Ministry of Grace Church

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

   I know it has been awhile since I sent out my last verse. I have had to take a little time off to re-evaluate this ministry. As you may know, since last December, I have been seeking permission from Thomas Nelson (Harper Collins Christian Publishing)  to publish these verses in an e-book. Since I use the New King James Version as the translation for these verses and they own the copyright, without their permission, I can't publish the e-book using their translation. Two weeks ago I got the final word from them telling me that I do not have their permission, even though I already had their permission to use the NKJV in these daily verse studies. Needless to say, this was a great disappointment to me. After a lot of soul searching and prayer and last Sunday's sermon (which I felt like was delivered directly to me), I have decided to take up the mantle again and continue with these daily studies. I offer my thanks to all of you who have supported and encouraged me in the past. Please pray for me that God would guide me regarding how I may yet be able to get them published or, if it His will, that I forget about trying to get them published and simply continue this e-mail and blogging ministry.

In God's service, for His glory,

Will

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come—all are yours.

Truth to Learn

God has given all things to His children.

Behind the Words

The word “whether” is from the Greek conjunction eite. This is made up of ei, meaning “if” and te, meaning “and.” It can be translated as “and if” or “whether.” It is used in the latter sense in today’s verse. This verse is primarily made up of a list of items which are all preceded by eite. This is a list which includes all things in the list, with none of them excluded.

The words “the world” are translated from the Greek word kosmos, which we saw back in verse nineteen. It refers to “order” or “arrangement” and is the word from which we get our English word cosmetics. Though it usually refers to the world system, which is controlled by Satan, it is sometimes used as it is here in reference to all of creation.

“Life” is translated from dzoē, which is derived from the verb dzaō, meaning “to live.” Dzoē refers to “life” or “existence.”

Meaning Explained

This verse has been called “an inventory of the possessions of the child of God.” Although it was directly proclaimed to the Christians in Corinth, it is applicable to all Christians. So what does it mean? God created all that exists for His children. Once sin entered into the world, there was a division between his spiritual children (those who believe Him by faith) and the rest of mankind. Throughout the remainder of the Bible, He makes a distinction between believers and the rest of mankind. God has provided spiritual gifts and gifted Christians for the purpose of building up His spiritual children (the church):

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, (Ephesians 4:11-12)

These leaders in the church were put there for us, we were not put here for them. In that sense, all who build up the body of Christ are ours.

As we said above, God created everything for His children. The world (all of creation) is ours by faith, not just this current world, which is now under Satan’s control, but the recreated heavens and earth which will come at the end of time. Even the very life which we have has been given to us. Again, it does not just mean this present life, but the life eternal which we expectantly wait for. And, even death is ours. Because of the fall of mankind, death is a reality that we all must face. But this death is only the physical death of this life, which is actually a blessing to us. Without it, we would continue to live with a cursed sin nature. Eternal life (without our sin nature), in God’s eyes, is a present possession of every Christian. So, even though we will all die physically, we now have eternal life.

Paul now restates a foundational truth that permeates all of his teaching. Not only do we possess all things now, we already possess the eternal things God has promised to us.

Application

Don’t think of yourselves as being a member of (belonging to) a particular church or group of people who follow a particular leader. Think of yourself as God’s precious child for whom all things were made. Be humbly thankful for all He has given us.