An Unmovable Yet Moving Hope
3. An Unmovable Yet Moving Hope In 1 Corinthians 15:58 Paul says: "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye
steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye
know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." You may wonder why Paul adds
this verse after an entire chapter devoted to the resurrection. Actually, Paul applies
the entire doctrine of resurrection by teaching us that we are not simply to say,
"The Lord is risen indeed! Now let us sit back and wait for God to apply the
resurrection power of His Son."
Rather, Paul says that because believers are recipients of this magnificent
resurrection hope, they must be steadfast and unmovable. What difference does it
make whether our Lord comes today or tomorrow, and in a moment or a twinkling
of an eye? If He is coming today, I want to be ready. I want to live in anticipation
of what will be mine when Christ comes. Paul says that, in rising from the dead,
Christ is the firstfruits of those who sleep. So for those in Christ, who now reigns,
rules, and brings all things into subjection to Himself, the final enemy to be
subjected is death. Believers live in anticipation that this corruptible will put on
incorruption and they no longer are in their sins but are justified and being
sanctified. So "Thy kingdom come, Lord, Thy will be done on earth as it is in
heaven," is a prayer born of this resurrection hope. If you believe in the
resurrection of Christ from the dead, the resurrection hope, then you must stand
firm — immovable and steadfast — for Christ and His gospel.
Second, Paul says we are to be moving and active. We must be motivated by
our steadfast resurrection hope to become active in the work of God. We must be
willing to die every day for the sake of the gospel, says Paul, who fought with wild
beasts in Ephesus. Why would Paul do that if Christ had not risen from the dead?
But He has, and that puts wind in Paul's sails! It gives us strength and hope-filled
expectation! It makes us want to be about the business of the King. We want to aim
for our Father's glory, for the edification of the saints, and for the salvation of the
lost.
Many people around us today have no sense of direction and no future. Their
lives are vacuous; they live as though they were just killing time. We have a
message for them: Christ was crucified for sinners and raised for their justification.
He will come again at the end of the age, and every believer will share in His
resurrection victory in the world that will come when He appears. Believe in Him
so that you may live in hope today and in the world to come. Amen.