1 Corinthians 15-16
December 11th, 2014


Some time I should jot down a few notes about how the early church set money aside each week so they could meet needs as they arose.   Paul mentions this weekly offering in Chapter 16.  Maybe that's part of where our weekly giving tradition comes from.   The tithe sets the amount, and the weekly offering sets the regularity.

Instead of spending time there however, I want to relay a thought on our resurrection bodies.  You see, this body that we now inhabit is not the body that will inherit heaven.  Our heavenly body will be somewhat different from this one.  Exactly how different we do not know, but we do know that we will be better than what we are presently.   I use this example from time to time when I conduct a funeral:  the seed you place in the ground could be a kernel of corn.  It's hard and yellow, and really not much of a meal.  Once it begins to die, it germinates and produces a corn stalk....which is far larger than the kernel that went into the ground, and looks nothing at all like it.   And then, from that tiny kernel, also comes not one, not two but often three and four whole ears of corn.  Every ear filled with many tiny kernels.   Think for a moment of our earthly bodies as small kernels, and try to imagine what our resurrection body will be like.....wow!

There simply is no way to imagine how wonderful what God has prepared is going to be!     But the only way to receive this incredible new, perfect body is to agree to the terms that God has established in advance.   You must accept that He is truly God, and that Jesus Christ is His Son.   If you truly believe that, you can ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins, and they will be forgiven.   If you truly believe, it will (of course) change your attitude toward the Bible, The Church, and other Christians.   Because instead of dull history the Bible becomes a love letter and an instruction manual.  The Church becomes a health care center, and other Christians become your relatives....the kind of relatives you like to have around.    Everything changes when you truly accept that Jesus is who He says He is.

When your sins are forgiven, your eternal destiny is changed.  It was your sin that was holding you back, keeping you in bondage, and steering you toward hell.   Now that your sin is gone, never to be seen or remembered again, you are free on a spiritual level, you have been adopted as a child and an heir of Jesus, and you are on your way to heaven.   All this happens in the split second that you truly believe, and confess to Jesus and invite Him to take control of your life.

This is what Paul is stressing and urging the Church to grab a hold of here in Chapter 15.   Christ has died for our sins, and we are now heirs and eternal beings....we should be acting like it.

The law (God's Law) was how we knew what was wrong.  Once God said "don't do this" and we did it anyway, we became guilty.   Sin comes from violating the Law, and death comes from sin.    When Jesus rose from the dead, He proved that He is more powerful even than death itself, and conquered the final challenge for all Christians.   Since death cannot hold Jesus, it cannot hold us.   He is now above the Law, above sin and above death.   And since we are His children, we are above them as well.

Of course this doesn't mean that we will never sin again, but when we do, we have an eternal, loving heavenly Father who intercedes for us and continues to forgive us whenever we ask.    Through Him we remain pure, as we remain humble and repentant.


PR