1 Corinthians 15:58

58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. - 1 Corinthians 15:58

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When we try to follow Jesus and when we try to serve him or others, there will opposition and disappointments.  There are opposite spiritual forces at work opposing God’s plans for the world.  They are constantly working to discourage us and to convince us to give up following God or helping others.

The Apostle Paul faced discouragements and obstacles.  There are people who he helped who no longer follow God.  There are those who abandoned him when things got dicey.  There are those who use to be his friends but now speak out against him.  It’s rough being a Christian and trying to serve God and His people!

I don’t think I’ve experience a fraction of what Paul gone through, but I’ve had my share of disappointments.  There have been teenagers I’ve invested a lot of my life with who no longer want anything to do with God.  There are still a lot of people, even Christians, who don’t understand what Harvesters or AYL is about and have gross misconceptions about these two ministries that I’ve poured my life into.  It can be discouraging.

But here, the Apostle Paul reminds us that ultimately we have an audience of one.  The only person whose opinions that matter is God’s.  And God sees what you do.  And God sees what I do.  He sees the trials.  He sees the opposition.  He sees our wounds from our service.  And our service to Him pleases Him and that should be enough for us to keep going.  Our work is not in vain because God sees it.

Have you been discouraged by something God is asking you to do?  Have you been discouraged in a ministry that God has asked you to serve in?  Stand firm.  Remember, your labor in the Lord is not in vain!

1 Corinthians 15:45-49

45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man. -1 Corinthians 15:45-49

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Adam was suppose to set the example and show us how to live, but because of Adam and Eve’s disobedience, they also brought sin into the world.

In this passage, the Apostle Paul is telling us that Jesus is the better “Adam.”  Just as through Adam we are given physical life, through Jesus we are given eternal spiritual life.

Jesus is the better Adam because Jesus was able to live a life in perfect obedience to God the Father.  Not only that, but Jesus’ life undid the sin that Adam and Eve brought into the world.  His obedience on the Cross saved us from the sin introduced to the world through Adam and Eve.  Jesus is the better Adam because he fixed Adam’s mistake.

Let’s take a moment today to thank Jesus for what he’s done for you, for me, and for the world.

1 Corinthians 15:35-44

35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” 36 How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38 But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39 Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40 There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 41 The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.

42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.

-1 Corinthians 15:35-44

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Maria and I are doing the keto diet.  It’s pretty rough.  We have to cut out as much carbs as we possibly can and carbs taste so good!  The reason why we are doing this is because as we are getting older, our bodies are beginning to change.  They burn a lot less energy than they use to which means they are storing a lot of fat.  So we’re on this keto diet to try to stay healthy and keep our earthly body strong.

This passage tells us that we have an even better body awaiting us when we get to heaven.  It’s so amazing that the Apostle Paul can’t even describe it in words.  We know some things about this new body.  You won’t need to go on a keto diet.  It will be imperishable.  It will be glorious.  It will be powerful.

The purpose to why the Apostle Paul wrote this and why it’s in the Bible, is to remind us that we don’t belong in this world.  The body you have now, with all its imperfections, that’s temporary.  Yes, you need to take care of it, but don’t get hung up on it.  This is not the last body you will have.  You are promised a better body, one you can’t even imagine at the moment.

May God’s promises help you to grab onto the promises of heaven and to let go of the things of this world.

1 Corinthians 15:33-34

33 Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” 34 Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame. -1 Corinthians 15:33-34

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In American society we are taught that we have innate freedom to do whatever we want.  And oftentimes we think that the choices we make in life are a result of our independent free will.  The reality is that we are more of a product of our surroundings than we care to admit.  We are much more influenced by who we surround ourselves with and our decisions are often impacted by who we are hanging out with.

That’s what the Apostle Paul is trying to say here.  Christians were hanging out with people who were teaching them falsehoods and it was really messing them up.  Paul knows that you become like the people you hang out with.

Maria was never a huge Star Wars fan.  But after we got married because I loved Star Wars she started watching the movies and shows and now she loves it.  Did she choose Star Wars or was it because of who she was hanging out with—me?  The same thing with Star Trek.  It’s been harder to get her involved but slowly but surely Maria has been watching more and more Star Trek.

The same thing happens with our relationship with God.  If you hang out and surround yourself with people who love Jesus, it will help you to love Jesus.  It’s that simple.

Are you surrounding yourself with people who love God?  Or, are you a lone ranger in your faith?

1 Corinthians 15:29-32

29 Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? 30 And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? 31 I face death every day—yes, just as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32 If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised,

“Let us eat and drink,

for tomorrow we die.”

-1 Corinthians 15:29-32

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In the early days of the church, there were a lot of strange and heretical (untrue) teachings.  The Apostle Paul mentions two here.  The first is that some of the people in Corinth believed that you can baptized dead people.  The second is that Jesus didn’t actually resurrect and that resurrection was impossible.

In this passage, Paul brings up a logical contradiction to those who wrongly believe in both falsities.  Why would you baptize dead people if you don’t eve believe they can be resurrected?

Today, we must also still be on guard with false teachings.  The issues of baptizing dead people and if resurrection real are no longer theological struggles within Christianity, but other issues are.  

For example, some people believe that if you follow God, you will become rich and never get sick.  We called the the Prosperity Gospel, which is totally unbiblical.  Jesus was the perfect human and he was monetarily poor and died like a criminal on a cross.

So we must be on the lookout for false teachings.  To do so, we must first be able to recognize true teachings and that means we need to read our Bibles.  If you’re reading this devos today, that’s a great start!

1 Corinthians 15:27-28

27 For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. 28 When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all. -1 Corinthians 15:27-28

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Today we need to talk about the great mystery known as the Trinity.  The concept of the Trinity is simple but confusing.  It’s that God is three persons, but still one God.  Jesus is God.  God the Father is God.  The Holy Spirit is God.  Three persons who are distinct from one another, and yet they are all one.  This is the mystery of the Trinity and it’s great beauty.

Within the Trinity, we see mutual love for one another.  The love among the three persons of the Trinity is a model for how all relationships ought to be.  Notice how the passage starts of talking about Jesus and how Jesus submits to God the Father.  In the same sentence, it says that God the Father has given Jesus all authority.  Love is flowing in both directions just like how all human relationships should look like.

May the Trinity remind us of how we need to model our friendships and relationships with each other.  Are we showing and demonstrating mutual love for each other?

1 Corinthians 15:20-26

20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. -1 Corinthians 15:20-26

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Happy New Year, everyone!  2020 was so awful in so many ways.  Many of us have been looking forward to 2021.  We’re hoping for a day when COVID is no longer a persistent threat.  We’re hoping to hang out with our friends without fear.  We’re hoping to be able to travel again.  We’re hoping to actually start our college careers on campus.  There is a lot we’re hoping for.

This is what today’s passage is about—hope.  We see only 2020 as a horrible year, but from the point of Christianity, every year is like 2020 because of the problem of sin.  We’re so use to living with sin that we’ve learned to co-exist with it, but sin is not the way we are meant to live.

Just like how we look forward to the COVID vaccine removing the fear and the effects of this physical disease, as Christians we ought to look forward to God’s ultimate plan of destroying sin completely and removing the fear and effects of sin as a spiritual disease.

Do we hate sin with the same intensity as we hate COVID?  Do we look toward God with hope and anticipation that one day He will make all things new?