Abound In The Work Of The Lord

I am going to focus on Paul’s words, “always abounding in the work of the Lord” in verse 58 of 1 Corinthians chapter 15. The context of 1 Corinthians 15 tells us several things:

Paul is referring to the great and glorious “work of the Lord” that has been made possible by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave. And so in chapter 15 Paul refutes those who would argue that there is no resurrection from the dead.

1Co 15:13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised.

1Co 15:14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is worthless, and your faith is also worthless.

1Co 15:15 And we are also found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified of God that He raised Christ; whom He did not raise if the dead are not raised.

1Co 15:16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ is not raised.

1Co 15:17 And if Christ is not raised, your faith is foolish; you are yet in your sins.

1Co 15:18 Then also those that fell asleep in Christ were lost.

1Co 15:19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

1Co 15:20 But now Christ has risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruit of those who slept.

When Paul is referring to the “work of the Lord” he is also referring to a work that has a future hope as its catalyst and motivator—a hope that exclaims that one day, “death death will be put under the feet” of King Jesus (vss. 25-27). In verse 22 he writes, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all will be made alive.”

Paul is also referring to the great and glorious “work of the Lord” which has in its view a day when, “in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet…the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall all be changed…”

One day the believer will be translated into heaven but in order to survive in the awesome presence of a holy and glorious God, the believer will need to be outfitted with a new and glorious body.

One day our Lord will descend and rapture us from this earth and change our bodies that decay into bodies that will live forever but until then we are to be preoccupied with “the work of the Lord.”

Lastly, 1 Corinthians chapter 15 tells us that this “work of the Lord” is undergirded or empowered by the victory we have in the Lord Jesus Christ!

* Because of the resurrection of Jesus…

* Because of His victory over death and the grave…

* Because of the blessed hope we have that one day Jesus will appear in the clouds to rapture His bride the church…

* Because of the promise that one day this mortal will put on immortality…

…we can “be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that our labor is not in vain in the Lord”!

Now Paul writes that we should be “always abounding in the work of the Lord”!

What work Paul? It’s the “work of the Lord.” It is the work that the Lord Jesus started. In Luke 19:10 Jesus said, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

In Jesus’ inaugural address captured in Luke 4:18 we find Him entering into the synagogue and opening the scroll of Isaiah and saying:

"The Spirit of the Lord is on Me;

because of this He has anointed Me to proclaim the Gospel to the poor.

He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted,

to proclaim deliverance to the captives,

and new sight to the blind,

to set at liberty those having been crushed…”

Depending on which translation you are using, Luke 4:18 tells us there are five things that Jesus said that He came to do…five things that He came to labor or to work to accomplish; six if you include verse 19 which we will not be dealing with today:

To proclaim the Gospel to the poor.

To heal the brokenhearted.

To proclaim deliverance to the captives.

To proclaim recovery of sight to the blind.

To set at liberty those having been oppressed or crushed.

In John 20:21 Jesus is recorded as having said to His disciples, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” In other words, as His disciples, “the work of the Lord” is our work; “the work of the Lord” mentioned by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:58 is the work of the church.

* Like Jesus we should live to see that the Gospel is preached to the spiritually poor

* Like Jesus, we should desire to see the brokenhearted receive healing