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Today's Bible Study Lesson:

Paul the Apostle ends his great sermon on the Cross, 1st Corinthians 1:18-31, by focusing on Jesus!

After all, without Jesus the Cross has no meaning anyway!

"But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." So preached Paul.

The opening pronoun, "him," is God the Father. He is the One Who placed us "in" Christ Jesus!

But. here, Jesus is not merely Saviour!

He is also Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification and Redemption!"

Jesus came to earth, was born of a virgin, "ginomai" in Greek, was "made" by God His Father into these great things!

Real Wisdom is Jesus! He is the "Sophia" of God! Read Proverbs 8, the whole chapter, and see if Jesus is not the very Essence of the Wisdom discussed there! He is!

Jesus is also our Righteousness too! He did not just bring us righteousness! No, He is such a Thing! "This is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." Jeremiah 23:6

The same is true of sanctification. Jesus is our Sanctification. He is consecration. He is separation from evil. In John 17:19 He beautifully prayed: "And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth."

And He is also our Redemption! The Greek word here, "apolutrosis," springs from their word for "ransom." The price paid to redeem and set free poor old slaves, bound by their chains.

Then, "as it is written," Paul's formula for quoting the Old Testament, hints of a coming Biblical Text. "He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."

Obviously, this clause alludes to a host of earlier Bible verses. Constantly we are being exhorted to "glory" or  "brag, boast, delight, rejoice" in Jesus our Lord! "Kauchaomai" is the word.

There will be no human boasting in Heaven!

All honor will go directly to God Himself!

As it should be!

And should not the One Who is our "All" be so uplifted? So adored? So worshipped?

Jesus, we love Thee today!

                                                                       --- Dr. Mike Bagwell

All the Lessons from this Series, 1st Corinthians 1:18-31, will eventually be posted HERE. We archive nearly all our material. To get a glimpse of these resources, visit the Site Map sometime.