ESOCS Devotional 12 September 2023 – Was Christ Risen?
MEMORY VERSE: ““If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men”. 1 Corinthians 15:19 NIV
TEXT: 1 CORINTHIANS 15:12-19 (KJV)
But now if Christ (the Messiah) is preached as raised from the dead, how is it that some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not risen;
14 And if Christ has not risen, then our preaching is in vain [it amounts to nothing] and your faith is devoid of truth and is fruitless (without effect, empty, imaginary, and unfounded).
15 We are even discovered to be misrepresenting God, for we testified of Him that He raised Christ, Whom He did not raise in case it is true that the dead are not raised.
16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised;
17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is mere delusion [futile, fruitless], and you are still in your sins [under the control and penalty of sin];
18 And further, those who have died in [spiritual fellowship and union with] Christ have perished (are lost)!
19 If we who are [abiding] in Christ have hope only in this life and that is all, then we are of all people most miserable and to be pitied.
Read Yesterday’s ESOCS Devotional here
Paul tries to bring out facts about Christ’s resurrection to the Corinthian believers. Having given the evidence proving that Jesus was resurrected and pointed that the resurrection is central to the preaching which the Corinthians had heard and accepted, he further expressed his surprise over the fact that they denied the resurrection of the dead.
Similarly, there are some “Christian folks” who after they have received a sound gospel gets carried away by erroneous teachings from false teachers of the gospel, either for one unholy reason or the other. There are also those who are beginning to doubt not just the resurrection of the dead but Christ’s second coming. Not only do they doubt this truth but teach others the same, they quickly forget that God’s word remains unchanged. The Lord’s command to every believer is to “…watch and pray, while occupying till he comes” (Mark 13:33, Luke 19:13). All these are the signs of the end time. And so, Peter gave a warning to contemporary believers in 2 Peter 3, to beware of false teachers in the last days.
The text points to the fact that if the very idea of bodily resurrection is false, then Jesus would not have been resurrected which then renders our preaching and Christianity useless and baseless. We must believe in the bodily resurrection of the saints as this provides the hope of our eternal destination (see 1 Thess. 4:13-18)
Believers’ hope for eternal rest should be the goal of every believing Christian and the return of the King of Kings should be the paramount instruction in our messages to the world. We should all anticipate the glorious appearing of the Master and Bridegroom of the Church, as he comes to take us away from this dilapidated, screwed-up, and ungodly world. His coming will be sudden and he might not tarry too long. (Heb. 10:37).
Therefore, we must be sober, vigilant, sanctified from all forms of ungodliness, we must be wise as serpents, watch and pray in order to be raptured to meet the Lord (see 2 Peter 3:10).
- Christ is coming sooner than you think, are you ready to receive him?
- Dear Lord, make me steadfast and ready for the rapture.
FURTHER READING: 2 Peter 3
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ESOCS Devotional 12 September 2023
