My Thoughts- 1 Corinthians 15
As I was reading this I struggled to summarize and connect the dots of exactly what Paul was saying, so I would like to quote the blurb in my bible, as it perfectly sums up this chapter.
"Much of 1 Corinthians centers on issues of personal behavior involving rambunctious church members. After tackling each of those problems, Paul turns his attention to a question of doctrine, one that looms before him as the most important issue of all. People are challenging the Christian belief in an afterlife. Death, they say, is the end.
Throughout history, many people have taken such a position. In Jesus' day, a Jewish sect called Sadducees denied the resurrection from the dead. Doubters persist today, such as Black Muslims, Buddhists, Marxists, and most atheists. Some New Age advocates present death as a natural part of the cycle of life. Why resist it or consider it bad? they ask.
The Corinthian Church soon learns not to voice that opinion around the apostle Paul. To him, life after death is no fairy tale, but rather the fulcrum of his entire faith. If there is no afterlife, he thunders, the Christina message is a lie. If there is no afterlife, he has no reason to continue as a minister; Christ's death is merely waisted blood and Christians are the most pitiable of all people.
The bible presents a gradually developing emphasis on the afterlife. Old testament Jews had only the vaguest concept of life after death. As Paul points out, Jesus' resurrection from the dead changed all that, giving the world decisive proof that God has the power and the will to overcome death. Chapter 15 weaves together the threads of Christian belief about death. With no hesitation, Paul brands death "the enemy," the last enemy to be destroyed.
This chapter often gets read at funerals, with good reason. As people gather around a casket, they sense, as if by instinct, the unnaturalness and horror of death. To such people, to all of us, this passage offers soaring words of hope. It shows how death is finally conquered and becomes not an end but a beginning"
But I also want to point out some other cool tidbits I found in this chapter. When I read verse 25 (see below) and it talked about how everything would be put under Christ's feet I couldn't help thinking about when Christ came to Earth he was the lowest of the low, even the cows looked down at Him as he lay in the manger! How awesome is our God that He can work in such a beautiful way!?! Also verse 55 (see below) is so powerful. If you've ever heard the song containing the verse you know what I mean. If not you can listen to it here. The first time I heard that song I couldn't help but be encouraged. Without God, death is something we can not defeat no matter how hard we try. But Jesus made a way for us to do just that! Jesus defeated the most powerful hold over us on this Earth. There is nothing He can't do!
1 Corinthians 15:25
For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
1 Corinthians 15:55
Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?
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