Hope

Re:Verse passage – I Corinthians 15:3-20, 35-44, 50-57 (day six)

Hope does not make sense without the resurrection of the dead. The Gospel promises us victory over sin and death. If there is no resurrection (victory over death), nor is there victory over sin. As Paul writes, “we are left in our sins [without the resurrection].” So our hope in the Gospel looks forward; it moves beyond victory over sin to a future hope in our bodily resurrection, our victory over death. That’s where our Christian hope lies.

Yet, our hope doesn’t always find itself there, does it? We are often so short sighted. In the midst of our struggles, we rarely hope in the resurrection, or barely give it any thought.  We hope for cures. Or pay raises. We hope for immediate justice. Or righted wrongs. Not Paul, his hope was in his future bodily resurrection; Jesus’ completed work. All other hope is uncertain(like defeating cancer), not so the resurrection of the dead.

So, be reminded, to give thought to the resurrection of the dead; as Jesus was raised, so you will be raised. Hope in it. It’s Jesus’ ultimate victory in your life.

According to the Scriptures

Re:Verse passage – I Corinthians 15:3-20, 35-44, 50-57 (day five)

“According to the scriptures”. A phrase used twice (verse 3 and verse 4) in this week’s Re:Verse passage. Some versions will translate that, “just as the scripture said”, or, “exactly as scripture tells it”.  What a good word for us today. When the scripture teaches us about God it is truthful. When it describes Jesus and His work, it is accurate. When the Scriptures describe the life, power, struggles, and hope we have as believers it is reliable. When we read and meditate on the scriptures we find the truth: about God, Jesus, ourselves, life, eternity, and a thousand other things.

The scriptures help remove doubt and skepticism. They bring clarity and certainty. For thousands of years, the scriptures have been and done exactly what God has intended. Everything is and has been “according to the scriptures”.

Hebrews 4:12, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Psalm 119

 

What Can I Do?

Re:Verse passage – I Corinthians 15:3-20, 35-44, 50-57 (day four)

Verses 3-4 have sometimes been referred to as the Easter passage.  “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”  This short, concise passage accurately sums up the work of Christ.

I like the phrase “according to the Scriptures.”  Jesus had an assignment and He completed it obediently.  Why would He do that?  Why would He willingly die such a horrible death, for us?  It was for love!  Love for the Father and love for us.  Do we have any responsibility as a result of Jesus demonstrating His love toward us?  Should we be asking ourselves anything for such a sacrifice?  With that level of love demonstrated for us, we owe Him…at the very least…to ask what He would have us to do.

  • Who is Jesus?
  • Why did He come?
  • What does He want me to do?

Touch

Re:Verse passage – I Corinthians 15:3-20, 35-44, 50-57 (day three)

“If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.”

A body is by definition physical.  What, then, is a “spiritual body”?  It’s a body powered by the spiritual realm instead of by the natural realm.  The body isn’t a piece of inferior work to be superseded by something better.  It is God’s handiwork, and is, in God’s own words, “very good.”  Paul says that at the resurrection the physical body will actually live forever because it will be powered by the inexhaustible resources of the spiritual realm.  In other words, the age to come will be grounded, not ghostly—solid, not shadowy.  Keep in mind the words the resurrected Jesus said after “Peace be with you.”  He said, “Do you have anything to eat?”  A real body in a real world—that’s what the resurrection promises.

Power of the Resurrection

Re:Verse reading–1 Corinthians 15:3-20, 35-44, 50-57 (day two) and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Vs. 14

This was a familiar refrain of both Billy Graham and C. S. Lewis. They would come at it from different ways in their preaching and writing, but the essence of this passage from Paul was clear: Either Christ is what he says he is, or he isn’t. There is so much summed up in that statement. There can be no halfway with Jesus. You can’t talk about how he loved the poor and disenfranchised and then deny the power of the cross. Jesus’ death and resurrection is also a call to action. A call to repentance and a restored walk with our creator. The power of the resurrection is hope for humanity, hope for you and me. In order for us to truly embrace all that Jesus was in his earthly ministry we must never deny the power of the cross and the hope of the resurrection. It happened – I believe.

Put off. Put on.

Re:Verse reading–1 Corinthians 15:3-20, 35-44, 50-57 (day one)

“For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.”–v 53

We are not ready.  Not yet equipped to be citizens of a restored universe.  We need new bodies.

It is a transformation that began at conversion.  Ephesians 4:22-24 commands us to  “Put off the old self. . .and put on the new self.”  (If you go to buy a new coat, you don’t put it on over your old coat.  Silly.  You cannot just add Christ on top of your old ways.  The losses are as important as the gains).

At the end of life and time,  God will do something similar.  He will put off our old bodies (corrupted by sin and subject to death) and put new robes on us, new resurrected bodies.

Death is not fearful to a believer.  It is the door to a place and time when our transformation (salvation) will be gloriously complete.

Failing in Love

Re:Verse reading–1 Corinthians 13 (day seven)

There is a line from Luke’s account of the Beatitudes that has plagued me this week.  Luke 6:32 says this: If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.

Sometimes I struggle to love those who love me. There are days when I cannot even live up to the world’s standard of love when I am impatient, unkind, and/or provoked by those who have cared for me deeply.  What does that say about me on those days of seeking my own even at the expense of people who love me?

If nothing else it is evidence that I am a fragile flailing human in need of God’s constant grace, and even when I do not deserve that grace God still loves me.  God is showing me every day how to live out 1 Corinthians 13 by His perfect patience with me.

Pursue Love

Re:Verse reading–1 Corinthians 13 (day six)

“Pursue love…”-Paul, 1 Corinthians 14:1

That just might be the best summary of 1 Corinthians, pursue love. The Corinthian church was so preoccupied with chasing other things, it had left love behind, with heartbreaking results. Even making a big deal out of good things, like Spiritual gifts, or Bible knowledge can hurt a church rather than build one. That’s why Paul wrote pursue love. Essentially Paul is asking them to get back to loving God and loving their neighbor; start making a big deal out of love again.

We all have the tendency to make big deals out of lesser things, and if we let them they can get in the way of love. What can those things be for you? That might be a great question to ask God. I promise He will show you if you do.

The List

Re:Verse reading–1 Corinthians 13 (day five) I have read “the list” about love in chapter 13 all week. To be honest, there are moments when I am nothing like that list. At times, those qualities and characteristics of love seem completely opposite to my actions and attitudes. The human heart struggles to live as love like that in its own preference and power. I must learn to listen and trust the Spirit. He will teach, convict, and encourage.  When I do, I discover a “loving” God who has demonstrated all the characteristics in the list through the life and words of Jesus and the power and work of the Holy Spirit.  He is patient with me.  He is kind to me.  The is the potential and possibility to live like that because of  “Christ in me”. Glad I have a perfect and faithful example of what the list says love looks and acts like.

Love Never Fails

Re:Verse reading–1 Corinthians 13 (day four)

As a college freshman, I was challenged by a friend to read 1 Corinthians 13 every day for 30 days.  He gave me a small book by Henry Drummond to assist me.  The experience was a life-changer.  I began to have a picture of what God’s love for me and for those around me really looked like.  Not only did I learn what the characteristics of true love were, I was floored by three words in verse 8…Love never fails.

Never?  How can that be?  Surely we get a few exceptions!  But there it is…Love never fails.  I wish I could say that it has never failed in my life since then, but I can’t.  God constantly uses those three words in my life though to shape and mold the direction of my life.  Powerful words …life-changing words…God-honoring words that can change the world!  Try reading the chapter for 30 days in a row…see what happens.