Greetings everyone and thanks for joining me for this edition of our Sunday School preview. This Sunday’s lesson is entitled “Resurrection Hope” and is found in 1 Corinthians 15:various verses.
Chapter 15 of 1st Corinthians is one of the places Paul addresses some of the concerns Christians have about resurrection. In this lesson, Paul assures his readers concerning the certainty of Christ’s resurrection and the fact that it is according to scripture. Allow me to bring some clarity regarding the 3 days and nights of Jesus death.
Any part of a day is considered a day and any part of night is considered a night. So whether a day last 16 hours or 8 hours it is a day. The same is true for a night. It would also be true if a day or night lasted 3 hours or 3 minutes. This is what happened at Calvary.
Darkness, which is called night, came upon the earth from the 6th hour which is noon to the 12th hour which is 3 pm. During that time, Christ died in darkness or night which is the first night. When the sun returned, that became the first day.
When night fell on Friday, that became the second night. With sunrise on Saturday, that became the second day. When night fell on Saturday, that became the third night and with sunrise on Sunday morning that became the third day. So Jesus died and rose on the 3rd day.
Paul then says that there are many eyewitnesses of Jesus resurrection, including himself, most of which were alive at the time he was writing this letter. So he first wanted to assure his readers of the certainty that Jesus is alive. Otherwise, Paul argues there is no point to anything he or anyone else was doing or saying about Jesus.
A second point Paul made in this lesson and letter was the logic God used toward the fate of mankind. Since all mankind was in Adam, when Adam died all mankind died with him. By the man Jesus, God made all mankind alive. All people died by one man, now all people will be made alive by one man.
His third and final point in this lesson is that the here and now is not the same as that which is to be. What we sow is not what we reap in this sense. When a seed is planted, what comes from the seed is and looks different from what was planted. The same is true with the resurrection.
Our flesh and mortal bodies are the seed. Our bodies are weak, dishonorable, corrupt and natural which are not the final state just as a seed is not the final state. But Paul says that these bodies are used as the input like a seed from which a strong, incorruptible, glorified and spiritual body and being shall emerge.
There are many other things Paul mentioned concerning the resurrection in this 15th chapter of this letter that are not part of the lesson text. But all of these things taken together form the basis of a strong case for our resurrection hope.
If some of you are not able to attend or have Sunday School because of meeting restrictions imposed on the churches, we intend to live stream our Sunday School and Mission session beginning at 9:00 am and 10:00 am respectively and all are welcome to join us if you can’t attend your own.
You can join by going to our website and selecting our Online SS and BTU class. Well, I hope you will be able to attend SS this coming Sunday and share your thoughts with your class. If you have any comments or questions, be sure to place them in the comment section of this preview. So, until next time remember to fear God and keep His commandments.
Pastor Jordan
