Monday, October 31st, 2011
Today's Passage: 1 Corinthians 15: 1-34
Memory Verses: 1 Corinthians 15: 13-14
There are millions of people in our world today who do not accept the Christian faith, and they do this for many reasons. Their rejection of our faith primarily stems from the high standard of morality, namely the Ten Commandments, which they claim is hypocritical since it is not humanly possible to fulfill all of them at the same time. Another reason is the promise of eternity to those whose lives are dedicated to the obedience of these commands. So rather than taking God at His Word and allowing Him to give them the grace to follow, they simply decide it must all be hogwash.
But in today's passage, Paul is addressing another group of people -- not unbelievers at all, but some who had actually accepted the faith. Everything, that is, except for the resurrection. They were okay with the fact that Jesus came to show us a new way to live. He took the commandments to a whole new level, making it personal rather than some mechanical response to God's will. They even agreed with His death, which gave them the right to see Him as a martyr, a sure sign that He must be worshipped. But this group of Corinthians who called themselves believers stopped short at the resurrection. They absolutely refused to believe that it was possible for a man -- even Jesus -- to be raised from the dead. They obviously bought in to the lie that the Roman soldiers told when they claimed that Jesus' body was stolen by His disciples, although there was no way for anyone to roll away that humungous stone that blocked the door of His grave.
And so Paul took the time to write to these Corinthians that if they took away the resurrection from what we believe, we have nothing by which to declare that salvation is possible. Jesus wasn't just a good person Who came to show us how to live on this earth, but gave His life so that we could live with Him in the next. If no-one rises from the dead, there is no heaven or hell. That would give credibility to those who have decided to live anyway they want to now, for there is no accountability. There would be no Judge Who will review the motives, intentions and actions of every day that we lived on this earth, so there would be no need for a Savior to rescue us from our miserable sinful existence. Basically, there would be no reason to believe, and we might as well give up hope on the rest of the message of the gospel.
Here's a question for you: do you believe in the WHOLE gospel? Do you believe in Christ's life, death, AND resurrection? Or do you have a problem holding on to the part that causes you to dig deep inside of you for faith that is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen -- such as eternity? As for me and my house, we choose to believe it all. Like Paul, I believe the rest of it is worthless if we're not spending our lives living out the message that Christ died and rose again so that He can one day come back and redeem us not only from this sinful world, but also our corruptible humanity. If that part's not in the story, I don't want only half of it. But thanks be to God that He is just, and I stand on His promise that if I live totally devoted to Him, He Who gave up everything to provide a place for me will come back and take me to a place where I can BE with Him. For me, it's all or nothing. What about you?
Prayer: Father, I believe in You and Your love for me. I believe that You thought I was worth sacrificing Your Son Jesus to redeem. I believe that He rose from the dead, and is seated at Your right hand, interceeding for me even now. I believe that one day He will come back, and all eyes will see Him as He cracks the sky. I dedicate my life to serving You even more deeply so that I can be in that number for whom You will come. Thank You for the blessed hope! In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Today's Passage: 1 Corinthians 15: 1-34
Memory Verses: 1 Corinthians 15: 13-14
There are millions of people in our world today who do not accept the Christian faith, and they do this for many reasons. Their rejection of our faith primarily stems from the high standard of morality, namely the Ten Commandments, which they claim is hypocritical since it is not humanly possible to fulfill all of them at the same time. Another reason is the promise of eternity to those whose lives are dedicated to the obedience of these commands. So rather than taking God at His Word and allowing Him to give them the grace to follow, they simply decide it must all be hogwash.
But in today's passage, Paul is addressing another group of people -- not unbelievers at all, but some who had actually accepted the faith. Everything, that is, except for the resurrection. They were okay with the fact that Jesus came to show us a new way to live. He took the commandments to a whole new level, making it personal rather than some mechanical response to God's will. They even agreed with His death, which gave them the right to see Him as a martyr, a sure sign that He must be worshipped. But this group of Corinthians who called themselves believers stopped short at the resurrection. They absolutely refused to believe that it was possible for a man -- even Jesus -- to be raised from the dead. They obviously bought in to the lie that the Roman soldiers told when they claimed that Jesus' body was stolen by His disciples, although there was no way for anyone to roll away that humungous stone that blocked the door of His grave.
And so Paul took the time to write to these Corinthians that if they took away the resurrection from what we believe, we have nothing by which to declare that salvation is possible. Jesus wasn't just a good person Who came to show us how to live on this earth, but gave His life so that we could live with Him in the next. If no-one rises from the dead, there is no heaven or hell. That would give credibility to those who have decided to live anyway they want to now, for there is no accountability. There would be no Judge Who will review the motives, intentions and actions of every day that we lived on this earth, so there would be no need for a Savior to rescue us from our miserable sinful existence. Basically, there would be no reason to believe, and we might as well give up hope on the rest of the message of the gospel.
Here's a question for you: do you believe in the WHOLE gospel? Do you believe in Christ's life, death, AND resurrection? Or do you have a problem holding on to the part that causes you to dig deep inside of you for faith that is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen -- such as eternity? As for me and my house, we choose to believe it all. Like Paul, I believe the rest of it is worthless if we're not spending our lives living out the message that Christ died and rose again so that He can one day come back and redeem us not only from this sinful world, but also our corruptible humanity. If that part's not in the story, I don't want only half of it. But thanks be to God that He is just, and I stand on His promise that if I live totally devoted to Him, He Who gave up everything to provide a place for me will come back and take me to a place where I can BE with Him. For me, it's all or nothing. What about you?
Prayer: Father, I believe in You and Your love for me. I believe that You thought I was worth sacrificing Your Son Jesus to redeem. I believe that He rose from the dead, and is seated at Your right hand, interceeding for me even now. I believe that one day He will come back, and all eyes will see Him as He cracks the sky. I dedicate my life to serving You even more deeply so that I can be in that number for whom You will come. Thank You for the blessed hope! In Jesus' Name, Amen.
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