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1 Corinthians 11 – Does God Want Us Restoring?
Does God want us restoring? Stated negatively, it is impossible to restore without preaching the gospel – because the gospel restores people. Stated positively, to restore is to preach the gospel as seen in the good news records.
1 Corinthians 11 is an example of restoration through the gospel, by restoring “the Lord’s supper.” If we only see a “thing” restored, we are only seeing the outside symbol. Restoring the “supper” required restoring the gospel which substantiates the action.
Consider the following levels:
1. The gospel is here shown to be the death of Jesus and return (and therefore by implication, resurrection).
2. The gospel includes the purpose of Jesus’s death which is service to others. Using the language of Paul, Jesus served His body in several ways.
3. The sin of the Corinthians was more than a corruption of the memorial meal, that is, a thing.
4. The sin of the Corinthians was a corruption of serving one another (i.e. the body), through neglect and shame.
The solution is restoring the order and the meaning of the elements by first restoring the gospel. Restoration is impossible without the gospel, and that gospel leads to restoring things, meaning, and people.
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