Message: Faith and Death
Time: Paul spent 18 months in Corinth and this is his 2nd letter to them (the first did not survive). He penned his letter in AD 55. There was quarrelling already in this church and deep divisions. Sin needs to be confronted and he did this boldly.
What the Lord is Saying:
This month's devotion (that has lasted probably a year for me) has been about justification by faith in Christ. Faith alone. Our entire lives or lived or walking by this faith (2 Corinthians 5:7), from start to finish. The other night at BSF was a question about what we are most concerned about in dying. Not necessarily what we are thinking after death, but at the point of dying. It was an interesting question and one that was hard to answer, but the premise here is that even up to the point of death, life is lived by faith. I think what pervaded my mind in answering that question and yet an answer I did not reveal to anyone there was thinking as it gets closer - is it going to come to pass. I mean, is all of this true. Is there going to be life after death? Everything tells me this is true. I believe in the Bible and it speaks of it and yet there is still that wonder.
The German philosopher Immanuel Kent spoke of us all having a sense of right and wrong that drives our actions and decisions, and yet spoke that this only means something if we think there are consequences to this type of living. I think as a people we are about justice. We want to think that living right results in a good life while living in a wrong manner results in punishments. What is difficult right now in our culture is the blurry lines of what right and wrong mean. But, however that is defined, we still have an expectation that it will merit something in the end.
Yet, even in this thinking is the reality that what is right is not always rewarded not what is wrong is always punished. Thus, is there someone that sees through all of this and in the end, declares people justified by His own desire. But again, ultimately either we live however we want, doing whatever we think is best at any time or we live by a standard.
In 1 Corinthians it begins with the premise that Jesus and His gospel has been preached and ultimately this Gospel and our faith means something only if there is a resurrection. So faith in Jesus only has merit if there is something after death - and that Jesus has been resurrected. We all know 1 out of 1 person dies. We have a natural body but then also we are raised from death as a spiritual body. Adam was all man, but Jesus is all God and Man. Thus, he is a heavenly being and in His resurrection, if true, means that His heavenly life can be transferred to our life (For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. - I Cor 15:22). So our focus in on the fact that at death we go from a perishable being (Adam) to an imperishable being (Jesus). We live on. This is the promise. This is the crux of all faith. That there will be something in the end, beyond the end.
This is big and this is significant. I go back to my question about death and my view of that death basically comes back to how significant my faith is. The scripture is clear. In Christ all will be made alive. So there should be no fear. If there is fear then it is because I do not believe. But I am here. I am studying. I am devoting myself to this word each day, to studying it, to sharing it with others, to letting it be my life and so Chris, you must believe in it. I can put my complete faith and trust in it which means that I can suffer if need be for my future is secure. It will work out. Believe in these words as others have believed and the apostles believed. take hold of being justified by faith in Christ and realizing that all the glory goes to Him. All glory. In Christ all will be made alive. Death will be abolished (I Cor 15:26). Death yields life (15:36). Death yields an imperishable body (15:52). So live, live, live. Live each day for Him. Do all that He has called me to do. Every day. All that i do is not in vain; it has a reason and purpose (15:58 - nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort (The Message)).
Promise: This life is worth living because In Christ I will be made alive, imperishable will I become. I do not need to ever fear death for these words have been promised to me and I can hold on to them. Fear not.
Prayer: O God, thank you for bringing me this comfort. Thank you for speaking so clearly to me your truth - that you God have paved the way for me to be with You always and so living right now in this world, I live with no fear for You have taken care of my future. Keep my eyes on this, that in Christ all will be made alive.
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