1 Corinthians 15

June 2, 2019

Today I am reading 1 Corinthians 15. There is so much in this chapter, but the scripture that caught my attention was 1 Corinthians 15:1-2. “Dear friends, let me give you clearly the heart of the gospel that I’ve preached to you – the good news that you have heartily received and on which you stand. For it is through the revelation of the gospel that you are being saved, if you fasten your life firmly to the message I’ve taught you, unless you have believed in vain.” (The Passion Translation)

Paul opens this chapter with what he calls the heart of the gospel message, Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection. The scripture says that you have heartily received and on which you stand. We are to stand on the truth of the gospel. It is what we fasten our life to, it is what gives us hope and where we can understand the “why” of our identity. We are more than conquerors because of what Christ did. (Rom. 8:37) We can stand firm and let nothing moves us, because of what Christ did. (1 Corin. 15:58) And death is not the end for us, we have the promise of the resurrection because of what Christ did. (1 Corin. 15:20-22) God’s plan for us doesn’t end with the death of our physical body, it allows the seed that has been planted in us to spring forth new.

When I was thinking about this chapter and resurrection, I thought about the fact that we die to ourselves in this life and the Lord comes to live in us. He changes our hearts and our minds and makes us new. This is the inner work. One day we will also die to this earth so that we can go live with Him. We get a new name and a new body. This is the outer work.