MONDAY February 5th
1 Corinthians 15:57
‘But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ’.
We are returning to 1 Corinthians 15 over the next few devotions, in fact I can now add in that it will take us through to the first of March as I have already prepared ahead. This is my favourite chapter in the whole of Scripture, it is a chapter that gives us great hope for eternity, reminding us that this life on earth for however long it may be, is very short in comparison to eternity.
And we remind ourselves that eternity will be spent in one of two ways, heaven or hell, or as hell is described in the book of Revelation, the lake of fire that will be a place of torment day and night forever and ever. That is a long, long time! therefore it is vital that we ensure that we do all that is necessary to be sure that we are prepared, and so for any that read or listen to this devotion, if you have not given your life to the Lord Jesus Christ, then you are on the road that is taking you to the place of eternal torment, what is required is that you come to the place of believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, surrendering your life over to him, allowing him to become your Saviour and Lord, this is the only way that you can be sure of being transferred onto the road that leads to life everlasting. For Jesus alone, is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6).
This incredible chapter helps us to understand something of eternity, especially for all who have come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Of course we are still considering the apostle Paul and his life and his ministry, we have just spent some devotions considering those things which he called a mystery, and yet God had given revelation to him about them, and the resurrection is one of them.
I will break this chapter into sections, which commence with the gospel and ends up with us being in glory! At first we are victims as a result of sin, but at the end we are victorious as a result of the Saviour.
In fact Paul uses language that consists of opposites in this chapter:
Perishable – imperishable, dishonour – glory, weakness – power, natural – spiritual, but that is jumping ahead! But, at the end of the day so to speak, the opposites remind us of the power of the gospel to change things around. And it is only through this wonderful gospel, the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ that we can be saved. This will take us to the first few verses in our next devotion.