The Greatest of These is Love

by Kirk M. Wellum @http://redeemingthetime.blogspot.com

Last weekend I was asked to speak at a wedding on 1 Corinthians 13. I suspect that almost everyone who has been to a Christian wedding knows that 1 Corinthians is about love. It tells us that love is absolutely essential (vs.1-3), that it expresses itself in many practical ways (vs.4-7), that it is tied to ultimate, eschatological realities (vs.8-12) and that it is the greatest of all spiritual gifts (vs.13).

However, it often comes as a shock to people when they discover that the apostle Paul is not writing about love in the context of marriage, but in terms of people getting along with one another in the local church. In fact, the "love chapter" comes in the middle of a section on spiritual gifts and how they are to function in the life of the people of God. Thus in the immediate context love 1) binds everything together - it gives cohesiveness and unity, 2) facilitates human interaction - it brings peace, harmony and understanding, and 3) makes our actions complete - without love nothing is acceptable and pleasing to God. This is not to deny the connection between love and marriage but merely to note the biblical context of the chapter.

But beyond the individual chapter, and 1 Corinthians as a whole, it is important to see that 1 Corinthians 13 is part of a much larger story. It begins in the book of Genesis and goes all the way through to the book of Revelation. It is the story of the establishment of God's kingdom in a world that rebelled against him. A story that is centered in Jesus Christ. Unless you understand this story, you will not understand love. The biblical story is the story of God's love which purifies as it transforms, a love that assumes faith and devotion to God.

When the "love chapter" is located in the larger biblical setting it is obvious that a "1 Corinthians kind of love" can only grow and flourish in a renewed heart. Many people think they want love, true love, but only a few are willing to come to Jesus Christ and allow him to so transform them that they know what it is to love God and one another as they should. If we isolate 1 Corinthians from the salvation of God accomplished in Christ, we cut the power of love at its source. In profound ways, we love because he first loved us (1 John 4:19).