Mon.’s Devo - Death and Resurrection

Read: Job 12:1-15-35; 1 Corinthians 15:29-58; Psalm 39:1-13; Proverbs 21:30-31 Job loses all restraints with his friends. He sarcastically tells them that they know everything and when they die, wisdom will die with them. Then he defends his own knowledge. In his experience with his loss he has learned that people who are at ease have no problem mocking those in trouble. True wisdom, power, counsel and understanding belong to God alone. God rules over all the affairs of man. He puts people in office and takes them out of office, builds up nations and tears them down. He rules over both the deceived and the deceivers. Job decided that he wanted to argue his own case before God’s throne of grace. He has two requests: that God would remove his heavy hand from him and that God would not terrify him with his awesome presence when he stands before him. He has his questions ready. He wants to know what he has done that has deserved this. Why has God made him his enemy? He concludes by saying he wishes that his sins were sealed in a pouch and that God would cover his guilt. Job is giving us the cry of a people who have no hope and no salvation. Jesus came to earth to give us all of this: freedom from our sins and a covering of our guilt. He gives us an audience with himself and the chance to plead our case. He gives us access to Him. Job’s friend, Eliphaz speaks next and calls Job a windbag. He accuses Job of being disrespectful to God and arrogant. He refers to the wisdom of the aged which has been passed down to him for generations, so it must be right. He starts with a long description of the wicked of the earth. Their end will be early death and fire. In Corinthians, Paul is still giving his defense for the resurrection. He points out that if they didn’t believe in the resurrection then they wouldn’t be baptizing for people who were dead. This was a practice that they did in Corinth for a person who had died without being baptized. Paul used this to make his point. When we die, our bodies are put in the ground as a seed that will burst forth on the resurrection of the dead when the trumpet sounds. That is when we will get our new bodies and death will be no more. First the natural, then the spiritual. Adam was the first man and he was natural. Jesus was the second Adam and he was spiritual. The first Adam represents our natural birth and Jesus represents our spiritual born-again, birth. The natural man dies and is buried in the ground. The spiritual man raises to walk in a new life. Lord, may we walk in newness of life and walk as Jesus walked on the earth.