“For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).
Keeping in mind that these words from the apostle Paul were expressed in a letter to the church at Corinth that was read publicly to them, it is interesting to consider what they made of this “doctrinal poetry” upon hearing it. “…one died for all therefore all died?” It is easy to imagine them looking at each other to see which of them grasped the full meaning of Paul’s words.
But understanding the full, word-for-word meaning was not the point of Paul’s writing. His hearers did not have their own Bibles. They didn’t have concordances or Bible dictionaries or commentaries to look up each Greek word. The point of the letter was what could be understood, not what could not be understood.
And so it is with us, even with all our sophisticated study methods, there is MUCH in the Scriptures we do not understand. Even the Old Testament prophets didn’t understand much of what they themselves wrote. But if we act on what we do understand, many of the “deeper” truths will become clearer to us. An explanation of ice cream is one thing; the actual taste of it is another.
In the example of this passage, what is clear is Christ loves us. He died for us. He rose from the dead for us. We have now been blessed with a different course of living, with Him at the center, instead of the futility of a self-oriented life. That was enough to give the Corinthians the direction and encouragement they needed. And it is enough for us.
Something to take just a moment to consider today.
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