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The Life Message

The Life Message

Words of Faith 8-1-17

Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2017

Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com

Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL

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1 Corinthians 15

   [12] But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? [13] If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. [14] And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. [15] More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. [16] For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. [17] And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. [18] Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. [19] If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

 

       One of the problems floating around the Christian community at Corinth was the idea that there was no resurrection of the dead. While the new believers readily received the Good News that Jesus was raised from the dead, many Gentiles struggled with the idea that those who are dead would one day be resurrected. Jews had long believed in the resurrection of the dead (with the exception of the Sadducees). Now Paul was in a Greek culture that believed in an afterlife but not in a physical resurrection. What's a rabbi to do?

       Paul's argument here was a rabbinical contention aimed at forcing the Corinthians to accept the resurrection of all believers, because they already agreed with him that Jesus had been raised. In the first century, there was virtually no skepticism that Jesus had been raised from the dead. Jesus had appeared to the Apostles and to as many as five hundred other and even to Paul. The resurrection of Jesus was a relatively undisputed fact even among the opponents of Christianity.

       The problem that was developing was a growing skepticism that believers would be raised from the dead. So. Is that okay? Can't we just believe there is "an afterlife"? Why do we have to believe in this resurrection stuff that is so hard to imagine and sounds very unspiritual?

       In answer, Paul argued that to deny a bodily resurrection in principle was to deny the resurrection of Christ. This denial of the Resurrection tore the heart out of the gospel message and left it lifeless. The Corinthians' faith, however vital, would be useless or "empty" since its object would be a dead man.

       This would make the apostles of the church crass charlatans since their message uniformly affirmed the truth of Christ's resurrection. The Corinthians' salvation would be only a state of mind with no correspondence to reality. Their faith would be futile-- without results, without cause, or without success.

       Paul was also clear that the Resurrection was God's validation that the redemption paid by Christ on the cross was accepted-- "He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification" (Rom. 4:25). Without the Resurrection there could be no certainty of atonement and the Corinthians would remain in a state of alienation and sin.

       If Christ were not raised, the loved ones among the Corinthian believers who had died entered not bliss but condemnation. The pagan concept of a liberated spirit was a lie. Without the Resurrection, the sting of death would remain with lasting painfulness.

       If there were no Resurrection, the pagans would be right. The "foolishness of the Cross" would be just that, and men such as Paul and the apostles who had suffered for the gospel could only be pitied. Those who lived for the pleasure of the moment would be right and the sacrifices of Christians would only be cruel, self-inflicted jokes.

         Interestingly, Paul's arguments are more relevant than ever today. At every holiday, the secular media brings another barrage of attacks against the tenets of the Christian faith including the resurrection. Whether it is "The DaVinci Code", James Cameron's "Tomb of Jesus", or a television special denying the resurrection, the secular media loves to attack the message of Life by promoting the critics, no matter how absurd their arguments may be.

         And what is the big deal? Why can't we just believe there is "an afterlife"?             Why can't we believe that the "meaning" of the resurrection is that "memory of Jesus lives on in power"? Why can't we believe that "Jesus was a great moral teacher and religious reformer"?

       The answers are still clear. If there is no resurrection of the dead...   Not even Christ has been raised, our preaching is useless, your faith is useless, we are liars, you are still in your sins, those who have died are lost, and we are pitiful. Other than that? Not a problem.

         Our mission for today is to proclaim the message of Life. Jesus was the Way. Jesus was the Truth. He also was the Life. Jesus said: I am the Resurrection and the Life. If we are people of Jesus, we will proclaim the message of Life. We proclaim the message of Resurrection. Christ died for my sins. Christ was buried. Christ was raised from the dead.

 

       Father God, I rejoice in the Life that You have proclaimed with power in the person and work of Jesus. I will walk in that truth today. I will follow the way of that truth today. I will proclaim that truth today. In Jesus' Name.

 

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2007, 2017

Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)      

2820 Business Center Blvd.

Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200

Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com

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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2010 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.