Discovery: v. 20 says, "But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep." The promise that Jesus has gone ahead of us to prepare a place in God's great house (John 14:3) is not a reality that I live with everyday. In fact, it is something that I often forget about when it comes to spiritual promises. The truth of the matter is that the promise of eternal life is a bit of a mystery to me. I believe in faith that it is going to be a part of my reality when I die but it isn't not some very tangible in the everyday here and now. But death and sickness combine with the timing of my preaching through 1 Corinthians 15 has brought this issue to light. It has been very refreshing to my always restless, troubled, and wounded heart to know that the resurrection of Jesus is the triumphant exclamation point to God's greatest moment of victory. There is a renewed sense of perspective and boldness that I sense wanting to grow out from within me as I stop and reflect on this truth.
Application: I wish I could come up with a better illustration to point this out but I simply can't... My son loves Angry Birds. In fact, he tells us that he dreams of Angry Birds. This is both a testament (or judgement) to our parenting skills and the power of Angry Birds (or AB as he affectionately calls it). One reason why he loves it is because I already went ahead and beaten all the levels and thus he can skip any that is particularly difficult. Recently Ellie has taken a liking to the Ipad as well and during this past week in which we were all sick with the flu, she pretty much hogged it from the two boys. We installed another version of AB on another device so that Elijah could still get his AB fix. Unfortunately, it required that he start from the beginning and thus he had to beat each level himself before being allowed to move on to the next level. It was very interesting to see how quickly his interest in Angry Birds declined.
The reason why this illustration speaks to me is because I find myself getting really frustrated and disappointed when things in life and ministry don't work out. I tend to be a bit overdramatic to begin with but adversity and difficult simply adds fuel to the inner Korean drama in my life. The triumphant resurrection speaks to me because it tells me that Jesus has already gone ahead and "beaten" all the levels for me. Rather than being deflated by every ministry, personal, or relational setback, what need to simply remember that He has already gone ahead of me and that He continues to go ahead of me. Moreover, Jesus has gone ahead to prepare a place for me so that I can remain in His grace for eternity. Maybe it was the weakness and fragility of the flu that I was battling this week but the promise of life eternal with Him felt like a welcomed invitation. I am reminded of the words of Hebrews 4:15-16, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Prayer: Let you triumphant resurrection Lord allow me to live with an extra measure of boldness and graciousness in all my dealings this week.
