God’s Word for You
1 Corinthians 6:14 God raised the Lord
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Thursday, January 19, 2023
14 God both raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power.
Paul silences the philosophy of the Corinthians by showing that their theory didn’t take into account all of the facts. They had argued that the Lord would destroy the body, and therefore what we do with the body (whether we eat or have sex) is for this lifetime and of no bearing on our eternal life.
But what will be raised to eternal life? Is it not the body? When the Bible speaks of our rising on the last day, we are not raised briefly, as if for a curtain call in a play, but permanently.
Notice the “both… and also” in the translation. What God did in the past for Christ our Lord, he will also do in the future for us. He raised his Son from the dead as if merely rousing him from sleep, and he will raise us from the sleep of death. “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you” (Ephesians 5:14). The point Paul is making here in 1 Corinthians is that our resurrection depends on Christ’s resurrection which was accomplished by God.
The fact of the resurrection is displayed throughout the Scriptures. In such a small space as this devotion, I cannot think of a way to include even a sample of the passages that support this. Perhaps when we arrive at chapter 15, where we will spend more than five weeks on the resurrection, we will touch on many of these wonderful proof passages. For the moment, I would like to mention ten brief thoughts for meditation to strengthen our faith about the resurrection.
1, The historical fact of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:6-7; Mark 16:6).
2, Our own resurrection, because Christ has also redeemed our body (Psalm 77:15; Galatians 3:13-14).
3, Our union with Christ: because he is our head, and we are his members (Ephesians 1:10).
4, The everlasting generation of the kingdom of Christ who is the eternal king, and therefore his subjects will not remain dead.
5, Our sanctification (=salvation), for in this life our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16-17) and therefore will not rest in the dust forever.
6, The use of the Lord’s Supper in which we eat Christ’s life-giving body and blood for our own incorruption (Matthew 26:28-29), and of Baptism, which is “the washing of regeneration and renewal” (Titus 3:5).
7, The nature of God’s justice which requires that since the body and soul have been united in operation, they must also be united in the repayment of rewards and punishments.
8, The clear proof from Moses, as Christ teaches in Matthew 22:23-33 (especially 22:32, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; he is not the God of the dead but of the living”).
9, The disclosure of examples since in both the Old and New Testaments some people are said to have been restored to life as a prelude to the coming universal resurrection: (1) The son of the widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17:22), (2) The son of the Shunammite woman (2 Kings 4:34-35), (3) the dead man whose body touched Elisha’s bones (2 Kings 13:21), (4) The young man from Nain (Luke 7:15), (5) the daughter of Jairus (Luke 8:54-55), (6) Lazarus (John 11:43-44), (7) the “many holy people” who were raised to life and appeared to many people when Jesus died on the cross (Matthew 27:52), (8) Tabitha (Acts 9:40), and (9) Eutychus (Acts 20:9).
10, The way that the resurrection is prefigured in nature. “The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises” (Ecclesiastes 1:5); “There is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail” (Job 14:9).
But of these, the first is the best, for “just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection” (Romans 6:4-5).
Praise God for the promise of the resurrection, the forgiveness of your sins, and the certainty of everlasting life through Jesus our Lord.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.