Victory in Jesus – Part Five

“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”  I Corinthians 15: 57, 58

This passage opens with “Therefore.” It translates the Greek conjunction “hooste,”  meaning consequently. As a consequence of the victory that is ours there is an appropriate response. “Be steadfast, unmovable….” is a present participle, meaning we are to be constantly stable. We are to “continue to stand” and “always abound.”  Keep on being steadfast and immovable. This gives no furloughs for fits of unfaithfulness.

This is a charge not to vacillate between obedience and disobedience. Consistency is the challenge.

We are to abound in “the work of the Lord.”

What is the work of the Lord?  Is it lighting candles on an altar, or polishing brass in a cloistered chamber.

Our Lord allows us contact with other persons in order that we might serve them in His name. That is the work of the Lord. As Jesus came not to be ministered unto but to minister, so we must all perpetually be ministers to one another in His holy name. What God considers is how we behave toward others. How much of a loving spirit do we show?

Be assured, such labor is not in vain. The ultimate confirmation of this will come in our inevitable victory celebration called “the day of the manifestation of the sons of God.”

Our supreme victory is spoken of in I Corinthians 15 in the verses preceding our text. It is summed up in verse 40: “There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.”

While waiting for the celestial body, win the spiritual victories of which your terrestrial is capable.

We now have what is called a “terrestrial” body. That is, a body perfectly suited for life on planet earth. Outside the sphere of earth’s atmosphere it isn’t perfectly suited. Capsules or space suits have to be used to sustain life outside our natural realm.

In death the believer is given a new body, a “celestial” body.  As our natural body is perfectly suited for life on this planet, so this new celestial body will be perfectly suited for life in Heaven.