The Greatest Reason to Praise the Lord - Psalms 146-147 and I Corinthians 15:1-28
The psalmists did such a wonderful job of listing reasons we all have for praising the Lord. These two psalms are a good example. The psalmists lead us to praise the Lord for His fantastic creation of the world and all that is in the world. We are exhorted to praise the Lord because He keeps truth forever, and He executes justice for the oppressed. The Lord feeds the hungry, and He opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord is to be praised because He heals the brokenhearted. We praise the Lord for His understanding is infinite. I could go on and on, but you get the point. God is so perfect in every way that there is a long list of things for which to praise Him. However, there is one reason that stands above the rest. There is definitely one reason for praising God that is greater than anything the psalmists spoke about in the Old Testament. As much as they had to praise Him, we have even more to praise Him for today.
I Corinthians 15 is the resurrection chapter in the Bible. Paul was inspired by God to explain the truths of resurrection, so the Corinthian believers could understand and so all of us could understand. In the process of his explanation Paul clearly shows us the greatest reason for praising the Lord. The Gospel is the greatest reason for praising God. Jesus died, He was buried, and He rose again the third day. There could be no greater reason for praise than that. Some of us have heard it so much that we tend to take it for granted, but we must fight against that form of complacency. We must seek to marvel at the Gospel and continue praising Him for the love and grace that He showed us through the plan of redemption.
Think about it. Jesus died for you, to take away your sin. He rose again to prove His deity and to prove His victory over sin, death, and Satan. He carried out the plan of the Father and He continues to carry out that plan, so we who belong to Him can live with Him in heaven for eternity. Our hearts should be filled with constant praise for eternity. There is no way we could have done this for ourselves. Without Him we are lost and without hope, destined for Hell. There is something terribly wrong with a believer who can't praise the Lord, no matter what is going on in his or her everyday life. That is why Paul could exhort us to "rejoice always." I pray that each of us will always remember the greatest reason for praising the Lord, and that we will rejoice in Him all the time.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 148-150 and I Corinthians 15:29-58.
I Corinthians 15 is the resurrection chapter in the Bible. Paul was inspired by God to explain the truths of resurrection, so the Corinthian believers could understand and so all of us could understand. In the process of his explanation Paul clearly shows us the greatest reason for praising the Lord. The Gospel is the greatest reason for praising God. Jesus died, He was buried, and He rose again the third day. There could be no greater reason for praise than that. Some of us have heard it so much that we tend to take it for granted, but we must fight against that form of complacency. We must seek to marvel at the Gospel and continue praising Him for the love and grace that He showed us through the plan of redemption.
Think about it. Jesus died for you, to take away your sin. He rose again to prove His deity and to prove His victory over sin, death, and Satan. He carried out the plan of the Father and He continues to carry out that plan, so we who belong to Him can live with Him in heaven for eternity. Our hearts should be filled with constant praise for eternity. There is no way we could have done this for ourselves. Without Him we are lost and without hope, destined for Hell. There is something terribly wrong with a believer who can't praise the Lord, no matter what is going on in his or her everyday life. That is why Paul could exhort us to "rejoice always." I pray that each of us will always remember the greatest reason for praising the Lord, and that we will rejoice in Him all the time.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 148-150 and I Corinthians 15:29-58.