Workers of Christ and Stewards of God's Mysteries

 

Workers of Christ and Stewards of God's Mysteries

 

1 Corinthians 4:1-2: "Let people regard us as workers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. And what is required of stewards (tois oikonomois) is faithfulness (pistós)."

Paul is speaking about the identity of a Christian. He is that they are ministers and stewards of God's mysteries. Tois oikonomois (τοῖς οἰκονόμοις) means steward, and pistós (πιστός) means faith. If one seeks faith, it is given from heaven, as stated in Galatians 3:25. "Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the tutor."

God's mysteries are mysteries from before the creation of the world; Jesus revealed these mysteries to His disciples, but He said He kept them a mystery to others. He also expressed these mysteries through the parable of the sower. The Parable of the Sower describes sowing seeds in the field of the heart, signifying that the seeds grow and bear fruit for those whose heart has become fertile soil.

Since the field is represented as the heart, the statement that the heart has become fertile soil means that the heart has been filled with the life of resurrection. Fundamentally, there are two types of hearts in the Parable of the Sower. A field without the life of resurrection is rocky soil, a field by the roadside, or a field covered with vines, whereas a field containing the life of resurrection is a field that has become fertile soil.

A field filled with the life of resurrection is a spiritual heart, while a field without the life of resurrection is a carnal heart. A spiritual heart is a heart guided by the Holy Spirit, while a carnal heart is a heart where one is the master.

Romans 8:5-6 states, "Those who live according to the flesh think about the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit think about the things of the Spirit. For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace." Those who follow the flesh are those for whom the old temple has been built in their hearts, while those who follow the Spirit are those for whom the new temple has been built. Only when the new temple is built can the Holy Spirit work, and Jesus be present as the Lord. This is the secret.

A worker of Christ, as one entrusted with the storehouse of heaven, proclaims the new temple. This means that a new temple is built in the heart of those who possess resurrection life. Resurrection life is given to those who believe in dying with Jesus and rising with Him.

1 Peter 3:18-20: "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit. And he went and preached to the spirits in prison, who had disobeyed God in the days of Noah, while He waited patiently for the ark. And only a few were saved in the ark through the water—just eight."

Jesus was put to death in the flesh, and although He was imprisoned in the flesh in spirit, He was made alive; this means that His spirit went to prison. The prison signifies none other than the physical body of all humans, and it is a knocking on the door to the spirit imprisoned within it. Then, after three days, He resurrected clothed in a spiritual body, appearing first to Mary Magdalene and then to His disciples.

After spending about forty days on earth with His disciples, Jesus ascended to heaven, sent the Holy Spirit to them to establish a new temple within their hearts, and entered into it Himself. Thus, Jesus proved His resurrection through His disciples. Among all people in the world, the resurrection of Jesus is realized for those who repent and believe that they have died with Him. In other words, they come to live a life where Jesus eats and drinks with them. The ultimate purpose of Jesus' resurrection is for Him to restore the image of God through the bodies of His disciples and saints, thereby establishing the Kingdom of God.

Jesus Christ declares that He is the life that came down from heaven. Regarding the term "resurrection," from the perspective of the flesh, one believes that the flesh is resurrected; however, from the perspective of the spirit, it means that the original life is heavenly, which was temporarily confined in the earth, and then the heavenly life is resurrected. Since Jesus Christ is the life of heaven, His flesh died, and He resurrected as heavenly life. Nevertheless, if one claims that the flesh was resurrected, it is because they are viewing it with fleshly eyes.

The most ultimate purpose of a believer's evangelism is to preach the new temple built by the resurrected life—that is, the Kingdom of God. In 2 Corinthians 5:17, it says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." The "new" refers to the new temple. Through the establishment of the new temple, the image of God is restored. The image of God is not obtained through effort, but is restored by God through Christ to those who are in Christ. Expressions such as the building of a new temple, the restoration of the image of God, the restoration of Eden, the third heaven, the millennial kingdom, and resurrection life all carry the same meaning: they represent the Kingdom of God within the hearts of believers—that is, Heaven. Everything becomes a story that unfolds within the heart, or spirit. It is the story of the Kingdom of God where the Father and the saints become one through the Holy Spirit in Jesus Christ.

The gospel preached within the church community today is that if you believe in Jesus, you will be saved. This corresponds to the calling in the parable of the king who held a wedding feast for his son. It means that although anyone could bring people to the wedding feast, those who did not wear the wedding garments suitable for marriage were cast out. It implies that while many are called, few are chosen.

It means that even if one comes to church believing in Jesus, one cannot enter the Kingdom of God unless one is clothed in Christ, the life of resurrection. It is believing in dying and resurrecting in union with Jesus. However, while people believe in the resurrection of Jesus, it is extremely rare for believers to believe that they are united and have obtained resurrection life in the present moment. The reason is that people think of resurrection as a physical resurrection.

1 Corinthians 15:42-44 states that there is a physical body and a spiritual body. One becomes a new creation only when one dies to the physical body and is born into a spiritual body.

1 Corinthians 15:42-44 reads: "So it is with the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in strength; it is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body." The word "sowing" speaks of the metaphor of a seed. The seed coat must rot for the life inside to grow.

The Apostle Paul refers to the resurrected body as a spiritual body. In 1 Corinthians 15:35-38, it says, “Someone will ask, ‘How are the dead raised? With what body?’ You fool! Unless the seed you sow dies, it does not come to life. And you do not sow the body to come, but only the kernel of wheat or some other thing. Yet God gives it a body as he wills, giving each seed its own body.”

The farmer sows seeds, but he is sowing the body to come. He sows seeds thinking that they will eventually become fruit. The seed coat dies (disappears), and the embryo inside grows and changes into a different form.