Thought for December 11, 2024

•  1844: First dental use of nitrous oxide
• 1913: Mona Lisa recovered 2 years after being stolen from Louvre
• 1919: Boll Weevil Monument dedicated in Enterprise Alabama
• 1961: Elvis' "Blue Hawaii" goes to number 1 and stays there for 20 weeks
• 1967: "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" premiers
• 1971: U.S. Libertarian Party formed
• 1980: Congress passes the Superfund Act
• 1981: Ali's last fight--lost to Trevor Berbick
• 1990: 13 die in chain reaction wreck in Chattanooga 
• Born: George Mason, Charles Wesley, David Brewster [invented the kaleidoscope], Hector Berlioz, Walter Knott [Knott's Berry Farm], Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Doc Blanchard, Rita Moreno, John Kerry, Brenda Lee
• Died: Oliver Winchester, Sam Cooke, Ravi Shankar

Charles Wesley was the 18th of 19 children. Member of the Holy Club at Oxford. The strict regimen caused them to be called "methodists." He wrote 56 volumes of hymns [8989 in all]. "Hark the Herald Angels Sing, " Love Divine, All Loves Excelling," "Jesus Lover of My Soul," "Christ the Lord is Risen Today," "Rejoice, the Lord is King." "O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing" was written on the first anniversary of his conversion--18 stanzas, although we usually sing 7-12.

Thought:

Monday we thought about the fact of the resurrection. Yesterday, the order of the resurrection and today the body of the resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15: 35-58. Take a look at what the spirit revealed to Paul about that day.

• The old body: 
• Was made of flesh, equipped for life on this earth. [15:39-40]
• Is perishable, corruptible. [15:42]
• Is weak, fragile, subject to disease, injury, wasting away. [15:43]
• The new body:
• A spiritual body  [15:44] Not limited by the flesh.
• Heavenly--prepared for life in the heavenly places. [15:40]
• Imperishable and incorruptible. [15:42]
• Glorious [15:43]
• Powerful [15:43]
• Bears the image of heaven. God made man in His image, but the new bodies will perfectly and eternally bear His image. [15:49]
• How does the old body change into the new body?
• All in Christ will be changed [15:51]
• The change will be instantaneous--the twinkling of an eye [15:52]
• The change will be when the last trumpet sounds [15:52]
• Death will be no more. [15:54]

Since we know that we will be raised with new bodies in Christ, how should we live? Look at 15:58--we should be steadfast, immovable, abounding in good works. Think about Ephesians 6 and the armor of God. After putting on the armor, Paul tells us to stand firm three times [6:11, 13, 14]. The picture is the Roman soldier who took up his shield and planted his cleats and stood firm. Or think about the goal line stand in football. Plant your feet and do not move. And recall Ephesians 2:10 where Paul describes us a God's poem being written before the world through good works. Finally, notice that Paul has written these words about the fact of the resurrection and the order of the resurrection and the resurrection bodies so that we would not think we labor in vain [15:58] There is a reward awaiting the faithful that will make all the toil worth it. 

Blessings

Larry