When I was a child, one of the games my family used to play at Christmas was called ‘Consequences’. This involved a set of questions, with each person answering one, folding over the paper and passing to the next person to answer the next. The answers were put together to make a story which often was silly in the extreme. Thus, in answer to these questions,
- Adjective for man
- Man’s name
- Adjective for woman
- Woman’s name
- Where they met
- He wore
- She wore
- He said to her
- She said to him
- The consequence was… (a description of what happened after)
- What the world said
… the following story might emerge:
Mediocre Joe met transparent Kim at the bowling alley.
Joe wore a seafoam green leisure suit. Kim wore a sandwich board. Joe said to Kim “During the last storm, we had a little party in the mud.” Kim said “She wasn’t that into me.” As a consequence, the band got back together. And the world said “Somehow, I think I saw this coming.”
The parlour game of ‘Consequences’ is not at all serious, but the consequences of the resurrection discussed by Paul in 1 Cor 15:12-34 most definitely are! A consequence is a result or effect caused by something else, and is often associated with something unpleasant. The consequences of the resurrection are far from unpleasant, however; they are, quite literally, life-changing.
Because of Christ’s resurrection, according to Rom 5:12-21, we can partake in:
- God’s abundant provision of grace
- the gift of righteousness God gives
- victory in life (we will reign in life with Christ)
- justification and everlasting life
Because of Christ’s resurrection, we have a hope that goes beyond the grave and can be confident that the perishable will be clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality and that death will lose its sting and we will know victory through Jesus! (see 1 Cor 15:53-56) Such consequences mean that grief and suffering, although real and painful, don’t have the final word. Because Christ lives, all in Christ will also live! (1 Cor 15:25) Paul tells the Thessalonians to ‘encourage one another with these words.(1 Thess 4:18) Sound advice indeed!