1 Corinthians 15:12-34
The Resurrection of the Dead
12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. 28 When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.
29 Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? 30 And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? 31 I face death every day—yes, just as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32 If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised,
“Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die.”
33 Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” 34 Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame.
In the Book of Job, we see that suffering came from evil...And suffering is not a good thing as Job spoke about his own sufferings...But through suffering we do develop from it and can learn...But let us be clear suffering does come from evil...But Job knew his Redeemer lived...So suffering can be redeemed, by our Savior...As followers of Jesus if we can see suffering as a call to long for a better world, to seek to become a better person and to live out a better witness for the Son of God...Suffering is not easy...We do see that suffering is a very difficult thing to go through as we read about Job...
Suffering is a product of Adam and Eve falling from God's Grace and disobeying His command to not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, a consequence of human sin against God... St. Paul and St. James tell us that we can find perseverance in suffering...Paul tells us: We also can find glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope...And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s LOVE has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us...St. James says: Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance...Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything...
God uses suffering to get our attention...He uses it to help us develop, when we follow Him...God forces us to listen to Him in our suffering...He uses suffering to make the world a better place...C. S. Lewis said God uses pain and suffering as a megaphone to get our attention...Lewis said “Pain insists upon being attended to...God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains...It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”...And in our suffering we listen for God and speak to Him...
We suffer because we live in a broken and sinful world...Our suffering is due to our sins and that we live in a fallen world...Our suffering in a strange way could give us hope that there is a God who has a Son, and He wants us to be in Heaven with us and be God's children...And then we are away from suffering...God will swallow up death forever one day; and the LORD GOD will wipe away tears from all of the believer faces, and the shame of sin from His children and He will take away sin from all the earth, because the LORD has spoken this...God will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away...No evil, no suffering, just Heaven...
God uses suffering so that we might look at our faith...Job had to look at his faith, through all his sufferings...Job clung to his hope...He believed in God and questioned God and continue, as best he could, clung to his faith...Job endured through his sufferings...And in the end, Job got to feel the Greatest Feeling of All, the Presence of God...The Heavenly Feeling...
For Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep and died...For since death came through a man named Adam, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a Man, if it fair to call Him a Man, named Jesus...For as in Adam all die, but in Christ we are all made alive again...But each in our own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when He comes, those who belong to Him...Then the end will come, when He hands over the Kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority and power...For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet...The last enemy to be destroyed will be death...For He “has put everything under His feet.”...Now when it says that “everything” has been put under Him, it is clear that this does not include God Himself, who put everything under Christ...When He has done this, then the Son Himself will be made subject to Him who put everything under Him, so that God may be all in all of us...And then God will wipe away all the tears of all His children in Heaven...