For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
1 Corinthians 15:22
The Resurrection
Daily Devotion – June 8, 2021
Devotion based on 1 Corinthians 15:22
See series: Devotions
Did you know that the goal of Christianity is not just for a person’s soul to go to heaven when they die? Yes, when Christians die, their souls are with Christ. But that is not the final goal. The Bible promises that one day, their bodies will be raised back to life to be reunited with their souls.
Maybe that is new information for you. Maybe you have never heard about the resurrection of your body. And maybe you struggle to see the importance of the resurrection of our bodies. If you feel that way, you are not alone. There were some Christians in the first century who didn’t believe in the resurrection of the body or at least didn’t see its importance.
So the apostle Paul wrote to these Christians explaining the connection between Jesus’ resurrection on Easter and our final resurrection when Jesus returns. He said, “But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? . . . For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:12,16-17).
Paul is stringing together a few powerful ideas. If dead bodies cannot be raised back to life, then Jesus didn’t rise from the dead. And if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, then we are still stuck in our sins because it is Jesus’ resurrection that proves he paid for our sins.
If this is new information for you, I want to encourage you to expand your understanding and belief in God’s great rescue plan. Jesus died and rose again. And what happened to Jesus will happen to all of his followers. One day they will be raised from the dead. They will have transformed bodies and will dwell in a transformed world. That means death is not the end. For followers of Jesus, their best days are yet to come!
Prayer:
Open my eyes to believe in your great rescue mission. Amen.
Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.