Hearing God’s Voice from His Word
James 4:8 says, “Come near to God and he will come near to you.”
Take a moment and turn your attention to God. Tell God that you desire to trust and obey Him. Ask God to speak to you from His word.
Psalm of the Day
Psalm 126:1-3 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream.
2 Our mouths were filled with laughter then, and our tongues with shouts of joy.
Then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”
3 The Lord had done great things for us; we were joyful.
Read the Entire Psalm
This Psalm refers to a specific time in the nation’s history, when they returned from Babylonian captivity. God demonstrated His faithfulness to restore the people even though they had not been faithful. Praise Him for His faithfulness. Ask Him to remind you of how He has been faithful. Pray that He would fill you with joy as you contemplate His faithfulness.
Scripture Reading
1 Corinthians 15:29-49 – Christian Standard Bible
29 Otherwise what will they do who are being baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, then why are people baptized for them? 30 Why are we in danger every hour? 31 I face death every day, as surely as I may boast about you, brothers and sisters, in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32 If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus as a mere man, what good did that do me? If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. 33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” 34 Come to your senses and stop sinning; for some people are ignorant about God. I say this to your shame.
35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have when they come?” 36 You fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And as for what you sow—you are not sowing the body that will be, but only a seed, perhaps of wheat or another grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he wants, and to each of the seeds its own body. 39 Not all flesh is the same flesh; there is one flesh for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is different from that of the earthly ones. 41 There is a splendor of the sun, another of the moon, and another of the stars; in fact, one star differs from another star in splendor. 42 So it is with the resurrection of the dead: Sown in corruption, raised in incorruption; 43 sown in dishonor, raised in glory; sown in weakness, raised in power; 44 sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written, The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, then the spiritual.
47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 Like the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; like the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven.
Having God’s Ear through Prayer
- Express thanks to God.
- Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal sin to you.
- Confess your sin to Him and receive forgiveness.
(1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sin He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins.”) - Bring your personal requests to God.
(Psalm 62:8 “Pour out your heart before God”) - Pray for someone in your small group.
- Join with others from River and pray for the Onelink from River serving overseas this Summer.
Living as God’s People by applying the Bible
Scripture Reflection from the Sermon
Resurrection Supported by Christian Experience / The Nature of the resurrection Body
In today’s passage, verses 29-49, Paul rebukes the Corinthians for their arrogance. His rebuke harkens back to v.14. His point that the resurrection should shape how we live our lives; if there is no truth to it, then we should “eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” In other words, do what we want because it doesn’t matter in the end. Look at vv.30-32 as you read the passage. Think about the gospel’s cost to Paul personally. If there is no resurrection, why/what did he suffer for?
He then moves to the reality and nature of our resurrected body. He wants to cast a proper vision for our future hope as we live daily in the already not-yet kingdom of God. One day, when Christ returns, we will be made new. Right now, we are born in corruption, but we will be raised in incorruption; sown in dishonor, raised in glory; sown in weakness, raised in power; sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body. This is our future hope, guaranteed by Jesus, the second Adam.
As you go about your day, think about what all this means for you personally. How does it impact what you’re doing? Why does it matter? Do you need to make any adjustments to your thinking or patterns of living?