December 3 - 1 Corinthians 15-16: Resurrection is the Only Thing Worth Dying For

Today’s Reading: 1 Corinthians 15-16

The Message

English Standard Version

Thought to Guide Your Reading

Paul is determined not to let God's Grace go to waste on him.

Summary in 100 Words or Less

The Message is that Jesus died and was raised from the dead. All my accomplishments are God working through me.
Why do you deny resurrection, negating everything we have taught? Jesus completed the circle—everyone dies because of Adam and lives because of Christ. This is why we continue working. Get this right!
The "blueprint" of resurrection is like seeds vs. plants. We'll be changed when Christ comes again. Sin, guilt, and death will be gone forever!
Have the contribution for Jerusalem ready when I arrive.
Let's have a long visit.
Take care of Timothy.
Apollos will come.
Keep strong!

How Today’s Reading Contributes to the Gospel: God is Setting All Things Right

The Resurrection is the only doctrine worth defending to the death.

Paul unwaveringly pushes this thought over and over. The reason is simple—the Resurrection is the only idea where its negation makes everything we do useless. If we die and never return then setting things right is pointless. There is no need to sacrifice. There is no need to love your neighbor as yourself. Unless we are brought back to life, Christianity means nothing.

Paul is determined to make the most of his second chance.

Passages like these exemplify why I love the Apostle Paul so much. He realized that he made horrible, terrible decisions but God called him anyway. Paul is determined not to let God's choice go to waste! Don't let God's Grace go to waste! Set things right!

There is no blueprint to what our bodies will look like when we are raised from the dead.

Just like a plant looks completely different than the seed our resurrected bodies will look completely different than our current ones. If you want to know what it will look like, tough. We'll never know until it happens.

Jesus breaks the life-death cycle.

Jesus lived and died. Then He lived again to never die. Everyone on earth will one day die, too. But we will all live again to never die. Adam caused everyone to die because of his sin; Jesus set things right by sacrificing Himself to take away the power of death. How awesome is our god!

These are letters, not doctrinal statements.

This is the first letter with a long section dealing with Paul and the church's individuals. The items included are interesting but not necessarily exciting for us (I like how he takes a swipe at Apollos by saying he's waiting for the "right time" and Paul is about to give him that right time—at least he is in my head) but they show how these are personal letters from one man to a group of people he loved dearly. God didn't use dry legal documents to help us understand His Message. He gave us letters from one person to another he loved dearly.
I remember going to Paul's Prison Epistles class (Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians) taught by Terry Edwards at Freed-Hardeman University. Growing up in Greece and Turkey as the child of a missionary family, he could lead tours through the Bible lands without help from guides. I remember him coming to class and stating, "(name of the city we were studying). Love to take you there, but we don't have the time." He would then expound on how each of the phrases Paul uses corresponded to something they either saw, experienced, or understood. He helped me see that these are not statements that we need to piece together to create one, whole systematic theology. These were letters from a man who started or grew these churches trying to help them continue growing in God's Truth. It is because of Dr. Edwards' teaching style that I am where I am today.

He is risen!

November 28 - Acts 18:19-19:41: Correcting Believers and Surviving Mobs

Today’s Reading: Acts 18:19-19:41

The Message

English Standard Version

Thought to Guide Your Reading

The Jews were not the only group to forcefully oppose Paul and the Way.

Summary in 100 Words or Less

Paul returned to Antioch while Priscilla and Aquila stayed in Ephesus.
Priscilla and Aquila met Apollos, a disciple of John. They taught him about Jesus. He became a great help to the Christians in Ephesus.
Paul baptized disciples of John in Jesus' Name and the Holy Spirit entered them. Many people in Asia heard the Word.
Jewish exorcists tried to mimic Paul and excise a demon. They were unsuccessful.
As Paul planned another trip, an idol-maker organized a riot in order to squelch the Way. After hours of screaming "Great Artemis of the Ephesians!" the town clerk sent them home.

How Today’s Reading Contributes to the Gospel: God is Setting All Things Right

Priscilla, Aquila, and Paul provide a good approach for helping people who are not part of your group.

Growing up in the churches of Christ I was taught that the Restoration Movement had revived the New Testament church and I heard lesson after lesson about how denominationalism was wrong and we should not fellowship with them. In debate class I chose the topic of fellowshipping other churches. During my study I realized the Bible wasn't as simple on that topic as I had been led to believe.
When I moved to China I thought I would spend all of my time teaching people who were not Christians. The first few months we heard apocryphal stories of a Christian group on campus. "They're probably not following the Scripture," I thought, and ignored them. In the second year, I learned that the group was quite large (compared to our group) and they knew we were there. I wanted to keep my distance, though. It wasn't until my fourth semester there that they broke the separation. A few of their leaders wanted me to help them understand the Bible. At that point I realized how my pride prevented them from growing. My advantage—my gift you might say—was a background in reading the Bible. I used my experience and training to show them a way to read the Bible with their groups. I helped them find a way to get out of their old way of thinking and helped set them on a course to understand the Bible on their own.
Priscilla and Aquila would have alienated Apollos if they stood in their fellowship and complained that Apollos missed Jesus. Instead, they assumed he wanted to obey God and helped him see Jesus. That is our goal today! Our goal should not be to convince people to leave their religion/denomination/social group and follow Jesus. We want to help them see the Bible as it is—God's Message that He is setting all things right—and through that recognition have their relationship with God set right. (Remember, "Who is saved?" is the wrong question.) I believe many in the churches of Christ have an advantage over other Christians because we have read the Bible as God's Word for generations. If we humbly take people aside and tell them the rest of the story, we may find more like Apollos. And the Gospel can spread throughout the world as it did in Asia.

Not everyone that calls out in Jesus' Name will have their requests answered.

The Jewish exorcists' story is one of those stories you hate yourself for laughing, but can't help it. It is the opposite story of the one where the Apostles wanted to stop non-Chosen Disciples from casting out demons. The difference is in the attitude, not the name. The people in Mark 9 wanted to follow Jesus but were not part of His Circle. The Jews in Acts 19 wanted to look like Paul. They did not succeed because they wanted to make themselves look good. When we ask in Jesus' Name to make ourselves look good we fail.

Those who benefit from idol worship (of any kind) will not like Christians.

The riot in Ephesus was not started by Jews. In fact, Jews wanted to stop it. It was begun by people who knew their livelihoods would vanish if people believed this Paul who taught that an idol is nothing.
When we think of the idols people worship today they are mostly abstract ideas and not physical shrines. People who love "freedom" over God will not like the idea of obedience. People who love "order" over God will not like the idea of freedom in Christ. Entire industries are built around these abstract idols. When people realize these idols do not help them set things right the industry's business dries up. Notice, though, that Paul did not get up and denounce them all. The Christians stayed in the shadows and let the city leaders quiet the crowd. In the same way we shouldn't stand in front of people and tell them to shape up or face God's wrath. They will show their true selves and God's Way will be vindicated. When persecution comes because of rioting based on fear of losing their way of life, let God and those outside God's Chosen People quiet the crowds. We may get physically hurt, but they cannot keep us from God's Love.

How did people help you change by showing you the whole story?