Written by: Paul Maconochie – St Thomas’ Church Philadelphia, Sheffield
Now, brothers and sisters, I want you to remember the Good News I brought to you. You received this Good News and continue strong in it. And you are being saved by it if you continue believing what I told you. If you do not, then you believed for nothing.
I passed on to you what I received, of which this was most important: that Christ died for our sins, as the Scriptures say; that he was buried and was raised to life on the third day as the Scriptures say; and that he was seen by Peter and then by the twelve apostles.
Notes
A lot of us in the church have grown up hearing the term “getting saved”. We have a picture in our minds of those who are lost and those who are saved, and probably the “best” examples of salvation would be considered to be where people can remember the day, the hour and minute when they “prayed the prayer”. However, in this passage Paul speaks about continuing with the process of being saved. This connects with some of the things he wrote in his letter to the Romans where he said “ While we were God's enemies, he made friends with us through the death of his Son. Surely, now that we are his friends, he will save us through his Son's life.” (Romans 5 v 10). The process of being saved is one of choosing to lay down our own life and agenda, taking up the life and ways of Jesus instead. We have to make the decision to believe in him for this every single day if we want to be his disciples. If we do, we will see the Kingdom of God extending in our lives.
What are the areas of your life that God is putting his finger on today which he is asking you to lay down before him and trust him about? In what ways is the Good News affecting you as you walk out your life as a Christian?
Prayer
Jesus I know that your life and ways are greater than mine. Today would you help me to lay down my life and follow you more closely so that your life flows through me and I see your kingdom come in my life and in the lives of others around me. Amen
After that, Jesus was seen by more than five hundred of the believers at the same time. Most of them are still living today, but some have died. Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. Last of all he was seen by me - as by a person not born at the normal time. All the other apostles are greater than I am. I am not even good enough to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But God’s grace has made me what I am, and his grace to me was not wasted. I worked harder than all the other apostles. (But it was not I really; it was God’s grace that was with me.) So if I preached to you or the other apostles preached to you, we all preach the same thing, and this is what you believed.
Notes
For all of the founders of the church it started with seeing Jesus. Many of the apostles went on to be martyred; it’s thought that Paul himself was beheaded and Peter was crucified on an upside-down cross because he said he didn’t feel he was worthy to be executed in the same way as his Lord and master. The great bravery and achievements of the apostles however were not founded in their own strength; they could not help but live their lives out for God because they’d seen Jesus and known him. Even though the apostle Paul was not one of the original twelve it was the same for him. When the believer Ananias prayed for Paul after he became a Christian, he said Paul’s call was to “… be his witness to all people, telling them about what you have seen and heard . ” (Acts 22 v 15).
It is great to work hard for the Lord, but the hard work needs to be a response to him and needs to be sustained by relationship with him. That is why Paul said “it was not I really, it was God’s grace that was with me”. Are you allowing Jesus to reveal himself to you? Do you give him the time to speak to your heart and to encourage and build you up, or are you just trying to work hard for the kingdom?
Prayer
Jesus, open my eyes to see you today and open my ears to hear you, so that everything I do flows from my relationship with you. Help me to always look to you first in everything. Amen
Now since we preached that Christ was raised from the dead, why do some of you say that people will not be raised from the dead? If no one is ever raised from the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is worth nothing, and your faith is worth nothing. And also, we are guilty of lying about God, because we testified of him that he raised Christ from the dead. But if people are not raised from the dead, then God never raised Christ. If the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith has nothing to it; you are still guilty of your sins. And those in Christ who have already died are lost. If our hope in Christ is for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone else in the world.
Notes
If Jesus was not raised from the dead then our faith has no power in it to do anything. How can we believe that he even has the power to forgive our sins? However if Jesus really did rise then everything changes.
What are the issues that are facing you today? Are you struggling in a friendship or relationship? Do you have money problems? Are you sick or worried about the future, or suffering from self-doubt or self-hate? Jesus is more than sufficient for everything that you’re facing. If we cannot see a way forward or a way to get ourselves out of difficulty it is easy for us to project that same weakness on to God. This is a grave mistake. Jesus has so much power that even when he died hell could not hold him. This same Jesus is your friend, living inside you by his Holy Spirit. We do not always know the way in which he will intervene in our lives or understand his timing, but one thing is certain, if you trust in him you will be rescued. In one of his letters Peter wrote “ Give all your worries to him, because he cares about you. ” (1 Peter 5:7). Today why don’t you choose to bring your worries to him and trust that he will demonstrate his care for you?
Prayer
Think of the things that are worrying you today. In your minds eye bring them to the Lord and imagine opening your hands and letting them go. As you do so pray that God would fill you with his Holy Spirit to help you to trust him and live in his peace being confident that he will rescue you today.
But Christ has truly been raised from the dead - the first one and proof that those who sleep in death will also be raised. Death has come because of what one man did, but the rising from death also comes because of one man. In Adam all of us die. In the same way, in Christ all of us will be made alive again. But everyone will be raised to life in the right order. Christ was first to be raised. When Christ comes again, those who belong to him will be raised to life, and then the end will come. At that time Christ will destroy all rulers, authorities, and powers, and he will hand over the kingdom to God the Father. Christ must rule until he puts all enemies under his control. The last enemy to be destroyed will be death. The Scripture says that God put all things under his control. When it says “all things” are under him, it is clear this does not include God himself. God is the One who put everything under his control. After everything has been put under the Son, then he will put himself under God, who had put all things under him. Then God will be the complete ruler over everything.
Notes
A few years ago I sailed in the tall ships race down the coast of Norway. The crew ran shifts to keep the boat sailing through the night and one of the shifts was called the dawn watch, between 3am-6am. On that trip I really understood why the Bible refers to Jesus as the Morning Star. In the darkness of the early hours, one star shines brighter than the others, and as the day approaches it rises higher and higher into the sky. The horizon begins to grow lighter and the dawn breaks out following the path of the star high into the sky. The morning star rises higher and higher until the full strength of the sun breaks through and day has come.
Jesus is already shining in our world and more and more people are putting their trust in him, but there is more to come. He is a sign to us from God that night will end and day will come. The difficulties that you face in this life will not go on for ever; there will come a time when they will all end. If you believe in Jesus and follow him you too will be part of the dawn of a new day. As you engage with all the things you have to do today it’s good to remember that every minute takes us nearer to the day when everything will be ruled by God.
Prayer
“Now may God himself, the God of peace, make you pure, belonging only to him. May your whole self -- spirit, soul, and body -- be kept safe and without fault when our Lord Jesus Christ comes. You can trust the One who calls you to do that for you. ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24) Amen
If the dead are never raised, what will people do who are being baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people being baptized for them?
And what about us? Why do we put ourselves in danger every hour? I die every day. That is true, brothers and sisters, just as it is true that I brag about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. If I fought wild animals in Ephesus only with human hopes, I have gained nothing. If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, because tomorrow we will die.”
Do not be fooled: “Bad friends will ruin good habits.” Come back to your right way of thinking and stop sinning. Some of you do not know God - I say this to shame you.
Notes
Are you living as if the resurrection of Jesus is true? If Jesus has defeated sin and death and has called us to be with him for eternity then this has massive implications on the way that we live. People who believe in the resurrection will live in a different way to those who don’t. We all understand the principle of investment. It’s where we give up some things in the short term so that we gain a greater benefit in the long term. We might put some money aside on a regular basis so that in the future we can buy something that we would like. We might choose to exercise even if it is hard, because we know that if we are fit then we will feel healthier. If we have a future in eternity with Jesus then it is certainly worth our while investing in it. Paul understood this and that is why he was prepared to live a life full of sacrifice and difficulty when the Lord called him to. He knew that he would see massive benefits in the long run!
Are you living in a way that focuses on feeling nice right now when it comes to choosing friends, deciding how you spend your time and working out how you use your money, or are you making these decisions based on seeking God and his kingdom? If you invest in the kingdom you cannot lose. Jesus even gave us a promise for this life too when he said “ The thing you should want most is God's kingdom and doing what God wants. Then all these other things you need will be given to you” (Matthew 6:33).
Prayer
Father I’m sorry for when I focus on things that give me immediate satisfaction instead of investing in things that will produce a kingdom harvest in my life. Help me today to take one step towards a more disciplined, sacrificial life. Amen
But someone may ask, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have?” Foolish person! When you sow a seed, it must die in the ground before it can live and grow. And when you sow it, it does not have the same “body” it will have later. What you sow is only a bare seed, maybe wheat or something else. But God gives it a body that he has planned for it, and God gives each kind of seed its own body. All things made of flesh are not the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds have another, and fish have another. Also there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. But the beauty of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the beauty of the earthly bodies is another. The sun has one kind of beauty, the moon has another beauty, and the stars have another. And each star is different in its beauty.
Notes
What is your picture of heaven? For many of us I think we put together a collage of all the best bits of earth and hope that it will be like that. A few weeks ago my six-year-old daughter Grace said to me “Dad, do you think that we will be able to fly in heaven?” The question made me realise how much my expectation has expanded as I’ve got to know Jesus better. The reality is that “ No one has ever seen this, and no one has ever heard about it. No one has ever imagined what God has prepared for those who love him ” (1 Corinthians 2:9). This applies not only to what we will experience in heaven, but also to what we will be there. Will we be able to fly in heaven? The Bible says that we are sons and heirs of God; my guess is that we will be able to stride planets! The reason that Jesus wants us to allow our lives to go into the ground like a seed, favouring other people over ourselves and God’s will over our own, is because he knows what we will look like when the seed bears fruit. The difficulty for us in this life is trusting him and taking him at his word so that we let go of all those things that give us a sense of worldly security and hold onto him instead.
What is stopping you from living Jesus’ way today? What is it that you feel you really need to hold on to? God wants to help you to let go of it because he knows what effect that will have in the future.
Prayer
Bring before God an area of your life where you know you are finding it difficult to trust him. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you let go of this and give you a picture of heaven to encourage you as you wait for that seed to bear fruit in your life.
It is the same with the dead who are raised to life. The body that is “planted” will ruin and decay, but it is raised to a life that cannot be destroyed. When the body is “planted,” it is without honour, but it is raised in glory. When the body is “planted,” it is weak, but when it is raised, it is powerful. The body that is “planted” is a physical body. When it is raised, it is a spiritual body.
There is a physical body, and there is also a spiritual body. It is written in the Scriptures: “The first man, Adam, became a living person.” But the last Adam became a spirit that gives life. The spiritual did not come first, but the physical and then the spiritual. The first man came from the dust of the earth. The second man came from heaven. People who belong to the earth are like the first man of earth. But those people who belong to heaven are like the man of heaven. Just as we were made like the man of earth, so we will also be made like the man of heaven.
Notes
How can you tell who the heavenly people are? I heard a story that when Christians were being put in prison and persecuted in China they were asked the question “are you an earthly man or a heavenly man?” Those who claimed to be of heaven would be in for far worse persecution while they were in prison. When the day of the Lord comes we will be able to spot the heavenly people by the glory that they carry. If any of the resurrected saints appeared to you or me now in their glory I’m sure that we would fall down at their feet as if we were dead, because we would be so overwhelmed by the presence of God that they carry.
This side of glory however, heavenly people look quite different. They are often considered slightly strange because they don’t follow the rules of the world in how they live. You can find many of them around the poor and the destitute. They often don’t appear particularly attractive in the eyes of the world because they have among their number many who are weak and poorly thought of, who don’t necessarily have great fashion sense or clever comments at their fingertips. Whatever you are like as a person, if you are a heavenly person then God will be calling you to plant. Be assured that whenever you give up things for God, whenever you step out in faith for God, whenever you make a stand for God in the face of ridicule or persecution, the seeds you are planting will be raised into a wonderful eternal expression of glory. What is God calling you to plant today?
Prayer
Father, forgive me when I judge others in the church who are not like me. Help me to see the heavenly qualities in people that I meet. Show me what steps you want me to take today for the kingdom and thank you that you give me everything I need to do these things. Amen
The views expressed by the writers of our daily e-mails are not necessarily those of Church Army or word-on-the-web but of the individual writers.
word-on-the-web uses the Scripture text taken from the Youth Bible, New Century Version (Anglicised Edition) copyright 1993 by Word Publishing Milton Keynes