1Cor 13:13 | KingComments | STEP | . If it is said that love never fails, it cannot be otherwise than that it is about Divine love. It can never be said of human or natural love. That love can grow cold and even change into hatred. In the practice of life it is no exception, unfortunately, when husband and wife separate because they no longer have feelings toward each other. When they got married it all seemed so wonderful, but in a course of a short or longer time, the love they first had toward each other grew cold. That is because this love is based on what the other is or does. Divine love on the contrary always loves no matter how the other person behaves. The cause of this is that God is the source of this Divine love. Therefore that love never fails. It has always been and will always abide. That cannot be said of the gifts. “Prophecy” and “knowledge” will be “done away” and “tongues” will “cease”. We need prophecies as long as we live on earth. Two things are meant by prophecies. In the first place it is about predicting the future, things that are to happen. You find them through the whole Bible. Your expectation of the future determines your life on earth. If you for example know what will happen to the world, you will consider that in the way you live in the world and in the way you deal with it. Second, prophecy in the sense of chapter 14 ( ), where it is about preaching in the church. There it is not about a prediction about the future, but about an encouragement or exhortation that you need for your faith life. In contrast to love, prophecies will be done away. When a prediction of the future has been fulfilled then the prophecy has been done away. That will happen to all prophecies, for God will surely do what He has said. Even the prophecy in the sense of encouragement or exhortation will be done away, namely when we shall be taken up to heaven. Then we will be in no need of any encouraging or exhorting word anymore. The same goes for knowledge: it will be done away. Gaining knowledge is something that belongs to the imperfect life on earth. You go to school and after that you might follow some training to enrich your knowledge to do your job better. Gaining knowledge goes on as long as you live on earth. That also applies to the things of God. But in heaven that will not be necessary anymore; then knowledge will be done away, for we will know fully. The tongues “will cease”. That will not only be in heaven, but, in my opinion, already on earth. To clarify why I think so, I would like to point at the word used here. That, at least, has helped me when I pondered on the gift of speaking in tongues and whether this gift still occurs. Of prophecies and of knowledge it is said that “they will be done away”, while of tongues it is said that “they will cease”. This distinction is important. ‘Will be done away’ refers to an event, an action, through which both prophecies and knowledge will come to an end. This event or action is the coming of the Lord Jesus to pick up the church and to bring it into heaven. Then the perfect situation has come and therefore prophecy and knowledge will not be needed anymore. Regarding the tongues it is different. ‘They will cease’ means that they will naturally cease after a course of time, namely, when they have fulfilled their function. Ceasing does not happen by a one-time action, but happens gradually. This gift slowly dies away, so to speak. What was the function of the tongues? That was to make clear at the beginning of the church that God was in action. In the book of Acts, where the early days of the church are described, you read several times in the first chapters about speaking in tongues. But the further you read in this Bible book, the less you encounter this gift, until it entirely vanishes. The meaning of speaking in tongues will be commented on in detail in chapter 14, but here you already find an indication, which you ought not to ignore. . Then Paul will speak further only about prophecy and knowledge. Both are “in part”, that means that prophesying and knowing happens little by little. With God perfect knowledge is present, but with us there is partial knowledge. You might compare this to getting to know a city. You can only know a city well by walking through all its streets. After you’ve been in each street, you’ve got to know the city little by little. That is meant by ‘in part’, thus partially. . Only when you fly in an airplane above the city, you can get the big picture and you see how each street is connected to the other. The truth of God is like that. You can be occupied with your blessings as a Christian at one moment and at the other moment with the future of Israel, but not with both of them at the same time. Of course you will see more of the wonderful unity of the Bible if you are more and more occupied with the Bible. Nevertheless you will only be able to see the big picture of God’s plan when the perfect situation has come, that is when we are glorified. . That there is also growth in spiritual terms, appears from what Paul says about a child and about a man. What applies to nature also applies spiritually. I do not know how long you’ve already known the Lord. I surely know that, in a course of time, you will find some things more important than you did in the past. You will get to know the value of certain things better. A little child loves to play with all kinds of things. It is not conscious of the value of those things and it is not even interested in that. To have fun with it, is the only thing that counts. A toy-car is fun and sitting behind the wheel of a real car is also fun. But he who has become a man will surely have discovered in the meantime the big difference between the value and the use of it. That’s how it is in spiritual view. The Corinthians loved to speak in tongues in the ‘childhood’ of the church. They were not aware yet of the real value of the church. . The reason why we still see everything “dimly” is because of the limitations we have as humans. This doesn’t mean that we do not need to learn to know God’s Word, as if it is, after all, difficult and inconceivable. No, he who really loves God and the Lord Jesus will make every effort to learn to know Them better. And the Bible is the only way to do that. Haven’t you ever experienced that by reading the Bible certain things suddenly become clear? It is the desire of the Lord Jesus that we grow in insight. Seeing “dimly”, as if you “see in a mirror” that does not reflect your face entirely clearly, you should compare to the perfection of heaven. When we are there, each limitation and dimness we experience here on earth will disappear. I will then know in the same way as God has always known me. . But as long as I am on earth, “faith, hope, love” abide available to me. To each Christian these are the three pillars on which his life rests and the power through which he lives in a world that lies in the power of the evil one ( ). “Faith” is the same as trust. A Christian trusts in God and in the Lord Jesus in the present, despite the resistance and difficulties he experiences. “Hope” looks forward to the time when we will be perfect. In Hebrews 6 hope is called “an anchor of the soul” ( ). An anchor is important for a ship to be kept in the right place and that it will not be dragged by the stream. A captain once told me that not all anchors are equally reliable. When he doesn’t trust his anchor he has no rest. When he can trust his anchor he can sleep quietly. If you rely on the Lord Jesus like that and continue to look forward to His coming, nothing will turn you upside down. Finally “love”. It is the “greatest” of the three. Love is ‘the greatest’ because it does not only consider God and the Lord Jesus, as it is the case with faith and hope, but also here on earth it considers other people to do them well. Love is also ‘the greatest’ because it abides in eternity, while faith is changed into seeing and hope is be fulfilled. Now read 1 Corinthians 13:8-13 again. Reflection: Faith, hope and love together occur approximately ten times in the New Testament, for example in . Try to find other examples yourself.

‏ 1 Corinthians 13:13

Love Never Fails

1Cor 13:8. If it is said that love never fails, it cannot be otherwise than that it is about Divine love. It can never be said of human or natural love. That love can grow cold and even change into hatred.

In the practice of life it is no exception, unfortunately, when husband and wife separate because they no longer have feelings toward each other. When they got married it all seemed so wonderful, but in a course of a short or longer time, the love they first had toward each other grew cold. That is because this love is based on what the other is or does.

Divine love on the contrary always loves no matter how the other person behaves. The cause of this is that God is the source of this Divine love. Therefore that love never fails. It has always been and will always abide. That cannot be said of the gifts. “Prophecy” and “knowledge” will be “done away” and “tongues” will “cease”.

We need prophecies as long as we live on earth. Two things are meant by prophecies. In the first place it is about predicting the future, things that are to happen. You find them through the whole Bible. Your expectation of the future determines your life on earth. If you for example know what will happen to the world, you will consider that in the way you live in the world and in the way you deal with it.

Second, prophecy in the sense of chapter 14 (1Cor 14:3), where it is about preaching in the church. There it is not about a prediction about the future, but about an encouragement or exhortation that you need for your faith life.

In contrast to love, prophecies will be done away. When a prediction of the future has been fulfilled then the prophecy has been done away. That will happen to all prophecies, for God will surely do what He has said. Even the prophecy in the sense of encouragement or exhortation will be done away, namely when we shall be taken up to heaven. Then we will be in no need of any encouraging or exhorting word anymore.

The same goes for knowledge: it will be done away. Gaining knowledge is something that belongs to the imperfect life on earth. You go to school and after that you might follow some training to enrich your knowledge to do your job better. Gaining knowledge goes on as long as you live on earth. That also applies to the things of God. But in heaven that will not be necessary anymore; then knowledge will be done away, for we will know fully.

The tongues “will cease”. That will not only be in heaven, but, in my opinion, already on earth. To clarify why I think so, I would like to point at the word used here. That, at least, has helped me when I pondered on the gift of speaking in tongues and whether this gift still occurs. Of prophecies and of knowledge it is said that “they will be done away”, while of tongues it is said that “they will cease”. This distinction is important.

‘Will be done away’ refers to an event, an action, through which both prophecies and knowledge will come to an end. This event or action is the coming of the Lord Jesus to pick up the church and to bring it into heaven. Then the perfect situation has come and therefore prophecy and knowledge will not be needed anymore.

Regarding the tongues it is different. ‘They will cease’ means that they will naturally cease after a course of time, namely, when they have fulfilled their function. Ceasing does not happen by a one-time action, but happens gradually. This gift slowly dies away, so to speak.

What was the function of the tongues? That was to make clear at the beginning of the church that God was in action. In the book of Acts, where the early days of the church are described, you read several times in the first chapters about speaking in tongues. But the further you read in this Bible book, the less you encounter this gift, until it entirely vanishes. The meaning of speaking in tongues will be commented on in detail in chapter 14, but here you already find an indication, which you ought not to ignore.

1Cor 13:9. Then Paul will speak further only about prophecy and knowledge. Both are “in part”, that means that prophesying and knowing happens little by little. With God perfect knowledge is present, but with us there is partial knowledge. You might compare this to getting to know a city. You can only know a city well by walking through all its streets. After you’ve been in each street, you’ve got to know the city little by little. That is meant by ‘in part’, thus partially.

1Cor 13:10. Only when you fly in an airplane above the city, you can get the big picture and you see how each street is connected to the other. The truth of God is like that. You can be occupied with your blessings as a Christian at one moment and at the other moment with the future of Israel, but not with both of them at the same time. Of course you will see more of the wonderful unity of the Bible if you are more and more occupied with the Bible. Nevertheless you will only be able to see the big picture of God’s plan when the perfect situation has come, that is when we are glorified.

1Cor 13:11. That there is also growth in spiritual terms, appears from what Paul says about a child and about a man. What applies to nature also applies spiritually. I do not know how long you’ve already known the Lord. I surely know that, in a course of time, you will find some things more important than you did in the past. You will get to know the value of certain things better.

A little child loves to play with all kinds of things. It is not conscious of the value of those things and it is not even interested in that. To have fun with it, is the only thing that counts. A toy-car is fun and sitting behind the wheel of a real car is also fun. But he who has become a man will surely have discovered in the meantime the big difference between the value and the use of it. That’s how it is in spiritual view. The Corinthians loved to speak in tongues in the ‘childhood’ of the church. They were not aware yet of the real value of the church.

1Cor 13:12. The reason why we still see everything “dimly” is because of the limitations we have as humans. This doesn’t mean that we do not need to learn to know God’s Word, as if it is, after all, difficult and inconceivable. No, he who really loves God and the Lord Jesus will make every effort to learn to know Them better. And the Bible is the only way to do that. Haven’t you ever experienced that by reading the Bible certain things suddenly become clear? It is the desire of the Lord Jesus that we grow in insight.

Seeing “dimly”, as if you “see in a mirror” that does not reflect your face entirely clearly, you should compare to the perfection of heaven. When we are there, each limitation and dimness we experience here on earth will disappear. I will then know in the same way as God has always known me.

1Cor 13:13. But as long as I am on earth, “faith, hope, love” abide available to me. To each Christian these are the three pillars on which his life rests and the power through which he lives in a world that lies in the power of the evil one (1Jn 5:19).

“Faith” is the same as trust. A Christian trusts in God and in the Lord Jesus in the present, despite the resistance and difficulties he experiences.

“Hope” looks forward to the time when we will be perfect. In Hebrews 6 hope is called “an anchor of the soul” (Heb 6:19). An anchor is important for a ship to be kept in the right place and that it will not be dragged by the stream. A captain once told me that not all anchors are equally reliable. When he doesn’t trust his anchor he has no rest. When he can trust his anchor he can sleep quietly. If you rely on the Lord Jesus like that and continue to look forward to His coming, nothing will turn you upside down.

Finally “love”. It is the “greatest” of the three. Love is ‘the greatest’ because it does not only consider God and the Lord Jesus, as it is the case with faith and hope, but also here on earth it considers other people to do them well. Love is also ‘the greatest’ because it abides in eternity, while faith is changed into seeing and hope is be fulfilled.

Now read 1 Corinthians 13:8-13 again.

Reflection: Faith, hope and love together occur approximately ten times in the New Testament, for example in 1Thes 1:3. Try to find other examples yourself.