Month: June 2025

1 Corinthians 15:41 – The sun has one kind of glory, while the moon and stars each have another kind. And even the stars differ from each other in their glory.

⁴² It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. ⁴³ Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. ⁴⁴ They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.

⁴⁵ The Scriptures tell us, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.” But the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit. ⁴⁶ What comes first is the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later. ⁴⁷ Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven. ⁴⁸ Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man. ⁴⁹ Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like the heavenly man.

⁵⁰ What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever. (NLT)

One of the many issues that the Church in Corinth was dealing with was differing opinions concerning the Resurrection of Jesus.  Connected to this issue was the resurrection of our own bodies.  Earlier in this chapter, Paul states: “But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died” (1 Corinthians 15:20).  Jesus is the first of a great harvest, and we will follow.  Today’s passage addresses just how it is that we will follow in this harvest.

Basically, Paul is saying that our resurrected form will be so different, that we really cannot comprehend it all.  In verses forty-two through forty-four, Paul uses four terms to describe our resurrected bodies.  He states that our resurrected bodies will be imperishable, or as the New Living Translation has it, they will live forever.  They will be glorious, strong, and spiritual.  This last attribute, spiritual, was an answer to my own questions some years ago.  I grew up in a church that recited the Apostles Creed each week.  One line always bugged me: I believe in the resurrection of the body.  I was unsure about this – I mean which age of our body, young, old, older still!?  I’d really rather have my body from about age twenty-five, thank you very much Lord!  What about people who have lived their lives with physical deformities?  The Word of God is clear; however, our resurrected bodies will be spiritual bodies.

Paul emphasizes this in verse fifty:  “What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever.”  I suppose we all have questions about spiritual bodies – what are they really like?  Well, my friends, we trust Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins, and we trust God for eternal life, so let us trust that whatever our spiritual bodies will be like, God has it all figured out! 

Posted by Ramón Torres

Psalm 15:1 – Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord?
Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?
² Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right,
speaking the truth from sincere hearts.
³ Those who refuse to gossip
or harm their neighbors
or speak evil of their friends.
⁴ Those who despise flagrant sinners,
and honor the faithful followers of the Lord,
and keep their promises even when it hurts.
⁵ Those who lend money without charging interest,
and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent.
Such people will stand firm forever. (NLT)

This psalm is simply titled, A Psalm of David.  We cannot say when this psalm was written, but it has traditionally been believed that this psalm was written while the Ark of the Covenant was being brought to Jerusalem.  In this psalm, David longs to be able to stay in the presence of God.  We must remember, only the priests were able to enter into the innermost area of the tabernacle (sanctuary), and David was not a priest.  David loved the Lord so much that he desired to be in the presence of the Lord at all times. 

What a wonderful picture of the love that one has for God, and an even more wonderful picture is that we can be in the presence of the Lord at all times.  When Kind David ruled, many of the Jews believed that God resided in the Ark, and the Ark was kept away from the people.  Let’s fast forward centuries later to the death of Jesus.  In Matthew 27:50-51 we read: “Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit.  At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.”  This curtain essentially kept all but a very few priests from ever entering into the presence of God.  If we return to this psalm, we know that the reason that the Jews did not allow the common man (and woman) from entering into the presence of God was their sin.  Sin separates us from God.  The death of Jesus – for our sins – removed from us this separation from God.

The writer of the Book of Hebrews wrote:  “And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus.  By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place.  And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:19-22).

When Jesus promised the Holy Spirit, he was promising the very presence of God – no more separation.  This promise has been fulfilled, and the Holy Spirit is available to all. 

Today, let us not live like God is unapproachable.  Indeed, let us live confidently, and powerfully, as we live and breathe in the very presence of God!

Posted by Ramón Torres

Psalm 22:1 – My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Why are you so far away when I groan for help?
² Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer.
Every night you hear my voice, but I find no relief.

³ Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
⁴ Our ancestors trusted in you,
and you rescued them.
⁵ They cried out to you and were saved.
They trusted in you and were never disgraced.

⁶ But I am a worm and not a man.
I am scorned and despised by all!
⁷ Everyone who sees me mocks me.
They sneer and shake their heads, saying,
⁸ “Is this the one who relies on the Lord?
Then let the Lord save him!
If the Lord loves him so much,
let the Lord rescue him!”

²⁵ I will praise you in the great assembly.
I will fulfill my vows in the presence of those who worship you.
²⁶ The poor will eat and be satisfied.
All who seek the Lord will praise him.
Their hearts will rejoice with everlasting joy.
²⁷ The whole earth will acknowledge the Lord and return to him.
All the families of the nations will bow down before him.
²⁸ For royal power belongs to the Lord.
He rules all the nations.

²⁹ Let the rich of the earth feast and worship.
Bow before him, all who are mortal,
all whose lives will end as dust.
³⁰ Our children will also serve him.
Future generations will hear about the wonders of the Lord.
³¹ His righteous acts will be told to those not yet born.
They will hear about everything he has done. (NLT)

Psalm 22 may have been the last prayer that Jesus prayed before his death.  Mark 15:34 records Jesus as uttering the first verse of this psalm just before he died.  I like to think that Jesus had this entire psalm in mind.  While I did not include the entire psalm in this post, it certainly fits the events of the last week of Jesus – including the Resurrection.

Yes, Psalm 22 has it all, from defeat in the presence of one’s enemies, to victory in the presence of God. 

This psalm is divided into two major sections.   Verses 1-21 are a cry of agony towards God.  Verses 22-31 are a hymn of praise and thanksgiving.  Not only is this the story of the death and resurrection of Jesus, but it can also be our story, as well.  Left on our own, sin has us defeated.  We stand powerless against sin, our enemy.  With Jesus, however, we can move from being defeated by sin to praising God in the presence of the great assembly (verse 25). 

Our praise of God for granting us victory is not something we keep to ourselves.  The Psalmist looked forward to a time when the whole earth would acknowledge God and bow down to God (verse 27).  If there was ever a generation that has had the resources and technology to get the message of God to the whole earth, it is ours!  Our churches should be doing everything they can to get the message out to our communities, and to the world!  We should do everything we can do to ensure that our children, and children not yet born, will know of the victory that has been won for us (verses 30-31).

Today, let us celebrate that we have come from defeat to victory!  Let us be eager and willing to tell the world! 

Posted by Ramón Torres

Matthew 11:7 – As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began talking about him to the crowds. “What kind of man did you go into the wilderness to see? Was he a weak reed, swayed by every breath of wind? ⁸ Or were you expecting to see a man dressed in expensive clothes? No, people with expensive clothes live in palaces. ⁹ Were you looking for a prophet? Yes, and he is more than a prophet. ¹⁰ John is the man to whom the Scriptures refer when they say,

‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
and he will prepare your way before you.’

¹¹ “I tell you the truth, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he is! ¹² And from the time John the Baptist began preaching until now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing, and violent people are attacking it. ¹³ For before John came, all the prophets and the law of Moses looked forward to this present time. ¹⁴ And if you are willing to accept what I say, he is Elijah, the one the prophets said would come. ¹⁵ Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand! (NLT) 

These verses follow a passage in which John the Baptist was in prison.  John had sent word to Jesus asking if he was indeed the one of whom he preached.  His questions were honest, and considering his circumstances, understandable.  When we find ourselves in dire situations, we, too, may ask if Jesus truly saves.

Jesus understood that his followers were questioning John in their hearts, so Jesus praised John for his ministry.  Then he tells them that even as great as John’s ministry was, he and his ministry were less than the least in the kingdom of heaven.  This was in no way a cheapening of John’s ministry, for Jesus even tells us in verse fourteen that John had the spirit of Elijah, the one who would proclaim that the Messiah had come.

What Jesus was saying was that in the fullness of the kingdom, which Jesus would usher in with his death and resurrection, what came before was but a shadow of things to come.  Jesus states in verse thirteen that all their history was lived looking forward to the kingdom, and Jesus would bring it.

Jesus has brought it!  We are living in the best of times, for we can realize the kingdom.  We can live without questioning the kingdom, for Jesus has opened it for us.  Are we living like we have been given the kingdom?  Are we living confident in the promise that has been given to us? We should be! We should be living with confidence.  Chapter five of the Book of Romans speaks of this confidence and this hope.  Paul wrote: “And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.”  (Romans 5:5-6).

The one of whom John the Baptist preached has come, and our hope is secure!  Today, let us live confidently, not matter what trials we may face.

Posted by Ramón Torres

Matthew 10:34 – “Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword.

³⁵ ‘I have come to set a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
³⁶ Your enemies will be right in your own household!’

³⁷ “If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine. ³⁸ If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. ³⁹ If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.

⁴⁰ “Anyone who receives you receives me, and anyone who receives me receives the Father who sent me. ⁴¹ If you receive a prophet as one who speaks for God, you will be given the same reward as a prophet. And if you receive righteous people because of their righteousness, you will be given a reward like theirs. ⁴² And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.” (NLT) 

To understand this difficult passage, we must understand what the Jews of that day were expecting from a Messiah.  They expected the Messiah to be someone who would remove foreign governments from the land, creating once again the nation of Israel.  In verse thirty-four, the word that we translate as peace is not the peace of shalom.  The word is εἰρήνη, which meant a state of national tranquility.  To paraphrase verse thirty-four, let us understand it this way: “Don’t imagine that I came to remove Rome from our land.”  Jesus was not the kind of Messiah that many were looking for, indeed, Jesus may not be the kind of Messiah many are still looking for! 

So, what are we to do with the verses that speak of Jesus setting families against one another?  Again, we look at the context of that day.  The people were going to have to choose what kind of Messiah they were looking for, and what kind of Messiah they would follow.  If one family member rejected Jesus because he was not a political or military Messiah, and another family member chose to follow the teachings of Jesus because they believed that he was a spiritual Messiah, it would cause divisions within the family.   

This choosing still has to be made in our day.  We have to choose what kind of Messiah we are looking for: a worldly Messiah who blesses us with things such as money, possessions, or status; or a Messiah who saves us from our sin and teaches us how to live with one another here and now.  Sadly, families are still dividing over who and what to follow.  Ultimately, Christians must love Jesus above all else.  This may sound harsh, but placing Jesus as our Lord will then put every other relationship into perspective.  Indeed, placing Jesus as our Lord will enhance all of our other relationships.

This day, we will all have at least one opportunity to make a choice.  Let us choose Jesus over everything else.   

Posted by Ramón Torres