1 Corinthians 15 v 50 - 58

A life which has meaning is one of the greatest gifts God gives us. We can work at any job, no matter how menial, doing it as for the Lord, and we know that He blesses us and others through it. People with whom I meet often tell me stories about one person or another who has been enormously important in their recovery and often it is the cleaner or the hospital porter or someone who has a chronically sick loved one. One of the wonders is that we don't know the half of how we have influenced people for good or for bad. So, Paul brings a practical conclusion to his magisterial passage on the resurrection body. ''Because of this, do this'' is a common refrain in his writings-look at Philippians 2 for a beautiful example. Verses 1-4, the practicalities, v 5-11, the beautiful theological understanding. Along the way, Paul makes some assertions about the coming Kingdom: 1. We are not fit to inherit it as we are. We may feel that we are well equipped to cope with most of what this present life has to throw at us, but the Kingdom life, we know, will be fundamentally different. 2. This, according to Paul, was going to happen in his life time. Obviously, we know that he was mistaken; but, in preparing himself for Christ's sudden return, he had prepared himself in his mind for what he saw that transformational day would be like. 3. The fear of death has always haunted men and women. The famous grammarian, Dr Johnson, declared that the fear of death was so natural to a person that all life was one long effort not to think about it. Paul, in contrast, declares that there is nothing to fear. He could say that because he had discovered that God is not Law, but love, that we die into the hands of the Father who awaits for His children to come home! 4. Paul concludes that the Christian life may be difficult but it is completely worth it! The fulfillment will prove so much greater than the struggle along the way!