1 Corinthians 15: 12-22
Good morning beloved of God. Our devotional text for this Monday of the second week of Easter, April 20, comes from the first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 15, verses 12-22.
Paul writes:
Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ—whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ.
The New Revised Standard Version
Devotion:
Today, from Paul’s correspondence with the church in Corinth, we receive these words about how central the resurrection is to the Christian faith.
One theology professor in seminary used to say that something must have happened. The church bound together, against terrible odds, by Jesus presence, would be only possible by the unshakable faith that God, in ultimate demonstration of love for us was crucified and raised from the dead.
It is by the inspiration that comes from this divine act of unselfish grace and love that we become driven to be the church for the sake of Christ and our neighbor.
What Paul explains to the community he founded 20 centuries ago is still true for us today, Our relationship with God, as portrayed in the Genesis account, was once stained by distrust in God, by shame, and by death. God’s self-sacrifice, forever transforms this inheritance towards the common good, reconciling everything in Jesus, for the sake of humankind and all of creation.
Prayer
Let us pray.
God of Resurrection, you have done what you have promised. You gifted us with a new thing, a new covenant, that washes away your account of our sins. Thank you for reconciling everything that you made through your Son. Sustain our faith, inspire and encourage us always, to confess with our lips and believe from our hearts that you brought him back from the dead so we never again will be put to shame, but inherit everlasting and abundant life. We pray all this in his name, our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Bridging Faith 