Category: Devotions

WEDNESDAY May 15^th

 

1 Corinthians 1:30–31

‘And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”’

 

As we turn to the second of our four words today, we come to righteousness. I start by using the words of a song, ‘He is all my righteousness, I stand complete in him and worship him’. Remember, I mentioned last week about what comes to mind when we consider what we are ‘in Christ’, I referred to being a new creation, here in Christ because of his righteousness I am complete! You are complete.

 

The opposite to being righteous is to be unrighteous, and that is what we all are in the eyes of God outside of Christ, our biggest efforts towards righteousness fall short and are as Isaiah says like filthy rags and the reason being that we are sinners, cut off from God, and thus as such all fall short of the standard he demands. And not one of us from out of ourselves could do anything about it, but the good news concerning the message of the cross is this, there was one who lived sinlessly, he lived up to the standard that God demands and was able to stand in the gap as it were and become the substitute and the propitiation for our sin. The righteous and holy Son of God gave himself as a ransom for us as sinners, and God accepted the sacrifice that he made, therefore we do not have to strive to earn salvation, we simply come by faith to the Lord Jesus Christ, and as we believe in all he has done for us, his righteousness is imputed or counted to us, we are declared as righteous. Romans 4:3-5 ‘For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness’.

 

So, we are not made righteous because of anything that we have done, but purely according to what Christ has done for us. Christ has become our righteousness. What we could never do, he has done for us and on our behalf. Therefore, by faith we are saved, and again in the letter of Paul to Rome, Romans 4, it says, ‘[Abraham] grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteous.” But the words “counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification’, (verses 20-25). To be justified means that God has declared us as not guilty, he declares us as righteous.

 

Paul will have the final word, and what he says for himself stands for you and me as well, ‘and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith’, Philippians 3:9.

 

‘He is all my righteousness; I stand complete in him’.

TUESDAY May 14^th

 

1 Corinthians 1:30–31

‘And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”’

 

‘‘Wisdom, righteousness and power, holiness for evermore; my redemption full and sure, He is all I need’, you will recall I quoted these words in our previous devotion from the Redemption Hymnal, reminding us as Paul does in our text, that Christ being from God, has become to us as we are found in him, all we need. He has become our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. So, without any shadow of doubt Jesus really is all I need, Jesus is really all you need.

 

We will consider these four points over this week, today wisdom.

 

In Colossians 2 Paul is writing to encourage the believers so that they would be united, and that they would begin to understand something of the mystery of God, of which he says, ‘which is in Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge’, (verse 2-3).

 

You will recall that earlier in 1 Corinthians 1, that Paul had said that the foolishness of God is wiser than men, his intention was not to suggest that God was foolish in any way, but to help us to understand that the wisdom of men is sub-standard in comparison to the wisdom of God, and the wisdom of God is to be seen in the message of the cross and through the Lord Jesus Christ. He, that is Jesus became to us wisdom from God. In fact, in verse 24 Paul has said that Christ is not only the wisdom of God, but he is also the power of God.

 

So, in Christ, through the activity of the cross, and the resurrection, we see wisdom at work. God’s wisdom, and the fruit or the benefit of this wisdom, is that we who are saved, are beneficiaries of the power of the cross which gives to us or brings to us, righteousness, sanctification and redemption.

 

Imagine if mankind had been left to decide what was to be done to bring about redemption, well, we can see it manifested in some of the other religions of the world, good works, idolatry, pagan sacrifices, a plethora of gods to represent almost anything and everything, sun gods, moon gods, rain gods, a god for love, penance, indulgences etc. And yet with all of what would be summed up as man’s wisdom, or attempts toward salvation, it is utter foolishness, for as a result not a single human being would ever be redeemed.

 

But in his wisdom, God had a plan, which he revealed through his Son, a wise plan that is considered foolishness to mankind, but nevertheless it is an effective plan, it is the only plan, because God is wiser than all the wisest of men added together, and his plan being outworked through Christ means that the day is coming when myriads will stand before his throne, as we saw last week, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. A person is justified, not by the law. Or by any other means but through faith in Christ Jesus. As we have believed Christ has become the wisdom of God to each one of us. What others see as foolishness we see the power of God and the wisdom of God at work.

 

I will repeat the words from the hymn I mentioned recently, ‘Redeemed how I love to proclaim it . . . redeemed, redeemed, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.’

MONDAY May 13^th

 

1 Corinthians 1:30–31

‘And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”’

 

‘Because of him’, takes us back to verse 29, because of God, although we are saved because of what Jesus has done for us at Calvary, it all took place because of God—in the words of a well-known hymn—’God sent his Son, they called him Jesus’. In Galatians 4:6, Paul says ‘But when the fulness of time came, God sent forth his Son . . . to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons’. God sent, therefore because of him, you (we) are in Christ Jesus. I have mentioned a few times over the last four years while preparing the devotions something about these two words ‘in Christ’ and it would make a good study to consider who we are, and what we have received as we are found in Christ. Obviously for me, my favourite verse immediately comes to mind, in Christ we have become new creations. I wonder what comes to your mind.

 

But that is not where we are going today, but rather to see from these verses what Christ has become to each one of us. Paul lists four things—wisdom, righteousness and sanctification and redemption. The result being that we of ourselves have absolutely nothing to boast about. It is all of Christ, all from Christ, we are found to be in Christ, not through any merit or effort of our own, but solely upon what Christ has done for us, therefore Paul concludes, ‘let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord’.

 

I can imagine Paul as he is writing these words, thinking back over his spiritual journey, pre-conversion, he had reached great heights as a Jew, as a Pharisee, he probably even thought he was doing God a favour when he went about persecuting those who had begun to follow Jesus, until he had his life transforming conversion on the road to Damascus, then as he set out on this new journey, he began to realise that not a single one of his achievement counted toward who he had become in Christ. It was all from God and through Jesus. Therefore, he counted everything else as loss, or dung, worthless, he stood no longer under condemnation only by and because of the amazing grace of God through Christ Jesus.

 

And the same counts for each one of us, my father-in-law used to say, ‘It is all of grace and not of Chase’ (Chase being his surname), Now my surname doesn’t rhyme with grace, and it will be the same for most who will read this devotion, but each one of us must come to the place of recognising that it is nothing of us or from us but it is all because of his grace. I think of the words of the hymn, ‘Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I cling’.

  I have also mentioned this before, but when I was a youngster, it was lethal for the leader of the service in the church I attended to ask for a choice of a hymn, for I wouldn’t hesitate to give out a number and it was nearly always the same hymn, (it was also the same if he asked for a choice of Chorus—that would have been ‘His name is the best name’) it would have been from the Redemption Hymnal, number 642, ‘Jesus Christ is made to me’ and the chorus of this hymn, well, it is based on our verses today, ‘Wisdom, righteousness and power, holiness for evermore; my redemption full and sure, He is all I need’

FRIDAY May 10^th

 

 

1 Corinthians 1:26–30

‘For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.’

 

Although I have given a few verses here, it is the last part that I want us to consider, ‘. . . so that no human being might boast in the presence of God’.

 

In Revelation 5 we have the scene that John saw in his revelation of Jesus Christ, most of us will know it well, a question is asked, ‘Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?’, the eventual answer comes, when one of the elders says, ‘Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.’ And John saw a Lamb standing, as though it has been slain.

 

A few verses later we read that the four and twenty elders sang a new song, it is in verses 9-10 and it is a song that rejoices that because of the Lamb being slain, there was around the throne of God people from every tribe and language and people and nation But, how did they get there? What qualified them to be found there?

 

Well, the answer is found in the song that was being sung, ‘for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God’ (v9). That is the ONLY answer, and it is the ONLY way that any man or woman can be found in the presence of God, by being ransomed by the blood of the Lamb that had been slain, and the name of Lamb, is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul says in this chapter that we are looking at, that no man will be able to boast in the presence of God.

 

When we come to stand around the throne of God, not one person will ever be able to say ‘Well, I am here because of what I have done,’ no one will be able to say ‘I worked well and earned my salvation, that is how I am here’, no one will be able to say ‘I prayed regularly to Mary and went to confession, that is why I am here’, and no one will be able to say ‘I am here because of what (and they could list any religious figure they like) did for me’.

 

Every single person in the crowd around the throne, which we see later in John’s revelation is numbered a great multitude that no one could number (7:9) will only be there because of what Christ has done, and that was through the shedding of his blood and of they themselves being washed in his blood. As Paul says elsewhere, ‘For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast’, (Ephesians 2:8-9). Peter reminds us that we have been ransomed from our own futile ways, not with perishable things such as silver and gold, we have been ransomed with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot (1 Peter 1:18-19).

 

As I was preparing this devotion I had some music playing and the song being sung was ‘I need no other argument, I need no other plea, it is enough that Jesus died and that he died for me’, I got the hymnal out to sing along with it then as I was finishing this devotion off, the song being sung was ‘Redeemed how I love to proclaim it . . . redeemed, redeemed, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb’.

Paul says in verse 31 of 1 Corinthians, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord’, a verse we will get to next week.

THURSDAY May 9^th

 

1 Corinthians 1:22–25.

‘For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.’

 

Before I move away from these verses and especially the statement ‘but we peach Christ crucified’, we need to understand that there is an ongoing battle taking place in society today that is seeking to undermine, and to eventually attempt to deny completely and overthrow the truth of the gospel. Culture is seeking to replace absolute truth with subjective truth. One of the biggest threats today is that of cancel culture.

 

The result will be that all that we hold onto as the truth of the word of God, the truth of who Jesus really is, the truth concerning the gospel, the truth concerning biblical morality, the truth concerning eternal consequences will be rejected, as being the views of those who will have been labelled as bigots. It is even more serious than this, in that the more society moves this way, those of us who hold to the truthfulness of God’s word etc we will be cancelled by society. In other words, everyone else can hold to their view or ideology, however ridiculous or crazy that it may be, but how dare the Christian hold onto the views that they do.

 

Remember Jesus said to his disciples in the last days before he went to calvary, ‘If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you’, (John 15:18-19).

 

There is no doubt that the hatred of the world towards those who love the true gospel, and the message of the cross is increasing and will continue to increase. Those of us who love the true and the living God, who love the word of God which is the ultimate and eternal truth, who love the Lord Jesus Christ who is not only the way to God, but who is also the truth and life, who love the only message that can save, the message of the cross, need to come to the place of loving the place of fellowship, where we can join with others who like us love truth, so that as a body we can be a means of encouragement to each other which will strengthen us in our faith in these days when we will need more than ever to be willing to stand up for the truth and to stand firm.

 

In the confusion that cancel culture is creating, we need more than ever to be those who hold onto and continue to preach Christ crucified.

WEDNESDAY May 8^th

 

1 Corinthians 1:22–25.

‘For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.’

 

In 1 Corinthians 15 as Paul commences his robust defence of the resurrection of Jesus, after making mention of the gospel which he had preached to them vv1-2 he makes the statement that describes it, we know these verses so well 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’, he is making it abundantly clear as to what the gospel is, and this is what he had preached and this is what he would continue to preach, as he has already stated in our text for today which is in the first chapter of the same epistle ‘but we preach Christ crucified’.

 

Paul continually had to defend not only the gospel itself, but the very preaching of the gospel. In Galatians chapter 1 he mentions those who were distorting the gospel, and even needs to reprimand those who were turning away from the true gospel to a different gospel, making it clear that in fact there is no other gospel. He is so serious and confident concerning the gospel which he had preached that he makes this judgment upon those pedalling a false gospel ‘let him be accursed’.

 

It is vitally important today that we do not detract from what the gospel is and from what the gospel can do, for it is the only means of eternal salvation. Therefore, we must have the same unbendable determination as Paul that ‘we preach Christ crucified’. It matters not how foolish the world considers the message to be, we preach Christ, we preach his atoning death, and we preach his triumphant resurrection.

 

Now, it could be said that although we preach Christ crucified, that in fact many others have been crucified, but the crucifixion of Jesus was vastly different to any other crucifixion that has ever taken place. We know that the two that hung either side of Jesus were criminals, Barabbas who was released when the people were given the choice between him and Jesus had been a troublemaker, but Pilate when he examined Jesus had no option but to say that he could find no fault in him. All other crucifixions took place because those crucified had done wrong, but not Jesus. He had lived perfectly, he had lived sinlessly, he was crucified not because of any crime he had done, but as the propitiation, the atoning sacrifice for our sin, he took my sins and my sorrows, he made them his very own, he took my place, he took your place, and as he hung on the cruel cross, executed by those who were given the orders to do so, he was paying the ultimate price for the sins of the world so that we could be reconciled back to God. So that is why we preach Christ crucified, because it is through his death that our sin has been atoned for and we can be forgiven and reconciled to God.

 

We dare not preach any other gospel, for there is no other way, it is the way of the cross that leads us home to God.

 

I have mentioned before that I was once accused by someone that I preach too much or too often about the cross and the resurrection.

 

Well as Paul himself said, ‘God forbid that I should boast save in the cross of Christ my God.’

 

I must, we must preach Christ crucified, for it is the power of God unto salvation, it is the only means for salvation.

TUESDAY May 7^th

 

1 Corinthians 1:20–21

‘Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.’

 

There is a cross-reference from verse 20 in the ESV that takes you to Isaiah 19:12 which reads ‘Where then are your wise men?  Let them tell you that they might know what the LORD of hosts has purposed against Egypt.’

 

It is a challenge from God to those who consider themselves to be the wise men of the day to reveal that which God is going to do, remember back in Elijah’s day, he challenged the prophets of Baal to a test to see whose God would answer and prove to be the true and living God, and in a similar way God is challenging the wise to see which of them, that is the wise men or God himself is the wiser, the one who knows and can reveal that which was to yet happen. In the previous verses in Isaiah (19:11) God says this about those who considered themselves to be wise in the days of the Egyptian Pharoah, ‘the wisest counsellors of Pharaoh give stupid counsel’. We will recall the time when Nebuchadnezzar had had his dream and he called all the wise men together and demanded of them that they not only told him what his dream was, but also what it meant, and we read in Daniel 2, that they had to admit that with all their wisdom, they could not reveal what the dream was all about, and therefore they had no chance of revealing its meaning. Later in Daniel 4, Neb’ has another dream, this time he makes it easier for the wise men by telling them what the dream was, all they had to do was to give its meaning, but they could not give the interpretation. We see on both occasions it took a man called Daniel who was not wise in his own eyes, but had wisdom that came from above, wisdom given to him by God, who showed him what the king needed to know.

 

Very clearly we see that the wise men of this world, the wisdom of this world is not a match for the wisdom of almighty God, he knows all things, he is as I mentioned in one of last weeks devotions, the omniscient God, he knows all things, therefore in knowing all things he knows exactly how best to deal with any and every given situation, and when it came to fallen humanity, whereas the wise men in this world would have tried a 1001 ways to try to deal with the problem of sin, every single one of the 1001 options would have failed, it was only possible because the wisdom of God decided, the only wise God knew that it would take as it says in a song a lamb, and the Lamb needed to be the spotless, sinless Son of God who would give his life as an atoning sacrifice. ‘Foolishness’, says the world, not at all says the wise God, it is my power at work, and as a result through the cross, redemption has become available.

 

We need to learn from this as those who seek to excel in their own wisdom and think that they can overturn the Christian heritage of our nation, the biblical standards that have been the bedrock of our society, the morality that is taught through the counsel of God’s word, that their best wisdom falls short when it comes to wisdom that is from above. Repeating the words God spoke through the prophet Isaiah, the wisest counsellors give stupid wisdom, we need to stay firmly grounded on that which God’s word teaches us, allowing his wisdom as revealed in the Holy Scriptures to trump anything and everything else, so that our lives and the steps we take each day, and the standards we live by each day are ordered by the Lord.

FRIDAY May 3^rd

 

1 Corinthians 1:19

‘For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”’

 

It is written, means that what Paul is about to write has already been written in Scripture, it is to be found in Isaiah 29:14, which says ‘therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden’, and is also alluded to in Job 5:12-13 ‘He frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success. He catches the wise in their own craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end’, and like what is found in Jeremiah 8:9 ‘The wise men shall be put to shame; they shall be dismayed and taken; behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD, so what wisdom is in them?’

 

In other words, firstly, that even among the wise, the clever, those who consider themselves to be intellectual there are those who cannot understand what God has done through the cross, and despite all their cleverness they consider it to be foolish. But God says, you can have all the intellect and wisdom that is to be found in the world in the places of learning and education that you like, today we would say, you can have all the letters you can earn after your name, but what I have done in the message of the cross, defies it all, you consider it foolishness, you consider it nonsense, you consider it folly, but be warned it is my power at work, and my power towers over and above all of your wisdom, philosophical ideas, and letters after your name and it towers above all the world’s intellect stacked together, my power demonstrated at Calvary will never be frustrated or thwarted as a result of your devices of craftiness.

 

We are living in the days where universities, places of education and governments are seeking to put themselves over and above the word of God, which includes seeking to overrule the word of God, and as a result they are seeking to undermine the power or the message of the cross, we don’t want your Christianity, we don’t want your God. But God will never be thwarted, by education nor by governments, instead, he himself will cause them to be thwarted and to be destroyed. And one of the wonders of the message of the cross, and the power of God at work through that message is that the ones who consider it to be foolish will one day realise that as an aspect of the outworking of the gospel, Jesus will reign, and his reign will put an end to all human authority, his reign will put an end to all human philosophy and wisdom and one day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

 

Secondly and briefly. ‘It is written,’ this is a sure reminder to us that what God has said, and as a result has been written in his word will come to pass! Again, from Job we read ‘I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.’ God’s purpose was the cross, God’s purpose is still the message of the cross, don’t be foolish and consider it as foolishness, don’t be wise in your own understanding, don’t think that there are alternative ways, the cross is the only provision God has made, come and respond to the message of the gospel, allow the power of God to be at work in your life.

 

It is a bank holiday Monday, we are away as a family to North Wales for our granddaughter Amelia’s dedication this weekend, devotions will return on Tuesday.

THURSDAY May 2^nd

 

1 Corinthians 1:17-31

 

V18 ‘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’.

 

A few weeks back on a Sunday evening as Iain was sharing the word, he commented concerning the Easter message as to how far into the year can we keep looking back to the Easter weekend, the reason being that he was going to speak further on some of the things that happened over that momentous weekend two-thousand years ago. And the straight answer is that we can keep on talking, preaching about the events of that weekend right through the year, without ever ending as it is the most important weekend that has ever taken place on planet earth. Therefore, I will come to the same verse for the third time!

 

The facts concerning the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ are the central theme of both the Scripture and the central point in the history of the world.

 

The message, or the word of, or the preaching of the cross is the most urgent and needed message that the world needs to hear. And we need to do all that we can to make this important and pivotal message known to those all around us, regardless or not of whether as they hear it, they consider it to be foolishness. The fact of the matter is this, that many of us may have considered it as foolishness at some time in the past, but as the message was proclaimed, the Holy Spirit worked in our lives to change our understanding of it as from being foolish to it becoming the power of God that saved us and continues to save us.

 

Thank God for everyone that heralded the gospel in some way that has caused us to be together as a fellowship of God’s people, yes we may have different backgrounds, come from various parts of the UK or from other nations of the world, but it was the preaching of the gospel that reconciled us to God and brought us into the wonderful fellowship that we can enjoy together as the family of God.

 

God knew exactly what he was doing, and Paul later says in this same chapter ‘For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom’ (v25) He isn’t calling God foolish, but what he is saying is this ‘How dare men and women think that they know better than God!’ With all our intellect and knowledge, we are not a match for God—he is the omniscient one, he knows all things, even those things which are yet to come or to happen.

 

As we have come to know the power of God, may we seek to find any and every way possible to share the good news of the gospel, knowing that as we are obedient in sowing the seed, it is the Holy Spirit who will water it and God will give the increase.

WEDNESDAY May 1^st

 

1 Corinthians 1:17-31

 

V18 ‘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’.

 

Yesterday we considered how the word of the cross, or as it reads in the NIV ‘the message of the cross’, in the KJV ‘the preaching of the cross’ is foolishness or folly to those who are perishing.  Those who are perishing is a reference to all who fail to believe and respond. Sadly, that is a majority of those who live around us as our neighbours, a majority of those who make up our nation, and most of the world’s population. Just consider this, the greatest events in the whole of history, the death and resurrection of Jesus, are considered as foolishness!

 

Yet, Paul continues to say, ‘but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.’

 

What the unbelieving world considers foolish, is the most incredible demonstration of God’s power that has ever been demonstrated or seen. A dead man raised to life again, that is powerful, but raised never to die again, that is even more powerful, but raised to give or to grant eternal life to all who will believe on him, that is can I suggest even more powerful, why? Because we deserved to die, we do not deserve to live forever, but God who is rich in mercy and abounding in love, was willing to put the plan of redemption into effect so that because of all that Jesus has done, that is in his death and his resurrection, we can be redeemed, justified, saved and not just for time but for eternity.

 

My eternal salvation, your eternal salvation is the power of God at work! Dead men (and women) cannot talk, dead men cannot walk, dead men are dead! But hallelujah, this is not so if you or I are in Christ, because Jesus made the declaration, that ‘whoever lives and believes in him shall never die’! In the same statement Jesus has said ‘I am the resurrection and the life’ (this was even before he had died!) he then continued ‘whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.’ (John 11:25-26). Yes, we will die, but it will only be a physical death, when it happens, spiritually we will be more alive than ever before, we will be walking and talking with Jesus!  And physical death is but temporal, for the day is coming when the dead in Christ will be raised and we shall be changed, transformed in the twinkling of an eye, that which was perishable, mortal, will immediately become imperishable and immortal!

 

Foolishness says the world, what utter nonsense and incredulous talk. ‘Not to me’ says Paul, and ‘not to us’ says each one of us who have come to believe. ‘It is the incredible power of almighty God at work in our lives’.  

 

So great is the power of God, Paul says in the chapters we have recently considered, first from Romans 8:11 ‘If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you’, and from 1 Corinthians 15:57 ‘But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’

 

I cannot but finish by mentioning another aspect of this incredible power of God at work, it is in the words of a hymn:

 

There is power, power, wonder working power,

In the blood, of the Lamb,

There is power, power wonder working power,

In the precious blood of the Lamb.

 

If you still consider the message of the cross to be foolishness, I urge you to consider it this way: What if you are wrong, (and I believe you are) think of where you will spend eternity, it will be in the lake of fire, a place of eternal damnation, eternally separated from God (Revelation 20:15). Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, he offers you not only forgiveness of sin, but also eternal life. An eternity with Jesus, in the presence of God, where there will be no more tears, suffering, pain, or sorrow, an eternity enjoying all that God is preparing for those who love him.

 

Foolishness or the power of God. Today I have offered you the choice between life or death—choose life that you may live, choose the power of God.