1 Corinthians 15:1-5 The Risen Christ Faiths Reality 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you--unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. Now Paul reminds us of the Good News which he preached to us, to which we have received and in which they now stood. This was not a new doctrine for the Corinthians, but it was necessary that they should be reminded of it at this critical time. It is this Gospel by which the Corinthians had been saved. Then Paul adds the words if you hold fast that word which I preached to you--unless you believe in vain. It was the Gospel of the Resurrection that they had been saved. Paul is simply stating that if there is no such thing as the Resurrection, then they werent saved at all. Paul had delivered to the Corinthians the message which he had also received by divine revelation.. The message was that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. This emphasizes the substitutionary character of the death of Christ. He did not die for His own sins, or as a martyr; He died for our sins. He paid the penalty for our sins that we deserved. And this was all according to the Scriptures. Next Paul speaks of his own personal acquaintance with the risen Christ. This took place on the road to Damascus, when he saw a great light from heaven and met the glorified Christ face to face. Lets close, although we dont see You Lord Jesus, we do have the privilege of seeing You in the lives of those who are born again as Your Holy Spirit dwells in the believer, and seeing their lives changed, like Saul who later became Paul. May we all today also been seen as those transformed by the Risen Christ as He directs our lives before other to receive (F.B.I.CHRIST) *+* (:)}
Posted on: Wed, 06 Nov 2013 04:00:36 +0000