What Do You Know?

1 Corinthians 15:33-34 Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” 34 Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God – I say this to your shame.
 
AS Paul concludes his affirmation of Jesus’ resurrection, he urged us to have a correct view of our own faith.
   One challenge regarding our view of eternal life is our overall lack of a clear picture in Scripture regarding our heavenly bodies. Many people have ideas that are simply that. People think about Heaven in the context of what they know, but they don’t really know what is true. That’s why Paul urges us to be careful of the company we keep. In other words, discern what your friends and other influences are saying about Heaven. Understand distortions about eternal life can become truths as they are repeated and accepted because they sound good.
   For example, people talk about being married in Heaven. But Jesus is very clear there is no marriage in Heaven. Mark 12:25 “When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in Heaven.”  There is also the popular concept that our loved ones who have died are looking down on us. Nothing in Scripture indicates this is true. Those who are alive in their faith are alive in Heaven only.
   Paul was calling the church back to what he had taught them. Cultural and false religious influences had confused them and caused them to sin in ways he addresses throughout the entire letter. The gospel truth in our minds keeps sin away. Some Corinthians had left the truth in the back of their minds and put culture’s corruption to the front.
   Paul’s words are a strong rebuke of Corinth’s lack of godly wisdom. It is a shameful thing to be ignorant of God! But how many of us are reluctant to grasp the knowledge of God? Might we be of habit to say, “The Bible is too hard to understand.” Or could we say, “I’ll let someone else tell me what the Bible means.” Is it possible we confess, “It’s too much work to read the Bible and learn from it.” And are there Bible students who are content to simply go to study but never consider how God’s Word applies to their everyday life? God is telling us through Paul that it is a shameful attitude to want less of God than he is willing to give you.