Bible Challenge - 1 Corinthians 13

26 July 2015
by Philip Layton

In the 'love chapter', Paul describes the greatest spiritual gift

Discussion Questions

Think of the person who you are closest to. Does your love for them match this definition (vv 4-7)?
What do we ‘know in part’ (vv 9-12)?

Share your thoughts below, or tweet about it with the #boundlessbible hashtag. Don't forget this week's Children's Challenge!

Going Deeper From 'Words of Life'

Meg - an old dog who has become part of the family - is cantankerous, arthritic, prone to an upset stomach, and limps along on an ankle resembling a twisted piece of rope. Her eyesight is deteriorating, which means she tends to rely on silhouettes. Often times, she will wander off with strangers until she is called back.

I have no idea whether the blind man mentioned in Mark 8:22-26 owned a dog, but I’m confident he would have empathised with Meg. His eyesight had been partially restored, but he was only able to see what looked liked ‘trees walking around’. I’m no expert, but I think I’m on fairly safe ground in maintaining that trees can’t walk! The man was using a word picture to try to describe something just beyond his reach.

Paul, in 1 Corinthians 13, employed a similar technique in attempting to describe the life to come for followers of Christ:

Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face (v 12).

I once saw, in a museum, an Egyptian example of the type of mirror Paul was referring to. It was little more than a framed piece of polished tin – yielding a poor reflection indeed! Thank God that, in Christ, what is now hid from our sight will one day be a glorious, visible reality.

Ponder

Although in this life we catch but glimpses of the heavenly city, we believe, by faith, that soon, and very soon, we are going to see the King.

Stephen Poxon

Tags: 1 Corinthians