Resurrection Explained
1 CORINTHIANS 15:1-28
(August 23)
Have you ever had something explained to you, but you just couldn't quite understand? No matter how many times it was discussed, you couldn't get the concept. I am that way with most things involving scientific information. Trust me, if you try explaining the cosmos to me, the lights are on, but nobody is home!
Is it some short circuit in my brain that causes this lack of understanding? Or perhaps it stems from how I was raised, the culture I grew up in. I'm not really sure, but I know that science, trigonometry, and any other advanced math falls into that category.
For the Corinthians, the concept of resurrection was one they could not grasp. Most Greeks thought of the afterlife as something that only happened to a person's soul, not their physical body.
Greek philosophers believed the soul was the real PERSON, which was IMPRISONED by our physical body, and RELEASED upon our death. The soul then entered into an eternal state, which was not available to the body. The Corinthian church was in the heart of Greek culture, so many believers couldn't comprehend the idea of bodies being resurrected. Paul wrote today's reading in an effort to clear up the confusion.
Keep in mind, in that day and time, the label of CHRISTIAN often brought persecution onto the believer. Many new believers were cast out of their families and suffered from poverty. Calling yourself a Christian did not help you climb the social ladder or gain popularity.
But because Christ paid the price for the sins of all man, Christians were able to live a life flowing with forgiveness and look forward to the eternal home they would share in Heaven.
And with the resurrection of Jesus, they could know that they, too, would have a day when their bodies would be resurrected to new life in eternity.
"Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back." (Verse 22-23)
New life ... resurrection ... eternity with Christ ... now THOSE are concepts I CAN wrap my mind around! How about you? Aren't you so glad Jesus died for our sins so that we get the opportunity to experience a new body and a new life in glory?