We Proclaim The Resurrection
God’s grace and peace be yours on this great day of the Lord!
We are only a little over two weeks away from our great day of celebration. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead marks the victory of God for all who will be members of the Kingdom of God! The very fact that Jesus defeated death means that death has lost its power! What seemed so final! What seemed to be unyielding and unending has itself come to an end. Jesus wrenched the grip of death free and stepped forth alive! All who believe in Him as Savior will experience the freedom of life!
This is our Christian hope! This is our confidence in the faith! So how is it there are those who do not believe in the resurrection of Jesus or in that matter, any resurrection from the dead? This is Paul’s issue as he is contending for the faith in chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians. It is seemingly hard to imagine that while the apostles are themselves still alive there are those in the Church who are denying the foundational beliefs of the faith! What was true then is still true today. There are many in “so called” Christian churches who deny the miracle of the resurrection. While their beliefs concerning some type of eternal life are varied, the one consistent truth they teach is that death is final and because of this, Jesus stayed dead!
While contending with those who lean on human logic and not faith, Paul writes in response to their skepticism the following words . . .
But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have when they come?” You fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And as for what you sow—you are not sowing the body that will be, but only a seed, perhaps of wheat or another grain. But God gives it a body as he wants, and to each of the seeds its own body. Not all flesh is the same flesh; there is one flesh for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is different from that of the earthly ones. There is a splendor of the sun, another of the moon, and another of the stars; in fact, one star differs from another star in splendor. 1 Corinthians 15:35-41
Who is asking? The debaters! Those who are contending not for the faith, but for the destruction of it! A person can almost hear the questions asked with a snide or snotty attitude, “When a body dies it rots! It decays and stinks until there is nothing left but old bones. What will that body be like when it is brought back to life?” The patience of Paul is remarkable! He approaches their logical disbelief with worldly logic and faith.
We know what is planted is not what sprouts and grows. Plant a seed and behold the whole plant grows and produces abundant fruit. What is planted is dead and dry but what comes forth is vibrant and alive! The end result is nothing like the beginning!
We see in nature itself there are many different types of flesh. Each one is different, and each serves its purpose for life in this world. Not all flesh is the same, but all is alive! The same is true when we address what exists beyond our limited existence. The sun exists in glory and so does the moon, but they are different from one another. The stars are all different, but each is glorious in itself. So, the very argument that what would come out of the grave must be the same as what went into the grave is actually using a flawed logic from the beginning!
Jesus taught the disciples about the resurrection when He said, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. (John 12:24) Paul even taught that our resurrected bodies would be vastly different than our mortal bodies which suffer physical death in this world. He writes, (Christ) who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to Himself. (Philippians 3:21) Our lowly bodies will be laid to rest and when the day of resurrection comes our bodies will be glorious! Imagine that! As great and wonderful as we are, being human beings created in the image of God, what we are to be in the future is vastly more.
Paul is addressing the skeptics who are bringing discord in the Church. The Christian faith has been under assault since the day Jesus stepped forth from the tomb. There is nothing the devil will not do in the attempt to create false belief in the hearts of people. If a person believes the dead do not rise and that Jesus remained dead, then that person is not a believer in Jesus Christ as the risen and glorified Savior of the world. Because of this disbelief, such a person is lost. This is exactly what the devil desires to accomplish.
As Christians who live in a world which is seemingly filled with more and more haters of Jesus, we must fortify ourselves to stand firm on the truth of the resurrection. I say haters of Jesus and by this I have a broad meaning. Yes, the adherents of false religions and cults are haters of Jesus. But those who name Jesus as Lord and deny His resurrection victory are in essence haters of the One they call Savior. To deny His victory is to demean Who He is and blaspheme His holy name. If this is not a hater, then I do not know what a hater is! We must lift up Jesus to this unbelieving world and proclaim His victory! His victory over sin! His victory over Satan! And absolutely His victory over death! This is the One we worship and proclaim!
In Christ,
Pastor Russ
We are only a little over two weeks away from our great day of celebration. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead marks the victory of God for all who will be members of the Kingdom of God! The very fact that Jesus defeated death means that death has lost its power! What seemed so final! What seemed to be unyielding and unending has itself come to an end. Jesus wrenched the grip of death free and stepped forth alive! All who believe in Him as Savior will experience the freedom of life!
This is our Christian hope! This is our confidence in the faith! So how is it there are those who do not believe in the resurrection of Jesus or in that matter, any resurrection from the dead? This is Paul’s issue as he is contending for the faith in chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians. It is seemingly hard to imagine that while the apostles are themselves still alive there are those in the Church who are denying the foundational beliefs of the faith! What was true then is still true today. There are many in “so called” Christian churches who deny the miracle of the resurrection. While their beliefs concerning some type of eternal life are varied, the one consistent truth they teach is that death is final and because of this, Jesus stayed dead!
While contending with those who lean on human logic and not faith, Paul writes in response to their skepticism the following words . . .
But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have when they come?” You fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And as for what you sow—you are not sowing the body that will be, but only a seed, perhaps of wheat or another grain. But God gives it a body as he wants, and to each of the seeds its own body. Not all flesh is the same flesh; there is one flesh for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is different from that of the earthly ones. There is a splendor of the sun, another of the moon, and another of the stars; in fact, one star differs from another star in splendor. 1 Corinthians 15:35-41
Who is asking? The debaters! Those who are contending not for the faith, but for the destruction of it! A person can almost hear the questions asked with a snide or snotty attitude, “When a body dies it rots! It decays and stinks until there is nothing left but old bones. What will that body be like when it is brought back to life?” The patience of Paul is remarkable! He approaches their logical disbelief with worldly logic and faith.
We know what is planted is not what sprouts and grows. Plant a seed and behold the whole plant grows and produces abundant fruit. What is planted is dead and dry but what comes forth is vibrant and alive! The end result is nothing like the beginning!
We see in nature itself there are many different types of flesh. Each one is different, and each serves its purpose for life in this world. Not all flesh is the same, but all is alive! The same is true when we address what exists beyond our limited existence. The sun exists in glory and so does the moon, but they are different from one another. The stars are all different, but each is glorious in itself. So, the very argument that what would come out of the grave must be the same as what went into the grave is actually using a flawed logic from the beginning!
Jesus taught the disciples about the resurrection when He said, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. (John 12:24) Paul even taught that our resurrected bodies would be vastly different than our mortal bodies which suffer physical death in this world. He writes, (Christ) who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to Himself. (Philippians 3:21) Our lowly bodies will be laid to rest and when the day of resurrection comes our bodies will be glorious! Imagine that! As great and wonderful as we are, being human beings created in the image of God, what we are to be in the future is vastly more.
Paul is addressing the skeptics who are bringing discord in the Church. The Christian faith has been under assault since the day Jesus stepped forth from the tomb. There is nothing the devil will not do in the attempt to create false belief in the hearts of people. If a person believes the dead do not rise and that Jesus remained dead, then that person is not a believer in Jesus Christ as the risen and glorified Savior of the world. Because of this disbelief, such a person is lost. This is exactly what the devil desires to accomplish.
As Christians who live in a world which is seemingly filled with more and more haters of Jesus, we must fortify ourselves to stand firm on the truth of the resurrection. I say haters of Jesus and by this I have a broad meaning. Yes, the adherents of false religions and cults are haters of Jesus. But those who name Jesus as Lord and deny His resurrection victory are in essence haters of the One they call Savior. To deny His victory is to demean Who He is and blaspheme His holy name. If this is not a hater, then I do not know what a hater is! We must lift up Jesus to this unbelieving world and proclaim His victory! His victory over sin! His victory over Satan! And absolutely His victory over death! This is the One we worship and proclaim!
In Christ,
Pastor Russ
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Thanks be to God our Father in heaven! 🙏