The Greatest Change Agent Ever

1 Corinthians 15:50-57

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2015%3A50-57&version=NIV;MSG

 

Change is not easy for most people. It can take us out of our comfort zone. Even the smallest change can be disruptive. As a result, we resist change because the status quo is safer. We know what to expect. We have more control of our world when everything remains the same.

 

So what does it take for us to change? To get some idea of how to answer this question, here are the first three steps of Celebrate Recovery, a Christian twelve step program that specializes in change.

 

1. We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors, that our lives had become unmanageable. 

2. We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

3. We made a decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God.

 

These steps tell us that in order to change requires reaching the bottom. When that happens you realize that your life is out of control; that you are powerless; that you can’t change on your own. Finally, you understand that you need the greatest change agent ever, Jesus Christ.

 

Eugene Peterson in The Message, paraphrased that change agent in Matthew 5:3-4.



 

³ “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

⁴ “You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

 

 

 

This is from the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus is speaking to common people; not to folks in a twelve step program. He’s telling them that in order to change, you have to hit bottom in some sense. Otherwise, there is no need for Jesus.

 

Today’s passage is about when Jesus brings us home with our resurrected body. From then on, there is no sting from death nor struggle with sin. Only the joy of living life as it was meant to be; living in the presence of our Creator.

 

Jesus is the greatest change agent ever. He specializes in taking us home. Thanks be to God.

 

 

Buckeye Quarterbacks: Next Man Up

1 Corinthians 15:35-49

(This is the 2nd of two devotionals on this passage.)

 

 

In the late summer of 2014 there was great anticipation in the Buckeye Nation. Braxton Miller, the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year the previous two years, would be returning from his shoulder injury. Urban Meyer, the Buckeyes rock star head coach, had lost only 2 games in the previous two years. Expectations for a national championship were rampant.

 

Suddenly though the bottom fell out. Only a few days before the first game, Braxton Miller reinjured his shoulder and would require surgery. All seemed lost. Hopelessness set in. What would the Buckeyes do? They had two backup quarterbacks that had very little game experience.

 

Any self-respecting Buckeye fan, or in my case, someone who happens to live in

Columbus, knows what happened. It was the next man up. J.T. Barrett took over as starting quarterback and had a record setting season. In fact, by the end of the regular season he had the Buckeyes in contention for the Big 10 championship.

 

But again, the unexpected happened. This time Barrett was injured during the Michigan game and would require surgery. All hope was now beyond lost. There was no way the Buckeyes could overcome such an insurmountable obstacle at this late stage of the season. But again it was next man up as Cardale Jones took over and led the Buckeyes to their first national championship since 2002.

 

In 2014, the hope of the Buckeye Nation had shifted from Braxton to J.T. to Cardale – the next man up. If one man was injured another took his place, almost like they were interchangeable. Going into 2015, nobody knows who will be the next man up; not even Urban Meyer.

 

As believers though, we know who will be the next man up. He’s the same man who has been there for us all along. In today’s passage, Paul wrote about our hope in Jesus for resurrection that will never need to shift. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. Jesus is the resurrection. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. Jesus is not interchangeable.

 

When the time comes, he will be there to meet us and to bring us home.

 

 

 

 

Hope Springs Eternal

1 Corinthians 15:35-49

(This is the first of two devotionals on this passage.)

 

 

Hope! Can you feel it? There is something about the human spirit that wants to hope; needs to hope. As the saying goes, “Hope springs eternal”.

 

Every year the loyal fans of the snake bit Cleveland Browns hope for a championship. We hope that the rain will finally stop and the sun will come out. We hope that our boss will give us that raise. We hope that our kids excel in school. We hope that life will be wonderful, full of happiness and laughter. Hope springs eternal.

 

And yet we live in a dying world. A baby is born, lives for a lifetime and dies. Like taxes, it’s inevitable. Ever since Adam and Eve made that fateful decision in the Garden, death has had the final word… until Jesus.

 

Jesus was raised from the dead and promised that he would return for us. Not only did Jesus promise to return for us, but Paul tells us that we will receive new bodies.

 

“…Our earthly bodies which die and decay are different from the bodies we shall have when we come back to life again, for they will never die... they will be full of glory when we come back to life again… they will be full of strength... they will be superhuman bodies.”        Vs. 42-44

 

When people hope for good weather or good fortune or for their favorite sports team;

they are really wishing. It’s just like rubbing a bottle in hopes that a jeannie will grant your wishes. But the hope that we have in Jesus returning and bringing us home with resurrected bodies is more than a wish. It’s a promise.

 

Jesus said, "Let not your heart be troubled. You are trusting God, now trust in Me. There are many homes up there where my Father lives, and I am going to prepare them for your coming. When everything is ready, then I will come and get you, so that you can always be with Me where I am”.             John 14:1-3

 

Because of this promise, even in the midst of hopelessness, there is hope. Even in the midst of difficult times, there is hope. Even in the midst of failure, there is hope. Hope springs eternal, not because of a jeannie in a bottle, but because of a Savior who was raised from the dead, and will return to bring us home in new bodies.

 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20corinthians%2015%3A35-49&version=NIV;TLB