CHRIST'S BURIAL
"Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and THAT HE WAS BURIED, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures" - 1 Cor 15:1-4

Devotion 5 of 14

OUR BODIES ARE THE MEMBERS OF CHRIST
  All of the arguments about the insignificance of the body fall to the ground in the blaze of the Word of God. The Scriptures are clear on this subject. "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the  members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? May it never be! (God forbid, KJV)" - 1 Cor 6:15. Under no circumstances may our bodies be used as though they did not belong to God, or were in consequential. while they are by no means the primary part of our constitution, they have been purchased by Christ, and will yet be redeemed by Him in the resurrection.

  The resurrection of Jesus confirmed His Sonship (Rom 1:4). It also confirms the
resurrection of believers when He returns. In the above text, Paul argues this point forcefully.  "Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body. And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power" (1 Cor 6:13-14). Again, it is written, "Knowing that He which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you" (2 Cor 4:14). If our bodies are "the members of Christ," and if God is going to raise them "up," we have no right to disregard the Lord in the disposition of them. While this is not to become a point of contention among believers, it is to be laid upon the conscience of us all.

  As insignificant as it may appear, burial stands in stark contrast to cremation in Scripture. Apart from the clear teaching of Scripture on this subject, the burial of the body of Jesus sanctifies the thought for His disciples. If that were all we knew about the interment of the body, it should be enough to constrain us to view it with the utmost respect. For those having difficulty with this rather elementary subject, the question is not whether or not God is able to raise a body from the sea, the grave, or a pile of ashes. the question is whether God's people can justify a practice that does not blend with the manner of God's people through the ages, nor harmonize with the hope of the resurrection.

KEEP IT IN MEMORY!
  The retention of the Gospel in our hearts and minds is not possible apart from its
declaration. Judging by the focus of contemporary "Christian" literature, this is relatively unknown. It appears that for every book or pamphlet on the Gospel, there are a thousand or more on other matters. Perhaps the failure of the contemporary church to focus on the Gospel is the reason for its spiritual impotence and Scriptural illiteracy.

   Paul is forthright in stating the centrality of the Gospel to believers. "Now I make known unto you brethren, the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye received, wherein also ye stand, by which also ye are saved, if ye hold fast the word which I preached unto you, except ye believed in vain" (1 Cor 15:1-2, NASB). The Gospel of Christ is the fertile soil in which faith grows. The beginning of spiritual life is traced to our reception of the Gospel--"which also ye received."   The stability of the saved is owing to their continued focus on the Gospel--"wherein also ye stand." Salvation itself is contingent upon retaining the Gospel in our memory--"by which also ye are saved, if ye hold fast the word which I preached unto you." Faith cannot be sustained apart from the recollection of the Gospel-- "except ye believed in vain."

PRAYER POINT: Father, In the name of Jesus, give me grace to glorify you in my body, whether in life or in death. May my persuasion of the truth of the Gospel permeate every facet of my thinking, and motivate every aspect of my life.

-- TOMORROW: MAKING THE GOSPEL KNOWN TO BELIEVERS --