Day 235

Job 8:1-11:20; 1 Corinthians 15:1-28; Psalm 38:1- 22; Proverbs 21:28-29

Fullness in Christ

Today’s passage in 1 Corinthians gives what is one of the clearest internal and external defenses of the Resurrection that we have at our disposal. Paul first reminds us that he, as well as many in Corinth, have been given the gospel upon which they believe. He reminds us that he is not one who has made up or given this gospel to them, but it is in fact the Lord who has done so.

Following these words, he makes the claim that if we do not believe his eyewitness testimony of meeting the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus, then there are others who can attest to this truth. He tells us that Peter (Cephas) was the first see Jesus, and then He appeared to the twelve disciples, and then He appeared to more than five hundred others who, at the time of this letter to the Corinthians being written, were still alive.

Do the math with me on this for a minute. Paul is claiming that more than five hundred and twelve people saw Jesus in His resurrected body. That is no small claim, and it gives huge validity to the reality of a physical resurrection of Christ. In a world where many try to argue that the Resurrection was merely spiritual and not real, I would say that it was very real to Paul and to the more than 500 who witnessed it personally.

What implication does this have for you and me today?

Exactly what Paul said…“For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.”

Jesus Christ has made you fully alive in Him by His glorious Resurrection; because of this fullness in Christ, you can live every day in glorious abundance! Rest in this promise today: that if you are in Christ, your life has fullness, meaning, and great purpose. Will you live this day in such a way as to show the fullness of Christ to all who will come in contact with you?

The Rev. Wes Sharp