February 27, radical effects of the resurrection.

If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

1 Corinthians 1519.

Paul concludes from his hourly danger and his daily dying and his fighting with wild beasts,

that the life he has chosen in following Jesus is foolish and pitiable if he will not be raised from the dead.

If death were the end of the matter, he says,

let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die.

1st Corinthians 1532.

This doesn't mean let's all become gluttons and drunkards, if there's no resurrection.

Drunkers are pitiable too, with or without the resurrection.

It means, if there is no resurrection, what makes sense is middle-class moderation to maximize

earthly pleasures.

But that is not what Paul chooses. He chooses suffering because he chooses obedience.

Ananias came to Paul after his encounter with Christ on the Damascus Road

with the words from the Lord Jesus,

I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name, Acts 916.

Paul accepted this suffering as part of his calling. How could Paul do it?

What was the source of this radical and painful obedience?

The answer is given in 1 Corinthians 1520.

But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead the first fruits of those who have fallen

asleep.

In other words, Christ was raised and I will be raised with Him.

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