to learn today from this letter and from what was happening in the church.

So imagine, so Corinth was a large city, a significant city.

Imagine the church kind of around this size, maybe slightly larger.

Imagine if we were the only Christians in this city.

And in this city, we were surrounded by pagan worship everywhere.

And in fact, until a few months ago, that had been our background.

And the city was known for immorality, famous or infamous through the Roman Empire,

for its wild living.

And in this city, there's competition and fighting,

because everybody wants to be top dog and number one.

And within this city, there's also the pressure of political rule claiming absolute loyalty on its citizens.

Welcome to Corinth.

But in some ways, welcome to Edinburgh.

The challenge that Paul faces as he writes this letter to these young Christians in Corinth,

is that while the gospel is intended to both break down boundaries because of grace,

but to establish boundaries, because God set apart people who are called to be holy,

the boundaries between the church and the world is almost non-existent.

Worldly values have been accepted.

And so Paul is writing to a church divided.

See if you have time to read the letter of 1 Corinthians and read it through that lens of,

here is a people who are divided.

You'll see it coming everywhere.

The first four chapters, we discover they're divided over leadership.

I think Paul's the best.

I think Peter's the best.

We are of the Jesus party.

They're a church divided over sexual ethics.

In chapter 5.

In chapter 6, we understand they're divided because they're taking each other to courts of law.

They're divided over, what should we do about food offered to idols?

Chapter 8.

How should we practice public worship?

Chapter 11.

How do we exercise our spiritual gifts?

Chapters 12 and 13.

They're even divided over how to understand the resurrection, as we discovered in chapter 15.

And so Paul writes to this young church, this divided church,

and he really gives them one answer to their division.

And the answer is Jesus.

Takes them back to Jesus.

To understand that he is everything.

They're understanding the truth about who Jesus is,

and the difference that Jesus makes is what will create a Christ-centered worshiping community.

That's where their holiness will come from.

That's where their unity will come from.

In the present, before the writing of Paul's letter,

they're spotting the difference between the church and the world.

It was like doing those Where's Wally puzzles.

If you've done Where's Wally, you know you're looking really hard.

It's really difficult to find Wally.

It's really hard to spot because they all look kind of similar.

What Paul calls the church towards is the kind of difference that's night and day.

And that can only happen as Christians are rooted in the gospel.

And so what we're going to do is we're going to sort of focus in on Paul's introduction.

And then we're going to sort of zoom out together.

We're going to consider the titles that he uses for Jesus.

And then we're going to pan from Corinth towards Edinburgh

and think about why we also need the same truths that Paul was sharing in Corinth.

The first thing to think about is the church's one foundation.

Did you notice as we were reading these nine verses how often Jesus was mentioned?

Nine times in nine verses with a variety of titles.

Let's read them again with that emphasis.

It is verse one, Christ Jesus who called Paul.

So they are to hear that the authority for this whole letter comes not from Paul,

but it comes from Jesus Christ.

Verse two, to the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus.

It is Christ Jesus who has set this church apart for God,

who has made the church holy and has set them apart that they would call on His name in true worship,

uniting them with everyone who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse three,

grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

This Jesus who gives grace and peace is co-equal with the Father.

That the undeserved love of God, right relationship with God,

the flourishing of life from God comes from the Son as it comes from the Father.

It comes from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse four,

I always thank my God for you because of His grace given you in Christ Jesus.

Christ Jesus doesn't just give grace,

He is God's gift of grace to the church.

God's greatest gift is Himself in giving His Son to be our Savior,

a gift to all who trust in Him.

Christ Jesus in verse five is the source of all their spiritual riches.

That they are able to teach the Bible and share the Bible and encourage one another in their faith

is down not to themselves and their own greatness, but to Jesus and His grace.

In verse six,

we discover Jesus is the subject of Paul's teaching.

God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you.

Remember, this was Paul who resolved to know nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

Chapter one, verse 30,

Christ Jesus who has become for us wisdom from God.

That is our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.

Therefore, as it is written,

let the one who boasts,

boast in the Lord.

Paul's message, Jesus is everything.

Verse seven,

we discover Jesus is the basis for Christian hope.

Therefore, you do not lack any spiritual gift

as you eagerly wait

for our Lord Jesus Christ

to be revealed.

The same Lord Jesus Christ

who gives spiritual gifts

is the same Lord Jesus Christ

who will return one day

to finish the work of salvation,

to establish God's kingdom,

the kingdom of God

on the earth,

the earth as it is renewed.

In verse eight,

he reminds this church

that Jesus is the key figure in history.

He will keep you firm to the end

so that you'll be blameless

on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The end of history,

the beginning of the eternal reign of God

is known as the day of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And Jesus is the one who both

keeps and perfects His people

and returns as judge and king

to bring His people in the end

into His kingdom.

Verse nine,

God is faithful

who has called you

into fellowship with His Son,

Jesus Christ,

our Lord.

It is God's Son.

It is Jesus Christ,

our Lord,

who brings us fellowship

with God.

He is the subject of worship.

He is the center of the church.

First Corinthians is an amazing letter

for so many ways.

One of the ways I think it's amazing

is that Paul can be thankful

for this church

and see God's grace in this church

where there's so much confusion

and there's so much crazy stuff happening

where if we were invited

to write the letter,

we would probably just tell them

to stop it.

Just,

what are you doing?

But Paul celebrates grace

and calls them back to the gospel.

And Paul does another wonderful thing.

He moves beyond the surface problems,

divisions over leadership,

divisions over public worship,

divisions in the law court,

to go to the heart issue,

to say to the church,

and we hear it so clearly

in this introduction,

what we need

is to center

and to re-center

on the Lord Jesus Christ.

The gospel that unites,

the gospel that gives life,

the foundation that needs

to be built on

is the reality

that we are all one

in Christ Jesus.

What we boast about

is not our intellect

and skill and wisdom.

Our boast is to be in Jesus.

How is the church to live, Paul?

The church is to be holy

in response to

the call of Jesus.

He has set us apart

by His grace.

How are we supposed

to make our decisions, Paul?

Your decisions are based

on what's going to give

most honor

to the Lord Jesus.

So Paul is making

really clear

to this young church

that the foundation

for their life of faith

is Jesus Christ,

the Lord.

Now let's just slow down

a little bit

and think about

each of these titles

that Paul uses

on numerous times

to ask ourselves

what are we to believe

about Jesus?

Maybe you've been struck

if you've walked

or driven past

the mosque up the road,

they have the big banner

Muslims believe in Jesus too.

It's a really interesting

way to communicate

with the city, I think.

I imagine wanting

to break barriers

and create a talking point.

But again,

the question that we would

need to ask,

respectfully ask,

is could they confess

what we confess?

Could they confess

the Apostles' Creed?

Could somebody

from any other religion

that has a high view

of Jesus,

but not an ultimate view

of Jesus,

could they confess

what we confess?

And the answer is no.

What makes Christianity

unique is what

the New Testament teaches

to explain and defend

that Jesus is the Christ,

God's anointed one,

He is God's Son,

and He is the Lord.

But that sign up the road

reminds us

that in the post-Christian

and multicultural city

and society

that we live in,

not dissimilar in some ways

to Corinth,

we need to know

precisely what we believe

or better,

who we believe in.

And we need to be ready

to hold on to

what makes us different,

even if there is pressure

from culture

to try and flatten out

the differences.

And we need to graciously

look for ways

to both defend

and share

what we believe

about Jesus.

So let's begin

with that.

We believe

in Jesus.

Whenever we hear

the name Jesus,

it reminds us

that He is a real figure

in history.

This is the Jesus

who was born

in Bethlehem,

who was raised

in Nazareth,

who worked

with His Father

as a carpenter,

and then became

a traveling preacher,

the Jesus

who was executed

by the Roman authorities

sometime around

30 AD.

This is the Jesus

whose life was recorded

in the history

of the Gospels.

Not unbiased accounts,

but deliberately

saying,

this is what we have

come to discover

about Jesus.

And they wanted

to persuade

and to convert

through these

redemptive histories,

showing Jesus

at the center

of the story of salvation.

The figure in history

also recorded

in non-Christian sources,

Jewish and Roman.

Historians make reference

to the life,

the death,

and also

that His followers

believed in His resurrection.

And of course,

there is eyewitness testimony.

Paul was one

who saw

the risen Lord Jesus

and was taught

by Him.

The apostles

who wrote

the Gospels

bearing witness

to His ministry

and His miracles,

His claims to be God,

His death

on the cross,

His resurrection

and ascension.

The Jesus

that we believe in

is a historical figure.

And we have

accurate,

eyewitness,

reliable testimony

in the New Testament

to give us confidence

in that figure.

Secondly,

we believe in Jesus Christ.

sometimes those two words

come together

so often

that we might

kind of just skip over,

maybe even get confused

and think,

well,

is this just a descriptor

of who He is?

It's not a surname,

but rather it's a title

or a job description.

And it's a job description

that is loaded

with information.

So boys and girls,

if I was to talk to you

about a teacher

and the job of a teacher,

you'd probably have

lots of ideas

about what a teacher does

because you've been

in a classroom

and you know

they teach you numbers

and they teach you

how to write

and to spell

and they teach you geography

and all kinds of information

on different subjects.

They correct,

they control,

they do all kinds of things.

When it comes to the Christ

or the Messiah,

we find His job description

throughout the Old Testament.

Christ or Messiah

means the anointed one,

anointed by God,

given a task.

And the remarkable thing

about the Lord Jesus

is that all these various strands

that we find

in the Old Testament,

all these hopes

and longings

and promises

come together

in this one man.

Jesus the Christ.

Let's mention,

just for our own benefit,

six expectations

for God's Christ.

Firstly,

that He is anointed

in the sense

that He is God's prophet,

someone who speaks for God.

John's Gospel begins

describing Jesus

as God's Word.

And when God the Father

sends Jesus the Son

into the world,

He is God's final

and decisive revelation

to the world.

And Jesus,

the Word who became flesh,

fully reveals God's will

for our salvation.

Jesus speaks for God

because He is God.

So, He is anointed

as prophet.

But the New Testament

also recognizes

Jesus is our true priest

or high priest.

So, in the Old Testament,

we meet the priests

and they represent

the people before God.

Principally, perhaps,

we think of them

offering sacrifices.

And as we read the Gospels

and as we read

the New Testament letters,

we recognize

Jesus is understood

both as the priest

who represents

us before God

and the one

who offers Himself

as the perfect sacrifice.

And in Hebrews chapter 7 to 10,

Hebrews 7 · chapter mention

we're reminded

that Jesus in heaven

still functions

as our great high priest.

What's Jesus doing now?

He's interceding for us

and He's sending

the Spirit to us

and He's speaking

through His Word.

And then Jesus is anointed

in the sense

that He is God's King

with the authority of God

to rule over us

by His Word,

the Gospel Word,

by the Spirit.

And as a King,

not only does He rule over us,

He also defends

and protects us

so that when our faith

is in Jesus,

our salvation is secure.

He is our great prophet,

priest, and King.

But also we find

within the Gospels

reference to Jesus

as the Son of David.

At one place,

it would be Luke chapter 18.

Luke 18 · chapter mention

We'll get there in a few weeks.

Blind Bartimaeus.

Remember Bartimaeus,

he hears that Jesus

is walking by

and he cries out,

Son of David,

have mercy on me.

The great hope

of Old Testament Israel,

2 Samuel 7,

was that a king

from the family line

of David,

would be established

to rule and reign forever.

Bartimaeus was blind,

but he saw it.

And Jesus,

in His teaching,

says that He is the king,

but perhaps not the kind of king

that the people expected.

He would bring in

the glory of God

in His reign,

but it would be the glory

of a spiritual kingdom,

not an earthly one.

And His kingdom

wouldn't come instantly.

It would be both

a kingdom that would come now

and there would be more to come.

There's now

and there's not yet.

So He'd tell parables

about the growth of the kingdom

from a mustard seed

until it became a great tree.

Or He'd tell parables

about a king

who goes away

in a long journey

and he delays

on His return.

So the kingdom is here,

but we're still waiting

Jesus' return

when it will be brought

in decisively.

But Jesus is recognized

throughout the New Testament

as the son of David,

the promised king

and saviour.

Jesus is also

the son of man.

That was His favourite title

He used of Himself.

As He would say to Zacchaeus,

again, we'll get there

in a few weeks,

the son of man came

to seek and to save the lost.

Who is the son of man

in the Old Testament?

He is this glorious figure.

Daniel chapter 7,

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

we meet Him

in the throne room of heaven

and God the Father

gives Him glory

and authority

and eternal rule.

And the amazing thing,

as Jesus says,

He's the son of man

and He claims

that glory

for Himself,

He is also the one

who comes near

and shows compassion

and suffers

and substitutes Himself

and sacrifices

for our forgiveness.

And that takes us

to another of those promises

in the Old Testament

that Jesus is

the suffering servant.

Perhaps this is where

the people in Jesus' day

often got Him wrong.

They were big on the glory part

but struggled to see

how suffering could be good news.

He is the servant

who brings this great hope

of rescue and salvation,

not by force of might

but by the way

of humble sacrifice.

And so Jesus turned

expectations upside down.

Jesus is the Christ,

the Anointed One

and His work for us

is good news.

He is also

God's only Son.

He is Jesus,

He is Christ,

He is God's

only Son.

We thought about that

last week

when we thought about God

and the Father Almighty,

that God is the Father

of believers

by adoption.

That's such a wonderful,

precious truth.

That He loves us

and invites us

into His family.

But uniquely,

He is the Father

of His Son

from all eternity.

the testimony

that the Father gives.

We heard it

as Jesus was baptized.

This is my Son

and I love Him.

Or we can think about

the testimony

of John 3,

16.

For God so loved

the world

that He gave

His one

and only Son

that whoever

believes in Him

shall not perish

but have

eternal life.

life.

And we discover

this mystery

within the teaching

of the New Testament.

Something that's

perhaps impossible

for us to wrap

our minds around.

That Jesus is

the eternally begotten

Son of the Father.

That Jesus is always

Son to His Father

and the Father

is always

the Father

to His Son.

There is no beginning

to Jesus.

He is eternally

the Son.

How does that work?

We may never know.

But we do need

to know

that Christ

is the Son of God.

And that's clear

in Scripture.

He's not just

a good man.

Absolutely He was

a good man

but He was more

than that.

Not just a God

inspired man.

He is God man.

He's not just

our moral example.

Not just our

great teacher

to follow.

He is the one

who saves us

as God.

The one

we worship.

And that takes us

to the last title

that we hear

a number of times

in 1 Corinthians

that He is

the Lord

Jesus Christ.

He is our

Lord.

The word Lord

when the Greek

Old Testament

was being written.

It's the same word

that's used

for God

in the Old Testament.

To go back

to John's Gospel

he had a purpose

statement

as he wrote

that Gospel.

He wrote that

we might believe

that Jesus

is the Messiah

the Son of God

and that by believing

we might have life

in His name.

And one of John's

purposes

as he writes

is to show

the uniqueness

of Jesus.

Remember those

I am sayings

where Jesus claims

the name of God

and the authority

of God

so that when we hear

Jesus say to us

follow me

we understand

that this is

the Lord

who is speaking

to us.

Not a wise guru

and not

just a man

this is the Lord

who is speaking.

And it's not surprising

then that the first

confession

of the church

was

Jesus

is

Lord.

If we go back

to Corinth

that's set

against the background

where they're beginning

to hear

the demands

that they proclaim

along with every

other citizen

Caesar

is Lord.

These competing

loyalties

perhaps we recognize

competing claims

for our own

heart

and loyalty

and worship

and ultimately

for the early

Christian martyrs

it was as they

testified

that Jesus

is Lord.

That's where the

pressure came.

That's where the

persecution came.

Paul's message

to the Corinthians

surrounded by

the pressures

of the Roman Empire

was to live

with Jesus

Christ

as Lord.

G.I. Packer

to come much

closer to our own

day

says that if

Jesus is God

the Son

and the anointed

Saviour

King

he has a right

to rule us

and we have no

right to resist

him.

It's the Lordship

of Jesus

and it reminds

us

just as we

close

that what we

believe

about Jesus

matters.

It's not

incidental.

We don't want

to do

Jesus a disservice

we don't want

to do other

people a disservice

by trying to

airbrush out

the differences

and to suggest

that well

we're kind of

all the same

if we're

worshipping

some way.

If we are

to take

Jesus

on his own

terms

thinking about

what C.S.

Lewis said

borrowing from

Rabbi Duncan

who used to

teach in the

Free Church

College

if we take

Jesus and his

claims seriously

we are left

to conclude

either he's

a liar

or he's

a lunatic

or he is

indeed the

Lord.

That's what

Paul wrote

to the church

in Corinth

Jesus

is

Lord

therefore

as God's

people

we should

live

in

him

uniting

around

him

as

our

centre

lifting

him

up

and

not

ourselves

living

holy

lives

for the

sake

of

his

honour

and

not

our

own

worshipping

in ways

that

please

him.

We need

that same

message

always

that we

would have

that same

controlling

centre

for our

church

and for

our

individual

Christian

lives.

And as

we thought

about a lot

of truths

about Jesus

let's just

close by

reminding

ourselves

that more

than simply

knowing

truths

Jesus Christ

is Lord

we must

trust him

and be able

to say

that Jesus

Christ is

my Lord

and be

ready to

submit to

him

in worship

and obedience

and to

live under

his rule

because he

is God's

son

Jesus

Christ

our

Lord.

Let's pray

together.