Devos 365

1 Corinthians 15:44b-49 44b If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. I have often wondered what Paul would write to the modern Church. But those ponderings are brought up short by the realization that we have everything we need to know in the words already written. But – I still wonder. In the passage for today we find Paul continuing to address the wrong-thinking that was happening in the Corinthians church. Paul may have been addressing a tenden...

1 Corinthians 15:35-44a 35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” 36 You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. 39 For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. 42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44a It is ...

1 Corinthians 15:30-34 30Why are we in danger every hour? 31I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! 32What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” 33Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” 34Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. After our weird verse about being baptized in the name of those already dead, the strangeness just continues for me. But ultimately, Paul is continuing the same discussion about the importance of recognizing Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. Jesus’ resurrection is the forerunner of our own and thus incredibly important. Paul takes a negative approach at first, as he describes the utter futility of lives lived for Jesus that will not result in resurrection. He’s right. If there is no resurrection ...

Psalm 119:113-120 — Samekh 113 I hate the double-minded, but I love your law. 114 You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word. 115 Depart from me, you evildoers, that I may keep the commandments of my God. 116 Uphold me according to your promise, that I may live, and let me not be put to shame in my hope! 117 Hold me up, that I may be safe and have regard for your statutes continually! 118 You spurn all who go astray from your statutes, for their cunning is in vain. 119 All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross, therefore I love your testimonies. 120 My flesh trembles for fear of you, and I am afraid of your judgments. With this stanza of Psalm 119, the tone turns rather harsh. He is still very positive about the Lord and his love for God’s law. But his tone toward “evildoers” is dramatically dark. If you look at the letter, you will see that its shape is similar to that of a shield. Then read verse 114 and I believe you will agree, that is not an acci...

1 Corinthians 15:29 Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? The temptation to skip over this verse is great. I honestly considered putting it into a larger passage and forgetting that it’s there. But that doesn’t seem fair and so, instead of trying to make sense of this myself, I’m drawing a lengthy passage from Lockwood’s commentary on 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 15:29 is one of the most obscure passages in the NT. The phrase “those … who are being baptized on behalf of the dead” seems to imply a kind of baptism otherwise unknown in the history of Christianity. The dozens of suggestions advanced to explain this apparently eccentric practice may be summarized in six categories. 1. Most scholars think Paul is speaking of a vicarious form of baptism in which living Christians were baptized on behalf of persons who had already died [a ritual practiced by the Mormons today]....

1 Corinthians 15:20-28 20But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. 28When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all. When I was going through co...

1 Corinthians 15:11-19 12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. Having described his own conversion as being one who was abnormally born (in the faith), Paul now takes on the implication for all believers if Christ had not been resurrected from death. ...

1 Corinthians 15:1-11 1Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2and by which you are being saved if you hold fast to the word I preached to you — unless you believed in vain. 3For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than a...

Psalm 119:105-112 – Nun 105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. 106 I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to keep your righteous rules. 107 I am severely afflicted; give me life, O Lord, according to your word! 108 Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O Lord, and teach me your rules. 109 I hold my life in my hand continually, but I do not forget your law. 110 The wicked have laid a snare for me, but I do not stray from your precepts. 111 Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart. 112 I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever, to the end. This stanza of Psalm 119 utilizes the letter Nun as it’s foil. (The meaning of this letter is "fish" which one cannot help but associate with the early Church.) In the first line, we read words that probably ring as so familiar as many have appropriated this verse for songs and ser...

1 Corinthians 14:26-40 26  What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. 27  If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. 28  But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God. 29  Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. 30  If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. 31  For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, 32  and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. 33  For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints, 34  the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. 35  I...