MONDAY December 18th
As we continue to highlight some of the key verses from Pauls letters, today we will go to the two letters that he wrote to the Church at Corinth. It is in these two letters we have what is my favourite verse in the Bible and my favourite chapter.
In his first letter to them he highlights the message of the cross in the first chapter and of the resurrection in the fifteenth chapter (my favourite chapter).
So first,
‘For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.’ Now, I like this from the KJV ‘For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God’, 1 Corinthians 1:18. Oh how we need to hear this important message to be preached loud and clear today, for it is the only means of our salvation.
But we link to this from chapter 15, ‘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, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve’, verses 3-5.
Then (and I suggest if you have time today, you read through this fifteenth chapter to remind yourself of the wonder of the resurrection) verses 20-24 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power’, Beside the wonder of the resurrection these verses remind us that despite all we see going on around us, God is in control!
I love to read this chapter, it is such a great reminder that death is not the end, God has something incredible planned for each one of us who have come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and part of this plan is that we will be raised and will have glorified imperishable bodies to be able to dwell eternally in the presence of almighty God and our wonderful Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ.
And how does it all come about? It takes us to my favourite verse in Scripture, ‘Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come’, 2 Corinthians 5:17. It will all come about because we have been made anew in Christ Jesus.
These are just a few verses from these two letters, Paul has said so much more, he touches on ethics, he touches on the life of the Church, he touches on the gifts of the Holy Spirit and of course there is the well-known chapter on love, 1 Corinthians 13. Some of these things we will look at as we continue to study something of Paul and his ministry.