Wednesday
But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died. Vs 20.
The most important question we will ever ask ourselves is what happens to us after we die. There are so many false views on life after death that are present in our world today. Everything from we go into nothingness to everyone who was a good person will be in Heaven. There are those who believe there is no life after death and those who believe there is no such thing as hell. In this chapter Paul shares with us about resurrection, about life after death.
First, Paul puts to rest any question about resurrection by stating all of those who personally witnessed Jesus’ resurrection. He talks about Peter and then the Twelve who encountered Jesus and the many witness (more than 500) and James (Jesus’ brother who had become an important leader in the early Church) and then to Paul himself. Paul also emphatically states that he considers himself not worthy of being given such an honor because of his persecution of the Christians, nevertheless, he did witness the risen Christ. The reality of Jesus’ resurrection is that many reliable witness experienced it and have sacrificed all to share this, the Gospel.
Having established the truth of the resurrection, Paul shares with the Corinthians the second part and that is that we too will be resurrected, given new bodies that will be incredible and eternal. The imagery is so beautiful. Like a seed that is planted in the ground and dies and then grows into something so much more… we will become so much more.
This is the hope that is offered many times to those who are suffering greatly in this life. Knowing that what we are facing and experiencing in this life is only temporary, that what awaits us is so inconceivable. But we must be sure that we have accepted Jesus as our Savior to assure us that we will in fact receive this incredible new body. If you have not made that commitment to follow Christ, I beg you to not delay for we never know how long we will have and it would be so tragic to wait and lose our opportunity.
Grace and Peace
Pastor Kathy