Together in Jesus

1 Corinthians 15:7-11 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. 9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them –  yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11 Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
 
PAUL continues to give historical evidence of Jesus’ resurrection. When Paul writes he appeared to James, he referred to Jesus’ half-brother who also wrote the epistle James. There is no written evidence of Jesus’ appearance to James, but commentators believe Paul could have learned about this when he visited the apostles and believers there for the first time in Jerusalem (Acts 9:26-28). As Paul testified to Jesus’ resurrection power, we can assume others, including James, would have shared their stories.
   Paul was humble to point to himself as the last apostle chosen. And he was extremely contrite to consider God’s enormous grace on his life, even though he had persecuted the Jews. This is certainly a testimony to the power of forgiveness. Forgiveness heals a broken heart to become whole in Jesus’ resurrection power. Forgiveness gives life to the dead, joy to the sad, hope to the desperate. Yes, we can all rejoice as Paul, “By the grace of God I am what I am.” We can live purposefully to put God’s grace into effect fo the Kingdom of God.
   But then Paul seems to elevate himself above the others to say I worked harder than all of them. This may have been Paul’s response to overcome the other apostles’ advantages. They had been fully with Jesus for three years. He had not. He had persecuted the church with a vengeance, even coming against the apostles at times. That’s why Paul’s writings are filled with a special sense of God’s grace. He knows his previous life and his works won’t save him. So his response to grace is to work as hard as he can for the Lord, who eternally loves him.
   Paul urged the Corinthians to believe in Jesus’ resurrection power to save and transform. He knew it very personally. He hoped they would know Jesus as he did.