Saturday, January 15, 2005
1 Corinthians 15:3-4 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.
FIRST THINGS FIRST
We've all heard the popular axiom, "first things first." Here Paul shows what is "first" to a Christian.
What is of "first importance" to the Christian? Well, Christ of course! Paul reminds us that the fact that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and was raised on the third day is #1 in the heart of a Christian because this message creates faith and reveals the Savior of all mankind. "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile" (Ro 1:16).
Oddly, God the Father did not follow this axiom of "first things first" when He sent God the Son to save us. God put what should have been last, first. He kept what should have been thrown away: you and me. All men and women of all time have been sinners; broken things that have no worth; dirty things that do no good when compared with God's standards. He should have just trashed the whole world and started over, but that's not what He did. God's love for mankind was too great.
And so God took His Perfect and Sinless Son, the only One who actually deserved that #1 spot in God's heart, and God took Him down from the podium. He took Him down from the #1 spot and put us in His place. As sinners we weren't even in the race. We hadn't even made it to the track. We were out of contention, but God put the last, first. And thank God that He did, for if He hadn't we would have stayed last, and been lost. 