As a Matter of Fact...

Daily Reading: 1 Corinthians 15

Scripture Focus: But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead. (1 Corinthians 15.20a)

Devotional Thought: I love the 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians, where Paul establishes the fact of the resurrection along with other items of "first importance" - Christ died for our sins; Christ was buried; Christ appeared to many; Christ appeared to me; Christ changed me! All of this was predicated on the fact of the resurrection - Christ was raised on the third day. Without the resurrection, as a matter of fact, our faith is futile and we are to be pitied. But, in fact, Christ has been raised! Hallelujah!

As Paul wrote about the resurrection, he did not feel the need to offer verifiable historical proof because the resurrection was historically recent Instead, Paul relied upon the reality of his own experience of the resurrected Christ, and upon the veracity of other witness who also experienced Christ. Is establishing the resurrection today any different? Two thousand years have passed since the resurrection, and historical facts can be blurred and skewed with the passage of time. But, what cannot be disputed is the experience of innumerable believers alive today who know the fact of the resurrection, because they have experienced the resurrected One. He has changed them.

The greatest proof of the resurrection today is the fact that those who believe in Christ have been changed. Lives wrecked and bound by sin, are healed and set free by grace. Live with confidence in that grace today. "Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain" (1 Corinthians 15.58).

Amen!

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for the fact of the resurrection. May the same power that raised Jesus from death to life, enable me to live - fully live! - this new life of promise. And, may I be a living proof of the resurrection to others. Amen.

Psalm of the Day: 116.5-9

5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful. 6 The Lord preserves the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me. 7 Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.

8 For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling; 9 I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.