1st Corinthians 3 - Our Purpose

1st Corinthians 3:7-9 - ^"7So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. ⁸The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. ⁹For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building."

"7So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow." - Continuing his discourse from verse 6, Paul makes a blanket statement for everyone - every human that has ever lived, is living, or will live on this earth - We are nothing. Only God is something. God can make things (people's lives) grow. We need to give him all of our worship because He is all that matters.

^"8The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose" - Did you ever view your life as having purpose? Did you ever think that God wanted to use you to accomplish His purposes? That's exactly what Paul means by this statement. We all have different gifts and abilities given to us by God. In His infinite wisdom, God has made us very diverse from each other.

For example, I have a gift for playing and singing music, but when it comes to working with tools, or carving wood, I am absolutely pathetic. But, there are some people who would say just the opposite. We all have a purpose in the Kingdom of God. Paul's was to travel around and plant the "seed" of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Apollos set out to "water" or encourage and teach more about that Gospel. They each had a different purpose, but neither one of them was anything without God.

I can't play the keys or sing without God. You can't fulfill your purpose in the church without God. He is the only thing that matters.

"and each will be rewarded according to his own labor." - This is a tricky verse to interpret. But here's the crux of this verse. Each of us who know, believe in, and love Jesus will one day live in heaven with Him forever. That is our reward. It's everyone's reward. Now, that doesn't mean that our work that we do for Christ is the only thing that will get us to heaven - you have to take Scripture as a whole - you can't pick and choose. What it does mean is that one day, our reward will be life in heaven with Christ forever.

^"9For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building." - Quite simply: We are the servants of God and we accomplish His purposes for our lives. The world is God's field where the "seed" of the Gospel is planted, and the church is the building of God, the Bride of Christ.