Our Assembling
Ending the most thorough material on the resurrection is a high end, exalted conclusion:
• “… Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, death, is your victory? Where, death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” (CSB’17 1 Corinthians 15:54-57)
Following that is a powerful call to faithful “in-action”, action and motivation:
• “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” (CSB’17 1 Corinthians 15:58)
Our labor not being in vain is an inferred conclusion on the non-finality of death.
Following that theological crescendo is a seemingly low-end, possibly disconnect call for…the collection of money? But, if we ignore the man-made chapter division, maybe this includes a phrase more connected to the preceding resurrection theme than we realize:
• “…as I instructed the Galatian churches. On the first day of the week, each….” (CSB’17 1 Corinthians 16:1-2)
The Galatian and Corinthian churches were already assembled! We come together on the first day of the week like Jesus’s spirit and body came together on the first day; and our spirits and bodies will come together on the last day. Our assembling is not a disconnected, cultural happening. Our assembling is because of the resurrection!
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