6/21/14

From Gary... Do you get it?




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_comedy

Every single (sentient) adult person I have met has problems; there are no exceptions!!! Some people deny them, others play the "blame game" and some even manage to laugh at them.  I admit, sometimes I don't handle the difficulties in life well, but as time goes on, I manage to be able to laugh at life more and more.  And the most scary of all problems is death.  How do we handle that?  In Corinth, some were falsely teaching that the resurrection from the dead had already taken place; I can only imagine the stir that might cause.  Paul handles this well in chapter 15 (I know it is long and involved, but it really is worth reading)...

1 Corinthians, Chapter 15 (NASB)
 1Co 15:1  Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand,
1Co 15:2  by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.
1Co 15:3  For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
1Co 15:4  and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
1Co 15:5  and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
1Co 15:6  After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep;
1Co 15:7  then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles;
1Co 15:8  and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.
1Co 15:9  For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
1Co 15:10  But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.
1Co 15:11  Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
1Co 15:12  Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
1Co 15:13  But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised;
1Co 15:14  and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.
1Co 15:15  Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised.
1Co 15:16  For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised;
1Co 15:17  and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.
1Co 15:18  Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
1Co 15:19  If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.
1Co 15:20  But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.
1Co 15:21  For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead.
1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
1Co 15:23  But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming,
1Co 15:24  then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.
1Co 15:25  For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.
1Co 15:26  The last enemy that will be abolished is death.
1Co 15:27  For HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. But when He says, "All things are put in subjection," it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him.
1Co 15:28  When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.
1Co 15:29  Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them?
1Co 15:30  Why are we also in danger every hour?
1Co 15:31  I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
1Co 15:32  If from human motives I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, LET US EAT AND DRINK, FOR TOMORROW WE DIE.
1Co 15:33  Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals."
1Co 15:34  Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.
1Co 15:35  But someone will say, "How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?"
1Co 15:36  You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies;
1Co 15:37  and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else.
1Co 15:38  But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own.
1Co 15:39  All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish.
1Co 15:40  There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another.
1Co 15:41  There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.
1Co 15:42  So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body;
1Co 15:43  it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;
1Co 15:44  it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
1Co 15:45  So also it is written, "The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
1Co 15:46  However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual.
1Co 15:47  The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven.
1Co 15:48  As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly.
1Co 15:49  Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.
1Co 15:50  Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
1Co 15:51  Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,
1Co 15:52  in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
1Co 15:53  For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.
1Co 15:54  But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory.
1Co 15:55  "O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O  DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?"

1Co 15:56  The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law;
1Co 15:57  but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.


For the Christian, death is not something to be feared.  It means a change from morality to immortality- and what is to be dreaded in a worldly sense is to be embraced in a spiritual victory!!!  Dark or Gallows humor has its place, but seriously- so do the results of death (Heaven or Hell).  Christian; rejoice!!! Not a Christian- well, it is time to stop being humorous and start being serious- do something about your condition BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!!!!!!