Blessed from Death to Life

 DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

BLESSED FROM DEATH TO LIFE

1 Cor 15:20-28

20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For he "has put everything under his feet." Now when it says that "everything" has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. 28 When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.

NIV

Is not Christ God? Why does Paul make this distinction between Christ being a man and God? Paul is using the Greek word theos, to describe the Supreme Divinity, who has to be the Father, so in that sense, the Father sent the Son to become born as a man, so that He would be the perfect sacrifice changing the course of human history. Because of the sin of Adam, we are all born in sin and thus deserve the penalty of sin, death. We are so grateful for God doing what he did in order to redeem us so that death no longer reigns in our life, but we have life eternal through our faith in Jesus. Although we must wait, it is inevitable that we will be raised from the dead and live in a place where all evil has vanished, and only the purest of God will be present. It is not odd, that in the present time, we still live in this corruptible body, unable to live completely pure and without sin, and yet we have the guarantee, we have been sealed with the Holy Spirt, and thus we know that we now belong to God, and because of Christ, although we have not attained perfection, God sees us as holy and blameless. It is encouraging that sometime in the future, we can only hope, or have this assured expectation, that Christ will return to vanquish evil while we are still living. If not, we can still be assured that just before he returns to this earth, we will be raised from the grave to meet Him in the air and we will be changed in a twinkling of an eye, and this which is now corruptible will become incorruptible and that this current body that is perishable will become imperishable. We will truly be fully like Christ, although we are not Christ, but like him, fully holy and pure without any sin whatsoever. It is interesting that the Father has put all authority under Jesus, but a time will come when Jesus will give back all the authority to the Father. This is why Paul makes the point that God may be all in all. Yet God is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, as they are one, yet it would still seem that although one, they are also still three. This an interesting thought to ponder for the rest of this life, for when we are raised from the dead and are with Jesus, we will know and understand to the fullest, God as three in one. For now, let us live out our faith to the fullest, let us live as one saved from the influence of the one man, Adam, that consists of sin and death, and under the influence of the second man, Christ Jesus that consists of righteousness in Him and life. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. We have been blessed from death to life.