1 Corinthians 3:22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; I. ALL THINGS FOR MAN — so wide is the first inclusion. Laws and forces, beauties and sublimities, thought, invention, genius, endeavour, failure, victory — the history of them, the evolution to which they have contributed — life and death, what is, and what is to be — such is man's inheritance. "How the world is made for each of us!" — each a centre to which the streams of a thousand hills converge, the rays of a thousand stars, the sorrows and joys of ten thousand hearts. "Man is one world, and hath another to attend him." He can go the whole round of creation, selecting, appropriating what he will. II. BUT THERE IS ANOTHER INCLUSION BY WHICH THE FIRST IS RULED AND MADE CONSONANT WITH OUR TRUE POSITION. It cannot seem that our enjoyment and use exhaust the economy of the world. Does any one go the whole round of creation and gather its gems to enrich himself? — then his wisdom is at an end. The whole would be lost, as mere unproductive expenditure, if men kept it for their own glory. There is One who claims men. The end of God's gifts is not to aggrandise a man so that he shall become a self-satisfied vanity, filled with the wind of knowledge, the pride of possession. The law is — All belongs to you, and you to Christ. It is when we are possessed by Christ, and our life is His tribute, that the wealth of nature and the bounty of providence fill our souls to their spiritual fulness. III. And the final inclusion gives a perfect issue to the series. ALL IS FROM GOD, AND RETURNS THROUGH CHRIST TO GOD. Where else can there be an end? The world and life, the streams from a thousand springs, flow into the being of the man whose soul is opened and enlarged by his devotion to Christ. And Christ with all the men He has made His own, and all they have gathered from the generous creation, a broad, deep, rejoicing river, must flow in eternal tribute to the Father. Conclusion: We see — 1. The use of the world — to enlarge the mind, enrich the soul, and perfect the power of man. 2. The place of men with all their science, power, and experience, gathered from the vassal world — to serve Christ, to make for Him a manifold kingdom of brave, wise, earnest life. 3. Christ as mediatorial Prince, all the conquests, gains, and harvests of His patient toil and splendid sacrifice devoted to the glory of the Father, whose He is. This is the cycle which completes the Christian philosophy of being, the economy of the natural and spiritual universe, revealing the glory of the world, of man, of Christ, and of God. (R. A. Watson, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; |
    |