The Difference the Gospel Makes in Our Lives

Episode 66 Show Notes

The Difference the Gospel Makes in Our Lives

From the Show

I have a question about 1 Corinthians 15:50. There it says, “I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.” It sounds like the Bible is teaching that to inherit the kingdom of God we have to not be “flesh and blood.” Is this why we have to die, so that our souls can enter heaven?

I remember when my dad died, we got a card from a well-meaning friend of the family. The card was a quote from Henry David Thoreau, an American transcendentalist who had a sort of Christian Science approach to life. The card said, “The setting of the sun is as beautiful as its rising.” Now, just think about that, that’s just silly. You don't have to be a Christian to know how silly that is. Growing old, aches and pains, on a heart monitor, going through surgeries and then finally succumbing to death. That process is just as beautiful and sweet as welcoming your first child into the world? No, that's ridiculous. Look at Jesus at Lazarus’ tomb. He cries out [what is] the shortest verse in the Bible: “Jesus wept.” And that's a kind of Northern European translation.

If you've ever seen Middle Eastern funerals, there's wailing. And those verbs actually are about wailing. The same verbs that you get when the disciples were petrified at Jesus when he calms the storm and sea; deeply troubled and overwhelmed, the same verbs are used of Jesus when he wept bitterly at the tomb of Lazarus…Death is horrible and Christians shouldn't try to make it something sweet and light and trivial. It's not. It’s a death sentence. The good news for Christians is that that's the end of this body of death, not the end of this body, the end of the body in its condition of death, and one day it will be raised to immortal life. — Michael Horton

Questions in this Episode

1. Why did the Pharisees plan to kill Jesus in John 11 after he had performed such miraculous signs?

2. I have a question about 1 Corinthians 15:50. There it says, “I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.” It sounds like the Bible is teaching that to inherit the kingdom of God we have to not be “flesh and blood.” Is this why we have to die so that our souls can enter heaven?

3. How should a Christian who struggles with anxiety overcome it?

4. What is the gospel? And what difference does this make in life?

5. In the Gospel’s Jesus often took time to be alone to pray. Do you think that is important for us today? And if so, what do you think is a good way to do this?

6. If we are not saved by works, how do works fit into the Christian life?