Life Study of 2 Corinthians

Message 16 A PATTERN OF LIVING CHRIST FOR THE CHURCH

Reading: 2 Cor. 1:8-9, 12, 17-22

First Corinthians reveals the matter of living Christ for

the church. If we read this Epistle in a thoughtful way,
we may wonder if there is a pattern of living Christ for
the church. We may say as we read this book, “Paul,
show us a pattern. We have seen many things in our
parents, relatives, neighbors, friends, and colleagues,
but we have never seen a person living Christ for the
church. We would like to see a pattern, for a pattern is
much better than thousands of words.” Realizing the
need for such a pattern, Paul presents this pattern in 2
Corinthians. Therefore, in this Epistle we see a living
pattern.
A PERSONAL TESTIMONY
Paul opens each of his Epistles in a different way.
For example, the way he opens Romans is different
from the way he begins Ephesians. The Epistle of 2
Corinthians also begins in a particular way. After the
greetings and the word about grace and peace in 1:1
and 2, Paul goes on to speak, not in a doctrinal way or
in the way of revelation, but in the way of giving a
personal testimony. In 1:8 he says, “For we do not want
you to be ignorant, brothers, as to our affliction which
came to us in Asia, that we were excessively burdened,
beyond our power, so that we despaired even of
living.” It seems as if Paul is saying, “Corinthian
believers, I want to give you my testimony concerning
how I live Christ for the church. When we were in Asia,
we were excessively burdened, heavily pressed. We
were pressed beyond our power, beyond our ability to
withstand pressure, so that we despaired even of living.
It was very clear to us that we were dying.” There is
nothing doctrinal here. On the contrary, Paul is giving
a testimony. This testimony is part of the pattern.
THE GOD OF RESURRECTION
In 1:9 Paul continues, “But we ourselves had the
sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not
have confidence in ourselves, but in God, Who raises
the dead.” Because they realized they were dying, the
apostles did not have any confidence in themselves.
Their confidence was in God.
The God in whom they were confident was not
simply the One who created the heavens and the
earth. Rather, their confidence was in the God of
resurrection, in the God who raises the dead. Here Paul
does not say, “I call upon the God who created
heaven and earth to witness for me.” In verse 9 Paul
refers not to the God of creation, but to the God of
resurrection.
Paul’s confidence was not in himself; it was in the
resurrecting God, the God who raises the dead. To
have confidence in the God of resurrection and have
no confidence in ourselves is to live Christ. If I have
confidence in myself, then surely I am living myself. I am
not living Christ. But here is an apostle who had no
confidence in himself. His confidence was fully in the
very God who raises the dead. In this matter he is a
pattern of living Christ.

THE SINGLENESS AND SINCERITY OF GOD

In verse 12 Paul goes on to say, “For our boasting is
this, the testimony of our conscience, that in singleness
and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom, but in the
grace of God, we conducted ourselves in the world,
and more abundantly toward you.” This testimony is
related to the pattern of living Christ for the church.
Paul’s conscience testified that he lived in singleness;
being political was not his manner of living. With Paul
there was no politics. On the contrary, he was single.
However, Paul did not live his own singleness and
sincerity; he lived the singleness and sincerity of God.
The expression “the singleness of God” implies that
God Himself is this singleness. Likewise, the phrase “the
sincerity of God” actually means that this sincerity is
God Himself. In 1:12 Paul does not speak of his human
singleness or sincerity. His singleness and sincerity were
God Himself.

THE GRACE OF GOD

In 1:12 Paul also says that he conducted himself not
in fleshly wisdom, but in the grace of God. Grace is the
processed Triune God. First Corinthians reveals that the
Triune God has been processed to become the life-
giving Spirit for us to enjoy. This enjoyment of the
processed Triune God is grace.
In 1 Corinthians 15:10 Paul says, “But by the grace
of God I am what I am; and His grace unto me was not
in vain, but I labored more abundantly than all of them,
yet not I, but the grace of God with me.” The
expression “the grace of God” in this verse and in 2
Corinthians 1:12 actually indicates that grace is God
Himself. The grace of God is the very God. Hence,
grace is not something which belongs to God; grace is
God Himself.
Furthermore, the unprocessed God is not grace.
Rather, grace is the Triune God in resurrection. It is not
God only as He is revealed in Genesis 1; it is the God
revealed in the Epistles of Paul. The God in Paul’s
ministry is not merely the God of creation, but He is the
God in resurrection. Resurrection involves the
processes of incarnation, human living, and crucifixion.
After passing through this process, the Triune God
entered into resurrection. Therefore, when we speak of
God as the God of resurrection, we imply the process
through which He has passed.
Christ passed through incarnation, through thirty-
three and a half years of human living, and through
crucifixion, which lasted six hours. After he died, He was
placed in a tomb. Then He went into Hades and had a
tour of the realm of death. Following that, He came
forth in resurrection. Now He is the God not only of
creation, but also of resurrection. This processed God is
now our grace. How happy I am in Him! He is my
enjoyment, my feast, my rest, my strength. This is my
God.

ONE WITH THE UNCHANGING CHRIST

In verse 17 Paul says, “This therefore intending, did I
then use fickleness? Or the things which I resolve, do I
resolve according to the flesh, that with me there
should be yes, yes and no, no?” Paul was neither
political nor fickle. He was not the kind of person who
would say yes at one time and then shortly afterward
change his answer and say no. With Paul, yes was yes,
and no was no. Whatever he resolved, he resolved by
being one with the unchanging Christ of the faithful
God.
Paul was absolutely one with Christ, with God’s
anointed One. This was the reason he could say, “But
God is faithful, that our word toward you is not yes and
no; for the Son of God, Christ Jesus, Who was preached
among you through us, through me and Sylvanus and
Timothy, did not become yes and no, but in Him is yes”
(vv. 18-19).
In verses 20 and 21 Paul continues, “For whatever
promises of God there are, in Him is the Yes; wherefore
also through Him is the Amen to God, for glory through
us. But He Who firmly attaches us with you unto Christ
and has anointed us is God.” Christ is God’s anointed
One, and Paul was firmly attached to this One. This One
is the unchanging Christ of the faithful God. As a person
who lived Christ, Paul was one with the unchanging
Christ of the faithful God. If we would live Christ, we
must also keep ourselves one with Him.
Paul could say of himself, “I am a person who is
always one with Christ. Christ is not yes and no, but in
Him is yes. If you say yes and no, you are not living
Christ. In Christ is the yes. Whenever He says yes, it is yes
forever. With Him there is no change. I am one with this
unchanging Christ. When I resolved to come to visit
you, I resolved with Him. I did not do this in myself or by
myself. In oneness with Christ, I made a strong decision
to come to you. He is the anointed One, and I am firmly
attached to Him.” This also is part of the pattern of living
Christ for the church.

A LIVING PATTERN
My burden in this message is to point out that in the
introductory word to 2 Corinthians Paul presents himself
to the believers at Corinth as a pattern of a person who
lives Christ for the church. Paul seems to be saying,
“Corinthians, in my first Epistle I gave you a revelation
of what it means to live Christ for the church. Now I
know that you also need a pattern of such a living. In
my second Epistle, I present myself to you as this living
pattern. I ask you to look at me and see that I have no
confidence in myself. My confidence is fully in the God
of resurrection. Because I have confidence in Him, I live
Christ. Furthermore, whenever I decide something, I
make a decision by taking Christ as my person. I am
one who is firmly attached to Christ, to God’s Anointed.
He is the Christ of the faithful God, the God with whom
there is no shadow due to change. Therefore, I, Paul,
am one with the Triune God.” This is a person living
Christ for the church.
 Paul’s purpose in living Christ was that God’s
administration may be carried out through the church.
If we want to know how to live Christ for the church, we
need to consider the life of Paul and learn of him. He is
our pattern, our example.
Among the Epistles written by Paul, 2 Corinthians is
unique. This Epistle opens with Paul’s personal
testimony. This testimony is not given in a brief way.
Rather, it is presented in a detailed way. Paul tells the
Corinthians that he did not want them to be ignorant
of the afflictions they experienced in Asia. He wanted
the believers at Corinth to know that the apostles were
heavily pressed, that the pressure was so heavy that it
was beyond their capacity to endure. They even
despaired of life and had the sentence of death within
themselves. According to their feeling and realization,
they were dying. Why did God put them into such a
situation? God did this because He wanted them to be
terminated. Therefore, Paul could say, “God’s intention
is to terminate us. He does not want us to live any
longer. Instead, He wants Christ to live in us.”

TERMINATED TO LIVE CHRIST

It is easy to talk about termination. But for us to
actually be terminated we need to experience a great
deal of suffering. For example, the Lord will use your
husband or wife and your children to terminate you. If
you are a wife, the Lord will use your husband to
terminate you. If you are a husband, the Lord will use
your wife to cut you to pieces. Furthermore, your
children will also be helpful to Him in bringing you to an
end so that Christ may live in you.
It is easy to say in a doctrinal way that we have
been crucified with Christ, that we no longer live, and
that Christ lives in us. This may be nothing more than a
teaching. It is possible to go on speaking like this for
years, quoting Galatians 2:20 again and again, but still
not live Christ for the church.
We all need to experience the inward cutting in a
practical way so that we may be terminated. The Lord
will even use the saints in the church life to accomplish
this for us. In a sense, the church life is a life of slaughter,
a life of termination. Praise the Lord that we are willing
to be slaughtered because our desire is to live Christ.
If we live Christ, our confidence will be in the God
of resurrection, in the God who raises the dead. Then
we shall conduct ourselves in the grace of God, and
we shall be one with the unchanging Christ of the
faithful God, the Christ who is the unique yes. Thank the
Lord that in all these verses in 2 Corinthians 1 we see
that Paul was a pattern of living Christ for the church.