City Life Starter

Written by Stefan Johnsson

The Word

⁵ In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

⁶ Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
⁷ rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!

⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹ and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:5-11 (NIV)

³ For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, ⁵ and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. ⁶ After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷ Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, ⁸ and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

1 Corinthians 15:3-8

Reflection

Living as a first century Christian was nothing like today. There was no Bible, only the Hebrew Old Testament scriptures to help guide people in their faith. The apostles had a difficult job in leading the church. They had to work to define and explain the purpose of Jesus’ ministry on earth and how it connected to scripture. It was much easier to do this to the Jewish population because they already had a strong background in the Torah (Instruction, or Law, also called the Pentateuch), Neviʾim (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings). So before the four gospels could be written down, it was much easier to minister to Jews than non-Jews. And much of what was heard by the apostles and Jesus was rehearsed and memorized orally where it was then easily shared again with others.

This was even more difficult for Paul who had to preach the gospel message to the Gentiles. They had no background in scripture and needed to be taught from the ground up. So Paul had to write letters to the churches he had ministered at to remind them of why they believed and how it was all connected through Jesus’ atoning sacrifice on the cross and His subsequent resurrection. On top of this, Paul included certain creeds or sayings that were memorized and shared amongst the believers that signified the core beliefs of the faith. One of the most famous sayings is found in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8. And another is in Philippians 2:5-11.

These sayings helps us in two ways. The first is that it removes the arguments of legends or myths developing out of the Christian beliefs. These early sayings were recorded in Paul’s letters that were dated within a generation of Christ’s death. The second is that it provides us a solid foundation to what we are to believe and the core truths of the Bible, God’s Word, and what Jesus came to do.

Application

One of the most difficult things to do as a Christian is finding ways to answer questions about our faith and to do so in a clear and concise way. It is hard to approach others in conversation and have them ask questions about what we believe and we stumble through trying to think of verses we failed to memorize or give a reply that doesn’t fully answer the question. This sometimes holds us back from truly reaching our community for Christ.

Take out a piece or paper, or open a word document on your phone/laptop and try to answer these questions as best as you can and include Bible verses.

Who is Jesus and what did He come to do?

How do we get to heaven?

Following this, take the time to meditate and memorize the scripture passages in 1 Corinthians 15 and Philippians 2. Memorization is a spiritual discipline that is difficult for many of us (I’m speaking to myself too), but it is important for us to know what we believe and how to profess this belief to others.

Prayer

Father in heaven, I pray that You will give me the ability to better understand the scriptures, to memorize passages and verses that are essential to know for my own faith and to share this with others. Let me meditate on Your Words and to grow in my knowledge of You so that Your Holy Spirit can use me to share this good news of salvation to those in my community. In the name of Jesus I pray, amen.