Victory In Christ

Have you ever thought about the awesome victory that you and I have in Jesus Christ.

If you follow the news, you can become full of fear and wonder if there is any hope for this world. And when fear enters our live, it causes us to take our eyes off of the Savior, then we begin to loose faith, and when this happens, it becomes sin. And sin separates us from God.

This is what Paul talks about in First Corinthians 10:13-14 (KJV) :
13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
14 Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.
So often we quote verse 13, but the 14th verse needs to be acknowledge. Here is a command for us to heed; we are to flee from sin!

Corinth was the sin center of the Roman Empire in Paul's day. It was labeled "Vanity Fair." Its location was about forty miles west of Athens on a narrow isthmus between Peloponnesus and the mainland. It was the great commercial center of the Roman Empire with three harbors, of which two were important: Lechaeum, about one and one half miles to the west, and Cenchrea, about eight and one half miles to the east. Since the time of Paul, a canal has been put through the isthmus, and Corinth is no longer an important city.
Even the ruins of Corinth were lost to history for many years. A fishing village had been built over them. In 1928 an earthquake uncovered them, and now much of the city has been excavated.

The population consisted of Greeks, Jews, Italians, and a mixed multitude. Sailors, merchants, adventurers, and refugees from all corners of the Roman Empire filled its streets. A perpetual "Vanity Fair" was held here. The vices of the East and of the West met and clasped hands in the work of human degradation.

This sounds somewhat like America today.

Religion itself was put to ignoble uses. A magnificent temple was built for the Greek goddess Aphrodite, or Venus as we know her by the Roman name. In it were a thousand priestesses who ministered to a base worship. Those thousand so-called priestesses were actually nothing in the world but prostitutes. Sex was a religion there. I believe that Corinth could teach this generation about sex. However, I think this generation already knows enough about that subject. We are overwhelmed with it ad nauseam today.

Not only was their religion debased, but the Greek philosophy was in its decay also. The city was given over to licentiousness and pleasure. The Isthmian games were conducted here. The people went on in endless discussions. It was into this kind of setting that Paul came, and later he said, "For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified" (1Cor. 2:2). This was a people given over to pleasure, debauchery, and drunkenness. In fact, they coined a word in the Roman Empire which was to "corinthianize." Believe me, when you would "corinthianize," it meant that you went to the very limit in sin.

It was easy to be “tempted” when you listen to the wrong “voice.” This is why it is important that you take “every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 cor. 10:5). Why? Where your mind wanders, your feet are sure to follow.

The keynote of this epistle is the supremacy of Christ, the Lordship of Jesus. That is so important for us to note because that is the solution to the problems. You will find here that He is the solution to correct moral, social, and ecclesiastical disorders.
And than we wonder why our country is in the shape it is in!

It sure would be a “good day to fly.”