April 5, 2018 Thursday

“Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you — unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.” (1Corinthians 15:1-11 NKJV)

            The Church in Corinth was a strong group in numbers but they were struggling with their beliefs and with many sins in the congregation including sexual sin.  Like many they were growing into a separation of what they believed and how they lived.

            Paul responds to this with refresher course in the Gospel which he had already preached and which they had received and been saved by.  By returning to these fundamental truths of the Gospel Paul hoped to remind them of the Gospel which had changed them and saved them.

            Have they believed in vain?  Have they forgotten all that God had done and the cost to those who had shared it with them?

            The central message of Paul to the struggling Corinthians was the resurrection and the evidence of it through the many witnesses who saw the resurrected Jesus.  Some of these witnesses have fallen asleep which is a way to describe those who died in the faith.  But many witnesses were still alive and could still give their testimony.

            Some say if we are heavenly minded we are no earthly good but Paul teaches that to be earthly good we must be heavenly minded!  For many who were slaves, unprotected noncitizens, citizens with no sponsor and even those who were powerful but who still were in danger eternal life was a realistic and necessary hope.

            As you read these fundamental teachings are they what you believe?  Do you live your life by these teaching with the hope of eternal life as your ultimate goal?

           

            Today was a little better but I am still very weary.  I am beginning to wonder if the CPAP machine is really working.  I got to sit outside for awhile and for the first time there were a lot of birds at the feeder!  It was so wonderful to see and hear God’s musicians.