Carrying the image of heaven

 1 Corinthians 15: 45-49 AMPC

45 Thus it is written, The first man Adam became a living being (an individual personality); the last Adam (Christ) became a life-giving Spirit [restoring the dead to life].  46 But it is not the spiritual life which came first, but the physical and then the spiritual.  47 The first man [was] from out of earth, made of dust (earthly-minded); the second Man [is] the Lord from out of heaven.  48 Now those who are made of the dust are like him who was first made of the dust (earthly-minded); and as is [the Man] from heaven, so also [are those] who are of heaven (heavenly-minded).  49 And just as we have borne the image [of the man] of dust, so shall we and so let us also bear the image [of the Man] of heaven.

What an amazing thought it is to think that we as humans, made from the dust of earth - were also made to carry the image of the all-powerful, sovereign God.  However, maybe even more amazing to me is the thought that God chose to come to earth in human form - not just to carry the image of man, but to redeem the image of God in man. 

Point to ponder: How earthly or heavenly minded are we in our daily walk?

The Lord's Prayer - Hillsong

   

Awake and return to righteousness.

  1 Corinthians 15:33-34

33 Do not be so deceived and misled! Evil companionships (communion, associations) corrupt and deprave good manners and morals and character.  34 Awake [from your drunken stupor and return] to sober sense and your right minds, and sin no more. For some of you have not the knowledge of God [you are utterly and willfully and disgracefully ignorant, and continue to be so, lacking the sense of God’s presence and all true knowledge of Him]. I say this to your shame.

Deception and misleading are all over the church these days - and as Paul says, it is to our shame because we aught to know better.  Paul calls out two things as causes for our state of deception.

1.  Keeping evil companionship that corrupts our morals and character, and

2. An utter and willful ignorance - not having the knowledge of God - and thus by implication also not having the presence of God either.

It is in this context that Paul urges us to AWAKE - but not from sleep - rather from a drunken stupor!  He calls us into our right minds and admonishes us to SIN NO MORE. 

Point to ponder:  

Which evil companionships do we harbour that corrupts our morals and characters? 

Are we growing in our knowledge and obedience of God, or are we willfully ignorant because we want to continue to engage in things that the Word of God clearly spells out as wrong?  

Can we ask the Lord to WAKE US UP out of this drunken stupor we are in?  

Awake my Soul - Chris Tomlin

Arise my Love

1 Corinthians 15:20-22 AMPC

20 But the fact is that Christ (the Messiah) has been raised from the dead, and He became the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep [in death].  21 For since [it was] through a man that death [came into the world, it is] also through a Man that the resurrection of the dead [has come].  22 For just as [because of their union of nature] in Adam all people die, so also [by virtue of their union of nature] shall all in Christ be made alive.

Since we are at the end of Passover weekend today, I think it is so fitting for us to celebrate with Paul as he explains to us that Christ was the first fruits of those who died and came to life again.  What a hope for us who are the descendants of Adam to know that in Christ we will be made alive again - resurrected with Christ into newness of life.

Point to ponder: There were others who died and were resurrected before Jesus - for example Lazarus, the daughter of Jairus etc, but all of them died again. Jesus was resurrected and ascended into heaven - He did not die again.  In Christ we have the hope of being resurrected with Him one day!  Lets celebrate His - and our - resurrection with Him through this song:  

Arise my Love - New song

In Christ alone

 1 Corinthians 10:14

...Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry...

This sentence in verse 14 had me thinking this week. In a way it is easy to identify idolatry when it involves carved images and Canaanite temples like those we read of in the Bible, and most probably we often read over this sentence and do not give it another thought since we automatically think we are not guilty of idolatry. However, if we stop for a moment and think about what exactly the word idolatry means, this picture changes significantly.

A quick search for a definition brought the following to attention:

Webster's dictionary says:

Idolatry is "worship of or excessive devotion to, or reverence for some person or thing" An idol is anything that replaces the one true God.

Idolatry is therefore anything that is more important to us than God Himself. Anything that I derive fulfillment from outside of God, anything that saturates my heart more than God, anything that I give more adoration to than God, anything that fills, floods my heart and imagination more than what God does, anything that you seek out to receive from what we should only be receiving from God, can be defined as an idol.

Point to ponder: Let us ask God during this week when we are preparing for celebrating Passover to show us the idols in our heart in whichever format they may exist.

May we be wholly filled with God alone in this time as Ephesians 3:19 (AMPC) says:

[That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!

In Christ alone - Brian Littrell