1Cor 3:6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth. 9 For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's cultivated land [farm], God's building. 12 But if anyone builds upon the foundation gold, silver, precious stones… 2Cor 3:18 But we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.
[Part 1 of 2]Gold, silver, and precious stones signify various experiences of Christ in the virtues and attributes of the Triune God. It is with these the apostles and all spiritual believers build the church on the unique foundation of Christ. Gold may signify the divine nature of the Father with all its attributes, silver may signify the redeeming Christ with all the virtues and attributes of His Person and work, and precious stones may signify the transforming work of the Spirit with all its attributes. All these precious materials are the products of our participation in and enjoyment of Christ in our spirit through the Holy Spirit. Only these are good for God's building. As God's farm with planting, watering, and growing, the church should produce plants. But the proper materials for the building up of the church are gold, silver, and precious stones, all of which are minerals. Hence, the thought of transformation is implied here. We need not only to grow in life, but also to be transformed in life, as revealed in 2 Corinthians 3:18 and Romans 12:2. The church is a farm which produces gold, silver, and precious stones. These are minerals and are usually mined from the earth. But in chapter three we have a farm that eventually produces gold, silver, and precious stones. This implies that as the plants on God's farm grow, they eventually become minerals. The plants, of course, are botanical in nature. But as they grow, they are transformed into minerals. Thus, in this chapter, we have both growth in life and transformation. (c) Living Stream Ministry.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of 1 Corinthians, pp. 233-234. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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