What does vs.2 say about the nature of belief? Often in our society the
content of ones believes are considered secondary to the fact that one believes
in something. The importance is often just that one has a belief system. In a
society that indulges (often mindlessly) in Oprah and various Eastern
philosophies, what does this text say about believing in vain?

This text regarding the world believing in vain was as offensive to the
ancients as it is today. This is one of the deepest questions and struggles of
the Christian walk. Are there really people who will not make it? People whose
belief will be in vain? Can one truth be so powerful that all else cringes and
fades away in contrast to its light? It is human nature for our compassion to
reach out to others and question such a doctrine. Indeed, Christianity is not
just a bunch of propositions that make sense immediately whenever we read them.
Rather, they require our deepest thought, and the innermost struggle of our
heart as we wrestle with the Holy Spirit within us. This is true of any thing
that is not merely an intellectual pursuit, but a relationship. From our
limited perspective within time and space, so little is clear or makes sense.
Allow God’s infinite wisdom to wash over you. If you really struggle with this,
make it the discussion of much of your prayers. Talk to other believers about
it. Millions of Christians, some constituting the most brilliant minds of
history (Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, to name a few) have chewed on this
question, and been given peace by God regarding it. Bring your struggles to
him. If you have received clarity regarding the above question, ponder how you
can compassionately help others walk through this same question. What has God
told you that you have now been given to pass on, and what is the most loving
way to convey this to others?

Verses 3-5 are an ancient creed (creed: a statement of religious belief
often recited in worship) that existed separately before the book of 1^st
Corinthians itself. Scholars, both atheist and Christian date the creed to at
least within two years of Jesus’ death, going back perhaps as early as merely
weeks or even days after the crucifixion itself. Even the Jesus Seminar (a
collection of the most skeptical modern scholars) agree with a dating of less
than 2 years. As this creed essentially lays out the gospel message, it
provides a powerful argument for what the earliest Christians first believed
about Jesus. The gospel was not something church councils made up hundreds of
years after the fact (as the DaVinci Code claims) or one of many possible early
stories of Jesus. Rather, the gospel the mainstream church has been proclaiming
for 2000 years, is the earliest, most historically valid picture of who Jesus
was and what he said and did. For some Christians, this might seem irrelevant.
For others, this creed is a powerful image of God’s preservation of his truth over
thousands of years. A truth that pierces the struggle of the intellect as well
as the wrestling of the heart. To some, this verse is one of the strongest
apologetics for the historical validity of the gospel. For others, realize that
you are reading a text that could have been written within a year, a month, or
even days of Jesus’ crucifixion. While researching this text, I felt a deep quiver
within me and an increasingly vivid sense that this is holy ground. This creed
may have been formed in the time between Jesus’ resurrection and his ascension,
when he was still on this earth. They may even have chanted this in the
physical human presence of Christ. This may be the closest we can get to the
very first church worship service ever. Think about that.

If God’s grace can rescue a murderer and persecutor of the Church, what can
his grace do for your life? What can it do for the world?

It is powerful to see one of the giants of Christian faith acknowledging the
depths of his own depravity and sin. We follow a man named Paul who constantly
points out his own flaws and directs our worship to Jesus. The Jesus we follow
got crucified and constantly points to God the Father as the object of our
worship. Then we follow a Father who is constantly pointing to the power of his
Son Jesus. What does this say about humility? What does this say about the
nature of our walk of faith, and the nature of the God who we have faith in?

Journaling

Read Romans 6:1-14 and Ephesians 5:25-33. There
is a real sense in the Bible where we become one with Jesus. We are the body of
Christ, an extension of who he is on earth. We eat and drink his body and blood
metaphorically in the Eucharist. We live as he lived and share in his sufferings
and death. The oneness found in marriage (Ephesians 5) is a powerful extension
of Christ’s relationship with the church. Also, as a child spending time with
his Father will adoringly begin to imitate his Fathers actions and speech, when
we spend time with Jesus in prayer and in scripture, we too start to act as he
acts. As the once rigid lines begin to fade, the two, God and us, become
one. Where Christ goes we go. We share in his death, and then we share in his
resurrected, eternal life. Thus, if Christ has not raised, we will remain dead
in our sins and never be one with God’s love in eternal life.

In light of the above paragraph, what does this say about
the nature of Christian salvation? It is not merely the following of step by
step moral checklists, but a relationship as we slowly draw nearer to God. As
God is the only eternal being that has always, and will always exist, that
means the only truly lasting salvation, is found in becoming one with him in relationship.

At the center of our faith is a God who is relationally three
in one. Is the Trinity not the foundation for everything we say about
relationship and oneness? The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are so
mutually submissive, so loving, so vulnerable and open, that they cease to
exist as mere individuals, but have been bonded into one. We are so busy
defending the logical consistency of a three in one God, that we often forget
how powerful an image and metaphor lies at the center of our faith. How should
this change the way we think of the Trinity? How should we see this resurrection
passage as an extension of God’s relational nature of oneness?

Journaling

If God has not raised the dead, why shouldn’t we just go on
living as sinners? What point is there to dying daily to ourselves and
following Christ, if we all end up perishing in the self afflicted agony of our
sins? How does Christ’s resurrection 2000 years ago, impact how we should live
today?

Paul clearly rebukes the Corinthian church in vs.34. They
have not been living as they ought. What parts of your life have you not been
living in the light of the resurrection? Though perfection is only found in God
when we are fully united to him, there are still many areas in our lives that
can be struggled with now. God’s
grace and love can heal us now. His
kingdom come, his will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Mt.6). That is what
we pray for. His will is already inbreaking here on earth, and his power can
redeem us from any sin. Paul killed Christians. The disciple Simon was once a
Zealot (rebels who ambushed and killed governing authorities). Peter denied
Christ three times. King David committed adultery and killed the women’s
husband, but he was still loved by God. No sin is too small for God to deal
with. What do you need to work on and give to him? What within you needs to
enter into the light of his resurrection?

Journaling

What dichotomies is the text making here? What lines of
separation between one kind of thing, and another? (Ex. Perishable and
imperishable; weakness and power). Why is one side of the line good, and the
other bad? What is similar about the things on one side of the line that makes
them all of the same kind? What is the underlying point that is being driven
home?

What does the author mean by the idea that death has lost
its power, its sting? Does this mean we won’t die when we get older? Or is it
speaking of how we should not fear death today, for God will raise us up after
we die?

The passage ends with “stand firm”. In light of all that
Christ has done in his crucifixion and resurrection, stand firm. Now, after a week of contemplation, consider once more:
How should Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection echo into our lives today?

Journaling