Jesus At the Centre
I Corinthians 15:1–11
“Now, brethren, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, He appeared to more than five hundred at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all He appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.”
How lovely are these verses and how beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!" (Isa 52:7, Rom 10:15). This set of verses is music pleasing to the heart, and it appears like an elegant formula for sharing rich in meaning, wrapped in humility and sincerity. After practical and local guidelines, St. Paul brings us back home to the centre of it all, the Great News that is Jesus Christ. He begins his reminder with the established message, the truth of Christ’s historic (and historical) resurrection, the testimony of eyewitnesses, “most of whom are still living (v. 6)”, he is inviting all to see for themselves and ask those who have seen. This, to us counts as a blessing undergirded by faith, to which the LORD Himself encouraged the Apostle Thomas for, Jesus told him, "Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed (John 20:29)”, to us that is, trusting the apostolic eyewitness, the testimony of honest and humble men and women, and a testament to God’s love for us in His only begotten Son, Jesus (John 3:16). Paul ends with a personal note, that no matter how belligerent he had been against the gospel, against the truth, and against love Himself, he was not completely outside of the grasp of the amazing grace of God, an epic transformation! Like the Apostle Paul, as the Living Life writer prayed: LORD, I thank You for the Gospel that saves me. May I never grow tired of its message but remind myself of its beauty every day. I want to stand firm in the Good News, and I want my life to be a testimony of its power. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
“Now, brethren, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, He appeared to more than five hundred at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all He appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.”
How lovely are these verses and how beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!" (Isa 52:7, Rom 10:15). This set of verses is music pleasing to the heart, and it appears like an elegant formula for sharing rich in meaning, wrapped in humility and sincerity. After practical and local guidelines, St. Paul brings us back home to the centre of it all, the Great News that is Jesus Christ. He begins his reminder with the established message, the truth of Christ’s historic (and historical) resurrection, the testimony of eyewitnesses, “most of whom are still living (v. 6)”, he is inviting all to see for themselves and ask those who have seen. This, to us counts as a blessing undergirded by faith, to which the LORD Himself encouraged the Apostle Thomas for, Jesus told him, "Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed (John 20:29)”, to us that is, trusting the apostolic eyewitness, the testimony of honest and humble men and women, and a testament to God’s love for us in His only begotten Son, Jesus (John 3:16). Paul ends with a personal note, that no matter how belligerent he had been against the gospel, against the truth, and against love Himself, he was not completely outside of the grasp of the amazing grace of God, an epic transformation! Like the Apostle Paul, as the Living Life writer prayed: LORD, I thank You for the Gospel that saves me. May I never grow tired of its message but remind myself of its beauty every day. I want to stand firm in the Good News, and I want my life to be a testimony of its power. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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