February 14, 2022
Intro: As many around the globe are celebrating Valentine’s Day, you and I know that we do not need one “man created” day out of the year to celebrate love. Rather, we get to celebrate love every day as we learn, meditate, pray, put in, grow with, lean on, live out, and share the best love story ever…it’s the Truth about the living and loving Word – Who is Jesus Christ our Savoir.
In today’s passage, Paul reminds us that Christ is the first of the great harvest through His resurrection. Paul then goes on to contrast Adam and Christ. Through Adam, and his disobedient and sinful actions against God, all have died. So, Adam led the whole human race into dead spiritual living and into physical death apart from Christ. By contrast, everyone who chooses to belong to Christ is given a new life. All who are united to Christ by faith, His resurrection secures our resurrection in our spiritual life today and in our bodily resurrection to come when Christ returns.
Friends, our greatest love story is the one that we have with Jesus. It is through the work of the Holy Spirit, that graciously moves through our salvation in Christ, that makes it possible for us to know true love. If you want to share love on this “day of love”, be sure to share the love of Christ with someone before it is too late.
1 Corinthians 15:20-23 NLT
20 But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.
21 So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. 22 Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. 23 But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back.
Prayer: Jesus, Thank You for removing the scales from my eyes so that I can see You. Thank You for allowing the Spirit to overshadow my soul so that the Truth about Your resurrection could be revealed to my heart and life. I look forward to Your return. Please continue to prepare me for that day, Lord. I want to be raised up with You, as I belong to You and only to You, Jesus. I pray all of this in Your Name, Jesus. Amen.
Written by: Jennifer Auer, Pastor Mary Haley’s Assistant