MONDAY 13th
1 Corinthians 15:1-34
Yesterday I mentioned my favourite verses, today we are turning to my favourite chapter. For the next two days I am drawing from some thoughts that I had already prepared and have used previously taking 1 Corinthians 15 as the basis.
Paul commences this chapter by giving the believers a gentle reminder concerning the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verses 1-2
He says:
I remind you of the gospel I preached
I remind you of the gospel which you received
I remind you of the gospel in which you stand
I remind you of the gospel by which you are saved
But then he adds a caveat: That is, you are saved if you hold fast, or remain faithful to that which you have believed.
This chapter is full of wonderful truth concerning salvation, resurrection and eternal hope.
There are four ways in which we will look at this chapter, two points today and two points tomorrow.
1.The Importance of the gospel (verses 3 – 4)
2.The Incredible power of the resurrection (verses 20 – 23)
3.The Imperishable future of the believer (verses 35, 42 – 54)
4.The Incomparable hope of the Christian faith (verses 55 – 58)
1.The Importance of the gospel.
(3-4) ‘For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.’
The three days which Paul summarises here in a nutshell are the three most important days that have ever been in the whole of the history of the world. As I mentioned in an earlier devotion, (Friday 10th) in that period of 72 hours the greatest transaction that has ever taken place took place. The Lord Jesus Christ as he hung on the cross, took upon himself the sin of all mankind, he took upon himself the wrath of God and the punishment for that sin as if it were his own and in exchange he gives to all who will believe and trust in him his own righteousness. (2 Corinthians 5:22)
Because of this, the most importance decision that every one of us will make in our lifetime – however long that may be – will be the decision we make concerning what happened in those three important days. Will we either choose to trust and accept Jesus because of all that he has done for us in his redemptive work, or we will reject him.
(As you read this devotion, can you say that you know without a shadow of doubt that you have accepted Jesus as your own personal Saviour? If you can’t, how about making today the day you choose to accept and follow him.)
This gospel, this message is the most important message that the world needs to hear and we who already know Jesus need to look for opportunity to share it to a lost and dying world.
2.The Incredible power of the resurrection verses 20 – 23
This is such an amazing topic, it needs more than just a few minutes, but sufficient for me to say that because Christ rose from the dead, he is the guarantee that all who believe in him will also be raised to eternal life. In John 11 when we read of the account where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, prior to it happening, Jesus said this to Martha: ‘I am the resurrection and the life. WHOEVER believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,
and EVERYONE who lives and believes in me shall never die.’ He then challenged Martha with a question: ‘DO YOU BELIEVE THIS?’ What about you as you are reading this devotion – DO YOU BELIEVE THIS?
Jesus own resurrection proved that he has power over death and therefore he has the right to grant eternal life to all who believe. (John 17:1-3 ‘When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.’)
I love the certainty of verse 20, ‘But in fact Christ HAS been raised from the dead’ it re-echo’s the message of the angel outside the tomb, ‘He is risen,’ and then the next statement in verse 20 that says that the resurrected Jesus is ‘the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep’. This means more resurrections will follow. These verses are so essential to our faith, for if there is no resurrection, then there is no eternal life! Paul continues, ‘For as by a man (Adam) came death, by a man (Jesus) has come also the resurrection of the dead. For, as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.’ (vv21-22)
We will continue this theme tomorrow.
I cast my mind to Calvary
Where Jesus bled and died for me
I see His wounds, His hands, His feet
My Savior on that cursed tree
His body bound and drenched in tears
They laid Him down in Joseph’s tomb
The entrance sealed by heavy stone
Messiah still and all alone
O praise the name of the Lord our God
O praise His name forever more
For endless days we will sing Your praise
Oh Lord, oh Lord our God
Then on the third at break of dawn
The Son of heaven rose again
O trampled death where is your sting?
The angels roar for Christ the King
He shall return in robes of white
The blazing Son shall pierce the night
And I will rise among the saints
My gaze transfixed on Jesus’ face
O praise the name of the Lord our God
O praise His name forever more
For endless days we will sing Your praise
Oh Lord, oh Lord our God
Oh Lord, oh Lord our God
Songwriters: Dean Ussher, Marty Sampson, Benjamin Hastings © CAPITOL CHRISTIAN MUSIC GROUP CCLI788682