The simple message of the Gospel
S - 1 Cor 15 (NASB)
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5
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22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, 24 then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.
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45 So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
O - Paul in speaking to the Corinthians in this Chapter is giving them a powerful teaching to help them understand absolute necessity and truth of Christ's resurrection. Likely the church's that were initially planted began to have discussions among themselves much like the Pharisee's and Sadducee who were of the same God but differed from their belief regarding resurrection of the dead. So he clearly lays out the importance and the why behind Christ's death resurrection. First that he had to die for our sins, that he was buried and raised on the third day and now reigns in heaven is truly the good news. He reigns in spirit and truth , and has defeated the flesh and death. It had to be in this order because as the first Adam was a living soul, and through him we all die because of sin, but through the second Adam, a living life giving spirit , we are born again.
A- The application for me is just to help refine the simplicity of the Gospel in my own mind, so that I may share it freely with others. That freely with others might sound something like this : "God create the world and us, and he loves his creation. He gave us free will to love and abide in Him but because of Adam our nature to sin gave birth to and flesh that was separated from God. We became born of the flesh of Adam and carried the same traits of separation from God, and the separation is sin or basically walking away from God. But God had a plan to restore that relationship through a second Adam, who was Jesus. Jesus came and paid the price for all of our sin so we might be restored to a full spiritual relationship with God. When he died he paid the price, was raised new as a spiritual being to heaven where he reigns. All those who believe in him will be given a new spiritual life that allows them to have a close personal relationship with God in which he will guide us in this life, and lead us in eternal life.
P - Dear heavenly Father, thank you for this devotion today. May the truth of your Gospel be cemented in my heart so that I may share it with others in a way that leads them to you and your truth. I pray Lord you would give me those opportunities to share your good news to those in my life in a real and meaningful way, and would guide my heart, mind, and mouth in doing so. I pray all this in Jesus name, Amen.
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