Changed

 

DEVOTION

The 1^st Letter to the Corinthians

CHANGED

1 Cor 1:1-3

1:1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, 2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ — their Lord and ours: 3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

NIV

This is not an uncommon greeting from the apostle Paul to the church or Christians within a particular region or city. What we know is that he is still in Ephesus and may or may not be in prison as he was when he wrote his letter to the Colossians. This person, Sosthenes that he mentions, is not a total stranger to us as Luke records his name in his writing regarding the Acts of the Apostles. This Sosthenes was the ruler in the synagogue in Corinth and we see that he had been beaten by the servants of the court of Gallio because he was the chief ruler of the synagogue who brought this complaint to the court regarding words that Paul had spoken, creating a disturbance in the city among the Jews. But now we see him as being converted and a companion of Paul. It is interesting how accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior make a great change in our lives. Here is a man who was a Jew among Jews, a leader, a chief ruler in the synagogue in Corinth. We do not know when or how exactly his conversion took place, but we know he is no longer in the place or position he once was. He now stands at the side of Paul and may actually be the one who is writing this letter for Paul, or at the very least is a firm companion, traveling with Paul, helping in the spreading of the gospel message. It could be that Paul is bragging a little mentioning his name, as many of the Christians in Corinth were also Jews and could very well have known Sosthenes when he was the chief ruler. The point is still the same, this man changed completely from who he once was, left his old life behind to move forward under the call of the Lord. We understand this concept as we too had a previous life, one that was not only not pleasing to the Lord, but was in active rebellion against the Lord, mostly by not wanting to acknowledge His existence. Perhaps deep within we may have known he was there, but we did not want to be associated at all with him, refusing any knowledge of him. Then the day came and God came crashing into my world as I challenge Him to prove he was real. What happens when God comes in, when Jesus makes his call on us and appears in our lives is astonishing. Just as this Sosthenes made a change, so we too make this dramatic shift in our style of living. We move from refusing Jesus, to accepting Jesus. He moves us from living in the city of darkness and death across that great chasm into the city of light and life. We were transformed, changed, recreated into a new creature in Christ. Our life would never be the same, we could no longer live where we did, nor occupy the same role we once had. Just as Sosthenes was once associated with the Old Law, and now is a part of the new covenant of Christ, we too have left the old law that meant our death, and now we are in Christ, which means we have life. We have already been changed.