Isaiah 26-27; 1 Corinthians 3

Isaiah continues his vivid descriptions of the end of the world when God will gather his remnant from the ends of the earth.

In days to come Jacob shall take root,
Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots
and fill the whole world with fruit (Isaiah 27:6).

The whole earth will be like the garden of Eden – bursting with fruit and kept in perfect peace by God himself. Isaiah’s sweeping imagery makes the context of Paul’s writing in 1 Corinthians 3 seem trite.

The people were fighting amongst themselves. Their differences were petty and threatened the testimony of the gospel in Corinth.

Paul painted a broader picture for the Corinthians – a picture of the end of the age when all believers will be saved… but their works will be judged. Each man’s work will be revealed by fire. If their work survives, they will be rewarded, but if their work is consumed, their lives will be saved, “but only as through fire” (3:15). Only those works done in faith by the power of the Spirit will survive the fire and receive a reward (3:10-15).

The way we choose to live our lives today will affect our eternity. Paul challenged the Corinthians to look at life with an eternal perspective. In light of eternity, their divisions seemed insignificant.

What areas of your life become trite when you look at them through the lens of an eternal perspective? Let it go. Your eternity awaits!