1 Corinthians 13:9-13 Now Available feat. A Boy and His Kite

1 Corinthians

Jan 30

1 Corinthians 13:9-13 is now available on all streaming platforms!

THE VERSE

[9] For we know in part and we prophesy in part, [10] but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. [11] When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. [12] For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. [13] So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

And so we come to the climactic ending of what’s known as “the love chapter!” Paul is landing the plane, so to speak. Let’s do a quick review of what preceded these verses.

First, in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3, he kicked things off by highlighting the reality that you can do certain outward activities that might seem spiritual or valuable, but if not done in love, amount to nothing. In doing this, he was calling a gift-obsessed church to first be love-obsessed instead! He wasn’t saying we shouldn’t care about gifts or generosity or faith or sacrifice, but simply that the “how“ of those things matters even more than the “what”! It’s a sobering thought that a “loveless everything” ultimately amounts to nothing.

Well, what is love? Depends on who you ask! Love isn’t merely some fluffy Hollywood-inspired feeling that no one can actually define. In verses 4-7, Paul goes to great lengths to clarify and zoom in on love with beautiful biblical precision. He explores what it is but also what it isn’t; it takes on very specific shapes while refusing to take on others. It’s not whatever we want to define it as. In verse 8, we’re told that it’s precisely the kind of love described in 4-7 that never ends. It never collapses, falls down, or crashes out. The prophecies, tongues, and revelatory knowing they were obsessed with would eventually be set aside, which catches us up to our current verses.

Here in verse 9, Paul reminds us that there’s a partiality to our knowledge of God and a partiality to the practice of our gifts. Everything we do in this life, until we are face-to-face with God, will be marked by this “in part-ness.” It’s not that we can’t know anything truly, but rather we don’t yet know fully! We see in part, and we know in part. Whenever we operate in our gifts, there’s an incompleteness to them. Like a mirror in Paul’s days that was most likely polished metal, we can see dimly. Like someone looking through a keyhole, we can’t see the full picture. The forms are true, but one day that mirror and keyhole will give way to face-to-face! Perhaps another more current analogy might help us: picture someone you love whom you’re only able to FaceTime with for months and years, but with a spotty connection and inevitably some broken-up conversations. Here in these verses, we’re given the promise that eventually FaceTime won’t be needed! Why? Because we will be face-to-face with the One we love and uninterruptedly present.

This love chapter closes out with a deep sense of longing for the day when the perfect comes and that perfection has a name: Jesus. He is returning, and we shall know Him, but it’s not only that! The amazing news is we will be fully known by Him. By being fully known, we will be fully loved. All the faith and hope and love that felt so hard or painful to hold on to at times in this life will give way to a world that’s faithful and hopeful and shot through with love. We will know just as we are fully known!

These verses should do something to our hearts today… They should stir faith, hope, and love as we live in this “in part” world. Why? Because we are promised that this is not the end. A perfect world of love and knowing and wholeness and face-to-face-ness is coming with Jesus and His return! His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom of love… “But the greatest of these is love.”

THE SONG + THE ARTIST

This song was written by Dave Wilton and Joel Ansett and produced, engineered, mixed and mastered by Dave Wilton at Coalesce Studios in Lafayette, CO. Drums by Tyler Cuchiara.