Take a moment to read 1 Corinthians 15:12-23 before reading the devotional below.
Today Paul talks about the resurrection of the dead, and the resurrection of Jesus. You might be wondering what the issue is — why even address this? We know from other stories in the Bible that some Jewish sects, particularly the Sadducees, did not believe in any kind of afterlife. When you die, that’s it. The good news of Jesus, however, is that Jesus died and came back to life. Not only that, but he did that in order to give us eternal life as well. Resurrection is a key supernatural phenomenon to these ideas.
The only way our sins are forgiven is if Jesus overcame the death that is the required payment for our sins. In Genesis 3, we can read about Adam and Eve and their deal with Satan. He promised them the knowledge of good and evil if they ate from the tree. But they already had the knowledge of good — they were intimately connected with God. So ultimately all he really had to give them was evil. They gave away their God-given authority over all the creatures in the Garden to a creature that brought them nothing but evil. They sold their souls for a false promise.
Here’s your freedom for today:
You have a new chance at life.
You might think it’s unfair that Adam and Eve’s choice to give away their authority to Satan means you have a death penalty. And you’re right. It’s not fair. But Paul makes the point in this passage that Jesus made things right by saving us all. One guy screwed up the world, and another guy came to fix it. One brought death, the other brings life. Jesus overcame death to give you a new chance at life.