A Small Difference
While reading through the Bible, there are times that the same or similar verbiage is used to discuss God the Father as well as God the Son or the Holy Spirit. In these repetitive verses it is easy to want to skip over because we believe that it is saying the exact same thing. However, I would ask that you don’t create this habit. The reason is that everything in the Bible was written with a purpose, and it is for our benefit to search out the meaning, “2 It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.“ Proverbs 25:2. If we skip over parts of a verse, we often miss a deeper meaning. Allow me to show you what I mean.
“yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.“
1 Corinthians 8:6
Did you spot the difference? It really is a very slight change. The beginning half of the verse states that from whom all things come and for whom we live. The second half of the verse states through whom all things came and through whom we live. It truly is such a small change, but when you take a moment and look at it there is actually a big meaning behind it.
The first half of the verse details that God the Father directed the creation of all things, that everything came from Him. This includes mankind who was destined to live for Him. However, due to our sinful nature, it is impossible for mankind to live up to this measure, and that is where the second half of 1 Corinthians 8:6 comes into play.
The second half of the verse shows that all things came from Jesus Christ. This verbiage is to show that Jesus Christ is equal to God as part of the Trinity, Jesus is not a created being but is wholly God. However, the second half of the verse also gives us the answer on how we can live for God as described in the first half of the verse. Since Jesus is both God and man, His death and resurrection allows us to be able to be reconciled to God and therefore we are able to live for God through Jesus Christ! “10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!“ Romans 5:10. We cannot bridge that gap ourselves, it can only be done through accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior!
This is why it is so important to read the Bible seriously. If we had read 1 Corinthians 8:6 quickly and allowed our minds to believe that the verse is using the same verbiage throughout, we would miss the bigger picture. When you break down the very small differences in verbiage we see that Paul is showing that we were created by the direction of God the Father to live a holy life; however, since this is impossible to do we need a Savior who can give us the eternal life through His death and resurrection! So when you are doing your Bible study and come across a passage that appears to repeat itself, slow down and see if there is a deeper meaning behind the passage.
Seek the truth and encourage one another,
Alex