Day 234

2 Chronicles 16:1-18:27, 1 Corinthians 15:1-34, Psalm 102:1-11

For me today, Paul is at his most confusing. So was there a resurrection? Yes there was, no there wasn’t, yes … no, oh “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead"! Yey! But then Paul goes back to it.

Condense this into a few key verses though and you get the message that can’t be ignored. v2 “by this gospel you are saved”, v20 “Christ has indeed been raised from the dead” and “so that God may be all in all”. Throw in the “stop sinning” and you really have got the message.

“By this gospel you are saved” – not by works, not by our own merit, not by buying or conning our way in but the undiluted grace of God visible in Christ on the cross. By that and that alone are we saved.

“Christ has indeed been raised from the dead” – by his death we are saved, by his resurrection we see death defeated and we can have no fear, we have the promise that He defeated all the forces of evil.

“So that God may be all in all” – if you imagine what all of you entails. Your very being, your body and each bit of it (the good and the bad) your soul, your mind your heart. Throw in what you do each day, the people your love and the people you hang out with. Then imagine everything in between. That is all of you, now you are saying that God is your “all in all”. He is every bit of every bit of you. There is not a part of your life that he does not fill! Amazing.

From the depth of Paul being confusing comes three simple phrases that can change a life.