anglican devotional

The Daily Fountain Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 1 April 2023 – Raised In Glory!

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TOPIC: Raised In Glory!

READ: 1 Corinthians 15: 35-58 (NKJV)

  1. But someone will say, “How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?”
  2. Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies.
  3. And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain — perhaps wheat or some other [grain.]
  4. But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body.
  5. All flesh [is] not the same flesh, but [there is] one [kind of] flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, [and] another of birds.
  6. [There are] also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial [is] one, and the [glory] of the terrestrial [is] another.
  7. [There is] one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for [one] star differs from [another] star in glory.
  8. So also [is] the resurrection of the dead. [The body] is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.
    15:43. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.
  9. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
  10. And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam [became] a life-giving spirit.
  11. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual.
  12. The first man [was] of the earth, [made] of dust; the second Man [is] the Lord from heaven.
  13. As [was] the [man] of dust, so also [are] those [who are made] of dust; and as [is] the heavenly [Man,] so also [are] those [who are] heavenly.
  14. And as we have borne the image of the [man] of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly [Man.]
  15. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.
  16. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed —
  17. in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
  18. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal [must] put on immortality.
  19. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
  20. “O Death, where [is] your sting? O Hades, where [is] your victory?”
  21. The sting of death [is] sin, and the strength of sin [is] the law.
  22. But thanks [be] to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
  23. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

THE MESSAGE:

This passage describes the events that will occur during the rapture or first resurrection for only believers. The first question in verse 35 is on how the dead will be raised. The last trumpet shall sound, the dead in Christ shall be raised first and other believers who are alive shall be changed (verse 52). A great separation will occur in a twinkling of an eye between believers and other people (Matthew 24:40-41). The second resurrection unto damnation (second death) is described in John 5:29b. The second question on the characteristics of the resurrection body is handled in verses 36-50. When a seed is sown, it dies first, and a new crop grows from it. In the same way, the physical body dies and gets rotten in the earth. At the resurrection, God gives a new spiritual body that is immortal, raised in glory and power. The physical body bears the image of Adam, but the spiritual body bears the image of the risen Christ (1 John 3:2).

Beloved, are you preparing to partake in the first resurrection with a new spiritual body? Determine to live and die in Christ, being steadfast, immovable; abounding in the work of God (verse 58). Blessed is he that partakes in the first resurrection for the second death has no power over them (Revelation 20:6). Make this your utmost goal in life not to miss the rapture.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, thank You for the hope of the resurrection. Help me prepare to be like Christ.