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Dec. 25, 2005 “1Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.” “3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. 6After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.” “9For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.” (1 Corinthians 15: 1-11 NIV Bible Online) Paul preached the Gospel. It was necessary that no matter where Paul traveled that the background of Jesus be spoken. Without that aspect of the history of Jesus nothing else would make any sense. There was no need to reiterate the history of Jesus in every subsequent letter. The letters were for the growth of the individual who had exhibited faith in Christ. The letters gave meaning to the words of Jesus in his teachings about sin and forgiveness. Paul’s letters were the reproof and rebuke necessary for those found engaged in sin within the congregations of the faithful. Yet to Paul, more important than the history of the birth of the savior of mankind, was the story of the actual accomplishment of the salvation of the believers. This was Paul’s bottom line. This was the most important aspect of the ministry of Jesus the Lord. The law was fulfilled in the death of the Passover Lamb supplied by God to the world. The blood of the crucified Lord would be the means of atonement for man. Some would believe. Some would be saved by their belief. Paul saw Jesus. He knew Jesus and was taught by the Lord directly. His message had that much more impact than had he sat at the feet of Peter and John, We don’t know much about the disciples of Peter or John or the other Apostles. We do know of Paul. The one “born out of due time” and we do know of some of his disciples and those he ordained bishops in the churches of Ephesus and Crete. Paul could honestly say he worked harder than all the other Apostles. But he did not take credit for that. He gave God the sole credit for his words and his works. He was in the business of being a preacher for what he knew to be true. He not only believed the eyewitness accounts of the Apostles, but those of the people who were taught for 40 days post-resurrection. This was all the proof Paul needed to endure his many trials. In this age we are willing to take the word of one scientist when he tells us he cloned a dog and made many advances in the research of stem cells. When that scientist is shown to be false in his claims, he may step down, but the world of science refuses to give up the notion that man can be like God. It is a sad commentary when those same men reject the eyewitness accounts of over 500 people, or a group of men and women who lived with the risen Lord of Glory. None of the Gospel message has been proven false. Men only trust in a belief it is false. They exercise a faith in nothing. They trust a science that is many times found unable to give real answers. Darwin is a theory; unproven and un-witnessed; rather it is a panacea for those who refuse the truth of God. Do I concern myself with any argument concerning “Intelligent design”? Not really. That argument is unnecessary because God is real and no amount of wishing otherwise will make it so. I don’t need science to tell me about God and I don’t believe a science that tries to explain God away. That is the debate for science. I am a man of faith. In the end God will have the last word. The rest of us will simply be bystanders. Since God is judge we all ought not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought, but, of course, that is a sentiment best for the true Christian to ponder. The unbeliever will always place himself above God. It makes him feel better. Just be assured that it is the resurrection that holds first place in the necessary beliefs of the Christian. Understanding the rest of the Gospel comes easily and naturally upon accepting the Lord Jesus into the heart and the life. Paul knew this and preached it. True Children of the King know and live this relationship with God every day. NEXT: More of the Resurrection from 1 Corinthians Chapter 15. ------------ Email Skip: skiptoomaloo@hotmail.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
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