I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…

Jilly and I were struck by the Christo-centric nature of the Queen’s funeral services. There can be no doubt that in planning them, Her Majesty rightly put the focus on the Jesus she trusted and served.

The whole Bible is Christo-centric. God’s purpose for the universe centres in Christ, and I note the Christ-centred nature of Paul’s appeal in 1 Corinthians 1:10. The only genuinely authoritative basis we have for urging believers to behave in a certain way (or to change their behaviour) is Jesus Himself: Who He is; what He taught, and what He has done. The Queen could say that it was the example of Jesus that caused her to seek to treat all people with love, kindness and respect. Paul is here making his own appeal for loving behaviour in the church, based on the reality of who Jesus is. If we really want to honour Him we will seek to live in harmony with one another. To continue to live in unrepented disunity is to be out of kilter with the Person of Christ.