They Refreshed My Spirit

Reading:  1 Corinthians 16:12-24
    
     The end of this letter is a combination of short instructions, greetings, and notes about people known to the church.  Paul is writing from Ephesus (1 Cor 16:8, 19) and has recently seen Aquila and Prisca (1 Cor 16:19) who are there and came from Corinth (Acts 18:1-3).  The teacher Apollos, for reasons Paul does not explain, is not willing to come to see them just yet (1 Cor 16:12).  New Testament churches also often sent greetings to each other (v. 19, 20, 21), reminding us that even as we work through problems together, we remain brothers and sisters in Christ.

     “Now I urge you, brothers—you know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints—be subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer.  I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for your absence, for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours.  Give recognition to such people”(1 Cor 16:15-18).  Stephanas and his family were Paul’s first converts in Corinth and he puts in a special word for them.  They “have devoted themselves to the service of the saints”—which implies the meeting of physical needs.  Paul encourages the Corinthians to “be subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer”(1 Cor 16:16).  We submit ourselves to the good purposes they have to do good for others, especially by working alongside them and contributing to help.  Three of this group have come to Paul and “they refreshed my spirit as well as yours.”  Paul wants this kind of behavior and sacrifice to be admired and imitated.

     “They refreshed my spirit” means that their encouragement buoyed him in a difficult time.  Just as food and drink can refresh the body in desperate circumstances, so our brothers and sisters can rejuvenate our spirits.  We have new energy and courage.  We have a fresh smile and a spring in our step.  We are ready to serve Jesus—and others—anew.

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One Thing to Think About:  Whose spirit will I refresh today?

One Thing to Pray For:  Brothers and sisters who will refresh me
 

A Wide Door

Reading:  1 Corinthians 16:1-11
    
    Paul has been encouraging Gentile churches to send a contribution to help needy Jewish Christians (see Rom 15:25-27) and here gives instructions to the Corinthians.  “On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come”(1 Cor 16:2).  To prepare this gift, the Corinthians need to  take up a collection during their regular gatherings “on the first day of every week.”  These contributions by each disciple “as he may prosper” show that God accepts our sacrifice according to what we have (rather than someone else's wealth).

    Paul shares his travel plans with the Corinthians, hoping to have an opportunity to spend more extensive time with them (v. 6-7).  However, something has demanded his attention:  “But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries”(1 Cor 16:8-9).  The work in Ephesus is both thriving and threatened; Paul insists on giving it his full effort even if it alters his plans.  Meanwhile he sends Timothy to Corinth and challenges them to “put him at ease among you” and “help him on his way in peace”(1 Cor 16:10, 11).  Paul is probably concerned that the sharp tone of this letter will affect their treatment of Timothy and seeks to prevent this.

    Paul sees that “a wide door for effective work” is open in Ephesus.  The gospel is taking root and growing there.  Yet he also mentions that “there are many adversaries.”  Many preachers would leave a place where enemies are; Paul stays.  Many preachers would assume opponents mean a closed door; Paul sees a door wide open.  Challenges in our lives are really opportunities for growth, for God’s power, and for battling with Satan. 

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One Thing to Think About:  Do I assume “wide doors” only exist where there is no difficulty?

One Thing to Pray For:  The perspective to see potential in hardship
 

Victory in Jesus

Reading:  1 Corinthians 15:50-58
    
    Paul’s teaching on the resurrection reaches a crescendo here.  “I tell you this, brothers:  flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable”(1 Cor 15:50).  We must be made immortal to receive the ultimate blessings God has planned for us.  “Behold!  I tell you a mystery.  We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.  For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed”(1 Cor 15:51-52).  Not everyone will die, but the resurrection means that all of us will be changed together.  If we do die before that moment, we can remain confident that we will be raised and transformed as well.  The change will be instant—“in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye”—at the end.

     This is huge.  It fulfills this great promise from Isaiah:  “Death is swallowed up in victory”(1 Cor 15:54, Isa 25:8).  It fulfills this triumphant statement from Hosea:  “O death, where is your victory?  O death, where is your sting?”(1 Cor 15:55, Hos 13:14).  God has long foretold the conquering of death and has begun to fulfill it in Jesus’ resurrection.  Paul explains:  “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ”(1 Cor 15:56-57).  Jesus eliminates sin through his sacrifice and fulfills the law.  He has defeated death from the inside.  Now we live free from sin and free from the law—and will someday live free from death.  God “gives us the victory” he has achieved over death.

     Death is our great enemy.  We are powerless before it.  Worse, we deserve death for our sin and can do nothing to avoid this disaster.  Death also consigns our works to oblivion:  what good are my daily choices to help others and live a holy life if I am just going to the grave?  This is the great power of the resurrection.  Jesus has defeated death and now God “gives us the victory.”   We will live again.  Our sins are removed.  And we are deeply motivated for daily service to Jesus because “in the Lord your labor is not in vain”(1 Cor 15:58).

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One Thing to Think About:  What will life be like without death?

One Thing to Pray For:  Endurance to keep abounding in Jesus’ work until he returns
 

A New Body

Reading:  1 Corinthians 15:35-49
    
    Having established the need for a resurrection, Paul now answers some questions from the skeptics about how precisely the resurrection will work.  “But someone will ask, ‘How are the dead raised?  With what kind of body do they come?’”(1 Cor 15:35).  First, he explains that resurrection is not outside human experience.  “What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.  And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.  But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body”(1 Cor 15:36-38).  When we sow seeds, they “die,” yet emerge more impressive, more glorious, and with a different body.  This is a kind of resurrection, along with a God-given body equipped for new life.

    Paul wants us to embrace this contrast in anticipation of the resurrection.  “What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable.  It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory.  It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body”(1 Cor 15:42-44).  Death is not to be feared; it is the gateway to resurrection and greater glory.  Our present existence is marred by the curse of sin and its accompanying death, dishonor, and weakness.  The resurrection will see us emerge with far more glory in a different type of body.  In another place, Paul explains that Jesus “will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself”(Phil 3:21).  We will be raised and given a new body.

    Of course we long for details about that new body.  Will we look like we do now?  Will we need to eat or sleep?  We only have experience in this body and it is hard to imagine a new body.  While Paul does not answer all of our questions, he gives essential encouragement:  I may die, but I will live again.  And because of Jesus’ resurrection, that new life will far surpass what I now know.  

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One Thing to Think About:  Why do we find the idea of a new body appealing?

One Thing to Pray For:  Confidence in Jesus’ power, even though I don’t fully understand
 

Then Comes the End

Reading:  1 Corinthians 15:20-34
    
    Paul has been addressing some in Corinth who deny the resurrection of the dead.  He argues that this denial necessarily means denying Jesus’ resurrection also—which creates obvious problems.  “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep”(1 Cor 15:20).  Jesus’ resurrection is the “firstfruits," the first part of a crop that promises more to come.  His resurrection promises more resurrections.  “For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.  For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive”(1 Cor 15:21-22).  Jesus’ resurrection means that God is undoing the death and damage Adam began.  It is the beginning of a new hope for all.

     “But each in his own order:  Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.  Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power”(1 Cor 15:23-24).  The timing of the resurrection is laid out for us.  It will happen “at his coming.”  The only other event on Paul’s eschatological map here is “the end,” which is signaled by Jesus delivering the kingdom to the Father, having conquered all other authorities.  “Then comes the end” leaves no room for raptures, literal millennia of Christ’s reign, or intermediate stages.  Jesus returns.  People rise.  Then comes the end.

     We get a glimpse here of the ultimate plan of all things.  God has begun the process of undoing death through Jesus’ resurrection.  He has also begun the process of putting all enemies under the feet of Jesus—which will only be completed when even death is conquered (1 Cor 15:26).  We live between the beginning of this process and its completion—and eagerly await the end, when all enemies are destroyed.

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One Thing to Think About:  How does Jesus’ victory over death impact me personally?

One Thing to Pray For:  Jesus to come quickly