First Corinthians

First Corinthians by Karen Ahuja
24 x 24 x 1.5
Acrylic


When I began thinking about this painting and praying for the Holy Spirit to guide me and help me to paint 1st Corinthians, I started reading commentaries and looking at the history of this new church. After learning that the city of Corinth was an extremely wealthy port city when the church was formed, I prepped the canvas by painting it gold.  Since first Corinthians focuses on the power of the Holy Spirit and there is such a powerful chapter dedicated to love, I chose the color of red to represent love and white to represent the Holy Spirit.   The specific verse that the  Holy Spirit most powerfully placed on my heart was 1cor: 3:6-7.    
I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. ⁷ So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.

After I started working the painting, I was amazed to see how I important the fence was to the composition.   I also saw that leaving some of the gold base symbolized how God uses us in our space and current time to be a blessing to the world. The final paint speaks of the truth that when we wrap our faith, our passions, our will and our body's around the power of the cross, we will automatically reach towards Him and be filled with the Holy Spirit. That is when we truely bloom and grow in His presence..