Re: Verse reading–1 Corinthians 15:3-20, 35-44, 50-57 (day two)
Severe truth. In order to understand the power of the resurrection, we must understand its context. Paul said it in the first century “And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” (1 Corinthians 15:14). In the twentieth century C.S. Lewis said it like this: “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic–on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg–or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse.” (Mere Christianity)
I, therefore, choose to believe that Christ was raised from the dead, and I choose to believe that he was indeed the Son of God. Which means that Jesus’ choice to face the cross was so that we could become a fulfillment of a promise. That the corrupt could now put on incorruption, that the mortal could clothe ourselves with immortality in an eternity that brims with hope. As I read through these words of Paul it helps me marvel once again at what Christ took on so that we could have that hope.
On Sunday it will be a privilege to share portions of the great sacred oratorio Messiah. 1 Corinthians 15 was the subject of the most triumphant portion of the work. The miracle of the creation of Messiah was less the time it took to create the masterpiece, but the recognition by the composer that God was at work and bringing glory unto Himself. Thanks be to God.
