Overview of: 1 CorinthiansToday's Reading:
1Cor. 15:3-57
"Resurrection Hope"
Focus Verses: 1 Cor. 15:50-54
50 I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."
Insight:
Resurrection and eternal life are the hope of all Christians. Jesus Christ not only suffered and died for our sake, he was buried, and on the third day rose again. He was the first to conquer death and be raised to eternal life. When he returns, death will be utterly defeated and swallowed up in his victory, as all who have placed their faith in him as Savior, and confessed that he is Lord, will be raised from the dead, and changed, and given immortality.
The life God has intended for me is more than I can comprehend. Through Christ, I have the promise of so much more than the short number of years I think of as a normal life span. The surprising Christian hope is physical resurrection and transformation, eternal life, and a new heaven and earth that will never pass away.
Response and Action:
The hope of resurrection and eternal life gives me hope and purpose that goes beyond the fear or threat of death. Christ has defeated death and promises that one day all death will be swallowed up in his victory. This promise of eternity shapes my perspective of today. I am a resurrection person--part of an eternal kingdom and purpose that will one day be perfected and completed with Christ's return. As I long for his return, I will live and act and work with an eternal perspective. As a citizen of God's eternal kingdom, I will be a source of life, hope, redemption, peace, and renewal in the world today.
O God, thank you for Jesus, who is the resurrection and the life. Thank you that he has conquered death and given us eternal life. Help me to live in the power of resurrection and the hope of eternity. Make my life a witness and a channel of your kingdom in this world today, O God. May your kingdom come, and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Send us your victorious Son, O God, that he might set all things right and establish his perfect kingdom that will have no end. Amen. Maranatha!
Old Testament for Today: Psalm 90:10, 17
10 The length of our days is seventy years—or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. - - - 17 May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us—yes, establish the work of our hands.
In Context: Psalm 90
Proverb for Today: Prov. 30:15-16
"The leech has two daughters. 'Give! Give!' they cry. There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, 'Enough!': the grave, the barren womb, land, which is never satisfied with water, and fire, which never says, 'Enough!' "
Recommended Reading:
Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church
by N. T. Wright
