But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead… (1 Corinthians 15:20).
There it is!
I’ve been waiting for this ever since verse 12.
Of course, the world had been waiting for that verse for millenia, so I guess I shouldn’t complain.
Rejoice, Beloved of Christ. Your Messiah is risen.
I don’t care if it’s Friday, or if it’s November.
Today is Resurrection Day!
Hallelujah!
Happy Friday, Beloved
If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied (1 Corinthians 15:19).
I know, I know, I know.
I know
We covered this verse yesterday, and I promised that Paul–and we–would be moving on today.
But I had a thought.
Please go easy on the sarcasm.
My thought is this: If there were no resurrection, and I knew it, would I still live for Christ?
Would you?
If death were the end, not the beginning,
if there were no light at the end of the tunnel,
if I came to realize that I was wrong about the very nature of God…
What would I do?
Who would I be?
Would I still serve a Lord who remained kind and loving, but perhaps wasn’t omniscient after all?
I know how I would like to respond to that question, how I pray that I would respond to that question…
but sometimes on a cold, rainy morning…I wonder.
And you know what?
He knows, I wonder, and still he loves me.
Wow
Happy Thursday, Beloved.
Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied (1 Corinthians 15:18-19).
Wow
What fools we would be if it were not true, if the Resurrection were not real.
And all those through the ages who have died believing that they would be raised to life again in that great gettin up morning…
Idiots
Morons
Imbeciles
If, that is, the Resurrection weren’t true.
I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for Paul to turn the corner on this idea.
Joyful joy–he’s about to.
Happy Wednesday, Beloved
For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins (1 Corinthians 15:16-17).
Your faith is futile.
You are still in your sins.
Those words terrify me.
Many moons ago, I was visiting a church. During the worship service, a young woman was sharing some original poetry. The poem came from the heart of someone who had known betrayal and deceit, and it was addressed to God. The poem asked God, in essence,
What if I give you my whole heart, and it turns out you’re not real?
I don’t remember the exact words, but I remember the effect they had on me.
Much the same effect as this verse.
Praise God that he is real, and the resurrection true.
No, seriously–praise him for that today.
Happy Tuesday, Beloved
If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised (1 Corinthians 15:15).
You’re on the witness stand.
Are you gonna lie?
About God?
Paul found himself, perpetually, a witness for the Almighty.
Paul took his job seriously. He testified to the truth that had been revealed to him. And he was not about to let any man call him a liar.
You’re a witness too, Beloved. If you claim the title Christian, then you must be prepared to be called to the stand at any moment.
Do you know what you believe?
Do you know why you believe it?
If you don’t, then do the work to figure it out. If you do, stand firm in that belief. Hold fast to the truth that has been given to you, and let no man call you a liar.
By his grace.
For his glory.
Happy Monday, Beloved
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).
Thank you, Veteran.
Thank you for leaving your home behind in order to protect it.
Thank you for setting aside your freedoms to help safeguard mine.
Thank you for fighting for my right to protest, even when my protest saddens or angers or disgusts you.
Thank you for shouldering a rifle, or climbing into a chopper, or racing toward a bomb blast, knowing that today could be the day that you are called to give “the last full measure of devotion.”
You must have been terrified.
You went anyway.
For me.
Thank you.
I pray that on this holiday you will know the love of a grateful nation, and the love of the One who gave his life that you might live…forever.
Happy Veterans Day, Beloved of God
If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith (1 Corinthians 15:13-14).
I doubt that anyone has ever accused Paul of being overly subtle.
He’s right, though.
Obviously
You can’t pull the foundation out from under a house and expect it to stand.
Jesus defeated Death when He rose from the grave.
Take away the resurrection and Death is not defeated.
Which means Death still reigns…even over Jesus.
Why would you follow a god who dies and stays dead? Frankly, I could do that myself.
But I won’t, because I serve the One who laid His life down, then picked it back up.
Kicking Death to the curb in the process.
Your faith is not useless, Beloved.
Your God is not dead.
Happy Thursday
But if it has been preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? (1 Corinthians 15:12)
The Spanish Inquisition had at least something right.
You probably weren’t expecting that this morning, were you?
But then, no one expects the Spanish Inquisition.
The historically heavy handed and rather sadistic inquisitors wanted to keep Church doctrine pure. There were a lot of people from other faiths converting to Christianity, and some of them were bringing false ideas and beliefs with them.
The Church opposed those ideas…vigorously.
Paul is not, so far as I can tell, calling for headscrews or the rack, but he is calling out those who are walking away from the gospel. As Paul is going to explain in the next verses, the resurrection is essential to our faith. Peter preached it, Paul preached it–Jesus himself preached it.
And some of the folks at Corinth were tossing it aside.
It doesn’t matter why. It does matter that in denying this one idea they were undermining the foundation of the faith.
Paul was not having it.
Neither should you.
Beloved, put the thumbscrews away–what are you even doing with those?
But do keep your eyes open and your brain alert. Hold firm to the truth of Christ crucified
and
risen.
Indeed
Happy Wednesday, Beloved
Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed (1 Corinthians 15:11).
Who’s your favorite apostle?
Do you go for Peter?
Are you Team Paul?
Maybe you’re a Bartholomew guy. Personally, I’ve never thought Bartholomew gets enough press.
Doesn’t really matter where you get the antidote to your soul poison.
What matters is that you take it, drink deeply, and let it work in you, healing and restoring and strengthening and…
Shall I go on with the metaphor?
Nah, you’ve got the picture. You’re a bright one.
Happy Tuesday, Beloved
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them–yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me (1 Corinthians 15:10).
Working for grace is heresy–
unless, of course, you have a boss named Grace.
Working by grace, on the other hand–
that’s the ticket.
Happy Monday, Beloved.