“If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” 1 Cor 15:19

Reading through what I will call the   dissertation of Paul of Tarsus’ doctoral thesis on “Resurrection “ in 1 Cor 15, one will be naive or in self denial to say there is no resurrection of the dead. Read the abstract of his thesis in the early part which is full of practical evidences of Jesus revealing himself at different fora to different demographics as well as the introduction which has caught my attention by the Holy Spirit this morning:

“For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” I Cor 15:16-19. 

What the Holy Spirit taught me this morning is that you should not let your faith be in vain. That your faith will be in vain if it is only to access mundane, materialistic and terrestrial things and it’s not used as a currency to access eternal values. That if there is no resurrection every activity on earth will only amount to perishing. That word “perish” caught my attention. In the most quoted verse in the Bible (I stand to be corrected) Jn 3:16, do you recall the word perish is in high display? Jesus is saying he loves you so much for the sole purpose that you will not perish!    Fast forward to 1 Cor. 15, if we die and did not arise in resurrection on the glorious day and be on the side of Jesus, it amounts to absolute perishing! 

Then progress to the word  “miserable”, Dictionary defines it as being “wretchedly unhappy or uncomfortable” If we have hope only in this world we are the most miserable throughout eternity! I don’t want to be a miserable (wretchedly unhappy or uncomfortable) person after death or throughout eternity. I guess you don’t want to be too. This is just the introductory part of the dissertation, the main body gets more interesting, with heavier matters, he discussed death the last enemy, exercising heavenly authority, having new bodies,through the death of Christ conquering eternal death then, we come to the issue of the day,  preparing for life after death! 

Friend are you preparing for life after death?

Does salvation of your soul have meaning to you? Are you just hustling for the perishable that leaves one miserable? 

Another strong yet related scripture about life after death says; “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” Judgment in academic terminology is that there will be the result of exams. In other words life is a school where we have all enrolled. In my days, tertiary institutions organized matriculation. They seize the opportunity to tell you that you are being given a great opportunity to make your life better after the duration of your course. However to ensure you don’t just enrol and begin to play truancy despite highly paid lecturers to teach you, laboratory work, research and sports made available, from time to time they give you assignments, semester exams and so on. Assuming you made it to the last year, you have your final exam after which is a colourful convocation.

How do we prepare well for this convocation or judgement or in the word of Paul how do we ensure we do not rust away miserable in life. The Holy Spirit says :

1.  Be genuinely born again:  Meaning make sure you secure admission through Salvation to this Christian journey.Admit you are a sinner.Believe Jesus died for you on the cross. Invite Jesus to your life. Jn 3 3-8.

2. Work out your salvation:  Attend the necessary lectures, lab work etc. Build up yourself in the most holy faith. Read the bible , do daily research in addition to the sermon( lectures) you hear. Fellowship. Pray. Phil 2:12-13.Working out your salvation does not mean to you work for your salvation- it is gift, it means you value your salvation to do the necessary to keep it and sustain it by faith.

3. Do the work of a missionary:  Find an area in life where you can fulfill purpose . Be committed to helping others in faith and outside your faith. In other words strengthen the brethren and reach out to those that need Jesus. Preach in season and out of season.

4. Work hard. Be human and humane:  Everyone is given talent(s). Talent is to be invested and traded with and has potential of multiplying itself. Matt 25:14-46.

Conclusion:: Preparation determines results. Convocation day could be a day of celebration, where the outstanding, excellent and brilliant students are called out and are awarded scholarships, accolades, degrees, plaques, in some cases even monetary rewards. Average students are contended with success of having a degree. But mediocre students who failed to prepare for that day regret and suffer disgrace . You don’t have to be miserable on the day of inevitable reckoning. Preparation for life after death is the solution! It start today! 

Shalom.

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