Abiding love

1 Cor 13: 8-13

The future works of the Lord Jesus Christ are based on His past and current works and, in many ways, are exactly the same. However, we change with time and our status changes with time as well. This means that we will have a different perspective on the Lord Jesus Christ in the future because “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 3:2)

“Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”

The apostle Paul was talking about gifts in Christian service before he came to this chapter. He finished the previous chapter with the sentence “yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.” Of all the gifts that are available to the Christian none are of any value unless they are exercised in charity.”

Most versions use the word “love” in this chapter but charity is used in the AV to distinguish between this love and the other kinds of love. Anyone who is familiar with CS Lewis will know that there are different kinds of love expressed in the Bible. The use of “charity” here shows that we are talking about the kind of love that comes from the Lord God and is a love that gives without asking anything in return. The first time that we discover “charity” in the Bible is 1 Cor 8:1, (“Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.”)

The section that we have read starts with the statement that charity never fails but contrasts this with prophecies, tongues and knowledge. Each of these other gifts will pass away but God’s kind of love will never fail. We won’t need the other gifts but charity will always be there.

At this stage of our existence, we don’t have all the knowledge that we need. We are, after all, caught in our fallen, sinful state and there are some things that are too wonderful for sinners to appreciate. (Compare Ex 33:20, “And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.” with 2 Cor 12:3–4, “And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.”) Knowledge, in our current state is something that will lead to pride unless it is moderated by godly love. On the other hand, godly love is something that builds others up, in the same way as the Lord Jesus Christ has built up all who believe in Him.

However, there will come a time when sin is done away with altogether and then we will reach the stage of perfection that we were created to know. At that stage we will be in a position to understand and see things that are too pure for sinful minds and hearts to see or understand.

Paul then used an analogy of children. Children are born with very little knowledge at all and they have to learn just about everything they know. You cannot expect a child to behave in the same way as an adult. However, when a child becomes and adult he had to live up to adult standards.

In the same way a Christian, while they are still living on the earth, are bound by their sinful nature. In those days they didn’t have glass mirrors but mirrors made of polished metals. These mirrors didn’t give such a clear image as modern mirrors do and people had to make some assumptions as to how they looked. This would be similar to seeing your image on the side of a kettle. In the same way, as long as we are in our sinful bodies, we will not have a clear image of the Lord and all the things that He does for us on a daily basis.

However, as we have seen before, when we finally see the Lord face to face we shall see Him as He is and we will know Him as He knows us (John 17:3, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”)

During this time there are three spiritual issues that should be a part of every Christian life. The first of these is faith.

We find faith in Moses’ final address to Israel in Deut 32: 20 (“And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith.”) Moses was looking forward to a time when Israel proved to be perverse and crooked. Even though the Lord is perfect, He is the God without iniquity, just and right is He, Israel preferred to follow their own ways. Even though the Lord caused Israel to prosper, they chose to go against the Lord and they were a people without faith. This tells us that faith involves believing that the Lord is good and just and, consequently, obeying the Lord in every aspect of our lives. We also read about faith in Rev 14: 12 (“Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.) These saints are those who remain faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ even though they are passing through extreme times of trial. They suffer hardship but remain connected to the truth that the Lord Jesus Christ has spoken.

Faith is completely defined for the Christian in Heb 11: 1-3, 6, (“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear... But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”)

Faith deals with the truth. If we believe the truth and accept it, in spite of our circumstances then we have faith. Faith is also related to things that are not seen, that is, spiritual things. Our circumstances may tell us one thing but the Word of God tells us the truth. As long as we believe the truth, as revealed by God, we have faith.

The next issue is hope: When Naomi was ready to return to her hometown, Bethlehem, from Moab, she was a widow and her two daughters in law were widows as well. It was the custom in those days for a brother to take his dead brother’s wife and raise children with her if the brother died childless. However, Naomi only had two sons and both of them had died childless. She told her daughters in law “Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have an husband. If I should say, I have hope, if I should have an husband also to night, and should also bear sons; Would ye tarry for them till they were grown? would ye stay for them from having husbands? nay, my daughters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD is gone out against me.” (Ruth 1:12–13)

Naomi was grieving and was prepared to return to her home empty handed because she knew that the widow and the orphan were cared for under the Law (see Ex 22:22, “Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.”) However she was not in a position to offer the younger women more sons so that they could raise up sons to continue their father’s names. There was no hope. While faith is an issue that deals with truth, hope is an issue that deals with emotions. A person can believe in the truth but still feel deep pain inside. A good example of this can be found in the life of Job when he said, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.” (Job 13:15) We know that Job experienced great emotional torment but he continued to believe the truth about the Lord God. Faith does not protect people who believe in the truth from experiencing difficult emotional times but it gives them an anchor for the soul during those difficult times. (Hebrews 6:19, “Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;”)

The Lord gave us spiritual gifts for the edification of the church (compare 1 Cor 14:3–4, “But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort. He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.”) But, as we have seen, there is a more excellent way, that is, the way of charity. However, when Paul came to the end of this wonderful poem, he referred to three issues; faith, hope and charity.

These are not specific gifts given to the individual for the edification of the church, they are general gifts that are available for every Christian to enable us to survive and overcome to the glory of God.

One of the great lessons from this poem is the fact that any of the edification gifts are nothing unless they are exercised in charity. The Lord sent His only begotten Son to die for our sins even though the Lord Jesus Christ was already God and there was nothing that He could do to improve His own position. This is the definition of charity. He came down from heaven to earth entirely for the benefit of sinners.

In fact we also know that God is love, (1 John 4:8,16, “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love...And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.”

We also know that the Lord Jesus Christ promised that He would come back to take His disciples to be with Him (“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also”. John 14:3)

We also know that when we see the Lord Jesus Christ, at His return, we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is.

Faith is related to things that are unseen so, when we see Him as He is, there will be no longer any need for faith. Faith is superior to hope, because faith relies on the truth but hope relies on emotions. When there is no longer any need for faith, there won’t be any need for hope either.

At this stage every Christian needs to have faith, hope and charity in order to overcome and please God. However, the only thing that will survive after the Lord returns to take us to be with Him forever is charity. We will be with Him forever but He will continue to offer us His unconditional love and we will be able to enjoy this forever.