Tag: pride

Lessons from Jabal, Jubal, and Tubal-Cain (Gen. 4:19-22)

Have you ever asked any of these questions?

What can I learn from Jabal?

What can I learn from Jubal?

What can I learn from Tubal-Cain?

 

Probably not. These names are among the more obscure ones in Biblical history. That being said, when we look at what is said about them and the context in which they are found, there are valuable insights to be gleaned. First, by way of creating context, these men are descendants of Cain and sons of his descendant, Lamech. Lamech was a murderer and the first polygamist in Biblical history. He had two wives: Adah and Zillah; and the aforementioned men were the sons of these two women respectively.

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Reflecting Upon Christ’s Humility (Phil. 2:8)

“He Humbled Himself…” (Phil. 2:8)

It’s difficult to comprehend the magnitude of what’s written above…

The great, eternal Son of God humbled Himself?

He was in eternal, joyful communion with the Father and Holy Spirit for all of all eternity. Ever since the angelic hosts were created, He received and enjoyed their worship. He benevolently reigned over all creation since there had been a creation, and then, when the fullness of time had come, He added humanity to His Deity, was born of a woman under the Law.

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Baptism is Great; the Gospel is Greater (1 Corinthians 1:14-17)

14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. 16 Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. (1 Corinthians 1:14-17)

Before Paul began an extended discourse about Christ crucified being the wisdom of God and the power of God (1 Cor. 1:18-2:5), he first gave, what we might call, an interesting bit of thanksgiving. Having already given God thanks for the way His grace was at work in the Corinthian church (vs.4-9), he then thanked God that he hadn’t baptized any of the Corinthians except Crispus (vs.14c), the ruler of the synagogue in Corinth who “believed on the Lord with all his household” (Acts. 18:8b), Gaius (1 Cor. 1:14c), the Corinthian believer who hosted Paul while he wrote the epistle to Rome (Rom. 16:23), and “the household of Stephanas” (1 Cor. 1:16b). It’s not every day you hear someone give thanks for who they haven’t baptized. But Paul’s thanksgiving was not without a good explanation.

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How a Local Church Won’t Stand (1 Corinthians 1:10-13)

10 Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you. 12 Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? (1 Cor. 1:10-13)

Jesus said that a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand (Mk. 3:24); and likewise, we can infer that a local church divided against itself cannot stand either. Apparently this was one of the primary reasons for which Paul wrote to the church at Corinth – to exhort them that there be no divisions among them (1 Cor. 1:10b; 3:3-4; 11:18). Therefore, Paul’s first bit of gracious, Christ-centered pleading came in the tenth verse of the opening chapter. The address was serious – he exhorted them by the “name of our Lord Jesus Christ”; and yet, he was tender – he called them “brethren.” And he charged them to (a) have no divisions among them and (b) to be of the same mind (vs.10b). This didn’t mean that everyone’s opinions on every conceivable topic had to be unanimous; rather, their love for one another and Christ was to preserve unity even amidst differences and diversity. In fact, the word translated “perfectly joined together” in the NKJV is the Greek word katertismenoi and it is the same word used to speak of the disciples mending their nets (Mt. 4:21; Mk 1:19). In other words, Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wanted the rips in the fabric of the local church repaired.

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