Waynesboro Church Of Christ
Welcomes You!
A pasted message from Matthew!
Past Message From Matthew
Posted Date: November 1, 2006
In 1 Corinthians 3 Paul presents God’s people through three illustrations. Paul calls believers God’s children in verse 3, God’s field in verse 9, and God’s building in verse 9. All of these images of Christians point to a process of spiritual growth.
God’s children begin as spiritual babies in Christ. There is a process of growing to spiritual adulthood. The church must develop programs to help development new Christians into mature men and women of God. This is why Bible class is important. People must be instructed in the word to grow closer to the image of Christ. 1 Pet. 2:2 “like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation.”
Christians are also pictured as God’s field. Imagine a man walking into a field and demanding a crop instantly. Fields do not bear fruit on command. It takes time for fields to blossom. A field needs sun, water, heat, and soil to develop. The church is to help people develop talents that will produce huge crops. Mark 4:20 “And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it, and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”
Third of all, Christians are pictured as God’s building. God has created us, then he redeemed us, and now he lives within us. God is constantly doing home improvement projects on us. He is remodeling our hearts. God is focused on the condition of the heart. Matthew 15:18-19 “But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, and slander.”
There are three images of spiritual process in 1 Corinthians 3. Christians need the right environment to facilitate the process of growth.