Lives Given And Resurrected Series

LIVES GIVEN AND RESURRECTED

1 CORINTHIANS 15:29-49

INTRODUCTION: The 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians is an intense doctrinal study on the resurrection. We continue our part by looking at the importance of giving our lives for Christ, and God’s response of resurrecting our lives for Him.

I LIFE GIVEN FOR CHRIST – 1 CORINTHIAN 15:29-34

A Paul Develops The Principle of Belief and Behavior

1 Belief and Behavior are linked

2 Belief determines our action

3 Behavior is the natural growth of our belief.

a Jesus mentioned that the thought of adultery was sufficient enough to have sinned in adultery.

b So then why do we have adulterous people

1 Behavior flows from thought and belief

2 We think sinfully, therefore we act sinfully

B Actions evident of a resurrection

1 Baptism for the dead

a What a can of worms here huh!

b This opens up all kind of issues.

1 Our practice regarding baptism

2 Practice of other regarding baptism

c One of the most wonderful things about the Word of God is that it is so very often its best commentary

1 There is another area of the Scripture that deals with the issue of baptism and death

Matthew 20:22-23 "You don’t know what you are asking," Jesus said to them. "Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?" "We can," they answered.

23 Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father."

Mark 10:38 "You don’t know what you are asking," Jesus said. "Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?"

Luke 12:50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed!

2 Christ Himself associated baptism with death, saying that his own crucifixion was a baptism.

3 SO what Paul is saying is that why would one go through baptism, a public association with Christ, risking death, if the dead are not raised. We wouldn’t!

ILLUSTRATION: -- 03/23/06, The Jerusalem Post: Senior Muslim clerics said Thursday that an Afghan man on trial for converting from Islam to Christianity should be killed regardless of whether a court decides to free him. Abdul Rahman, a 41-year-old former medical aid worker, faces the death penalty for becoming a Christian under Afghanistan’s Islamic laws. His trial, which began last week, has caused an international outcry. US President George W. Bush said Wednesday he was "deeply troubled" by the case and expects the country to "honor the universal principle of freedom."

Diplomats say the Afghan government is searching for a way to drop the case, and on Wednesday authorities said Rahman is suspected of being mentally ill and would undergo psychological examinations to see whether he is fit to stand trial. But four senior clerics interviewed by The Associated Press in their mosques in Kabul said Rahman deserved to be killed for his conversion.

"He is not crazy. He went in front of the media and confessed to being a Christian," said Hamidullah, chief cleric at Haji Yacob Mosque. "The government is scared of the international community. But the people will kill him if he is freed." "He is not mad. The government is playing games. The people will not be fooled," said Abdul Raoulf, cleric at Herati Mosque. "This is humiliating for Islam. ... Cut off his head."

Raoulf is considered a moderate cleric in Afghanistan. He was jailed three times for criticizing the Taliban’s policies before the hard-line regime was ousted by US-led forces in 2001.

2 Daily Service

a Each day – Paul dies

b Dead to himself and alive to Christ

c Why live a life not my own daily

3 Constant Danger

a Why do people go back day after day?

b Why do missionaries put their lives at risk on a regular basis?

THE BATTLE IS WORTH THE REWARD!

Church we need to understand that whatever it is that we are going through, or will go through, it is worth it in the end!

1 Corinthians 2:9 (NIV) 9 However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"--

C Paul’s Warning Concerning the Resurrection

1 Corinthians 15:33 Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character."

1 Doubt about the resurrection permits believers to stray

a If someone can get you to doubt the resurrection you will go in one of two directions

1 False teaching regarding our life in Christ

2 Reject Christ altogether

a) Do not be misled

(1) By others

(1) Or by self

(a) When we dabble in things we know are wrong, they get a hold on us