Marana Tha

Posted on June 16, 2016 by Jefferson Vann
June 2016 (16)

1 Corinthians 16:19-24

1Co 16:19 The churches of Asia say hello. Aquila and Prisca, along with the church that meets in their house, send you affectionate greetings in the Lord.
1Co 16:20 All the brothers say hello. Greet one another with a holy kiss.
1Co 16:21 I, Paul, sign this salutation with my own hand.
1Co 16:22 If anyone does not love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Marana Tha!
1Co 16:23 The grace of the Lord Jesus is with you.
1Co 16:24 My love is with all of you in Christ Jesus.

Marana Tha

“Marana tha.”
That ancient Aramaic greeting carries the weight of centuries of longing. It is not a slogan. It is not a poetic flourish. It is the cry of a people who know the world is broken and who refuse to pretend otherwise. It is the confession that the Lord must return, because nothing short of His appearing will set right what has gone wrong.

The early church used this greeting because it held together two realities at once:

  • the world is still full of injustice, disappointment, and decay
  • the Lord is coming to redeem, restore, and reign

Paul’s letter to Corinth makes both realities painfully clear. Corinth was a church with gifts, but also with fractures. A church with potential, but also with pride. A church touched by grace, but still marked by immaturity. And Paul never sugarcoats that. He names the problems plainly. He exposes the failures honestly. He acknowledges the disappointments without flinching.

But he never ends with disappointment. He ends with hope.

The world is not yet what it should be.
The church is not yet what it will be.
But the Lord is coming.

That expectation is what allowed the early believers to endure hardship, to persevere in ministry, and to remain faithful in a world that often seemed hostile to their hope. It is what allowed them to look at the brokenness around them without despair. It is what allowed them to look at the brokenness within the church without giving up.

“Marana tha” is the reminder that the story is not finished.
It is the anchor that keeps the heart steady.
It is the lens through which all disappointments are reframed.

Paul ends the letter with that ancient greeting because it is the only way to live faithfully in a world that is still groaning. The Lord is coming. And because He is coming, the disappointments of the world and the failures of the church do not have the final word.

Looking up is not escapism.
It is endurance.
It is clarity.
It is hope rooted in the promise of the returning King.

LORD, come!

Posted in conflict, deliverance, second coming | Tagged | Leave a comment

leaders left behind

Posted on June 15, 2016 by Jefferson Vann
June 2016 (15)

1 Corinthians 16:15-18

1Co 16:15 I am encouraging you, brothers — you know about Stephanas’ household — that they were the firstfruits of Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to ministry to the holy ones.
1Co 16:16 You should also be subordinated to these, and to everyone who works and shares their burden.
1Co 16:17 I celebrate the presence of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for your absence;
1Co 16:18 for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. Give special recognition to such people.

leaders left behind

Paul’s comments about Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus are more than polite acknowledgments. They reveal something important about the relational strain inside the Corinthian assemblies and the pastoral wisdom Paul brings to bear on it.

These three men had traveled from Corinth to Ephesus and had refreshed Paul’s spirit. Their presence encouraged him, supplied what was lacking, and gave him a clearer picture of the situation back home. But Stephanas also made it clear that their absence would not be easy for the congregation. Corinth was a church with strong personalities, fragile unity, and a history of resisting leadership. Losing three stabilizing figures at once would create tension.

Paul’s response is pastoral and strategic. He urges the Corinthians to show respect and submit to the leadership of those who remained. This was not about hierarchy for its own sake. It was about honoring the work of the gospel and supporting the people who carried its weight. By respecting the leaders who stayed behind, the Corinthians would be showing honor to the missionaries who had gone out. Their obedience at home would be a way of recognizing the sacrifice and service of those abroad.

Paul understood something that remains true in every generation of the church:
When missionaries, pastors, or ministry workers leave for a season, the congregation must step up in faithfulness, unity, and respect. Otherwise, the absence of key workers becomes a burden instead of a blessing.

Paul’s instruction is simple but profound:
Honor the workers by honoring the work.
Respect the leaders who remain.
Support the ones who go.
Recognize that all of them serve the same Lord.

In doing so, the Corinthians would not only strengthen their own church but also show tangible appreciation for the missionaries who represented them elsewhere.

LORD, you know what you are doing. Give us the wisdom to adjust to things as they are — not to complain and withhold our support when the leadership structure changes.

Posted in consideration of others, leadership | Tagged | Leave a comment

obstinate Apollos

Posted on June 14, 2016 by Jefferson Vann
June 2016 (14)

1 Corinthians 16:12-14

1Co 16:12 Now about our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other brothers, but he did not at all want to come now. He will come when he has the opportunity.
1Co 16:13 Keep watch, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
1Co 16:14 Stay in love — all of you.

obstinate Apollos

Paul’s brief mention of Apollos in this section is more than a travel update. It is a window into the relational complexity of early Christian ministry and a subtle pastoral lesson for the Corinthians themselves.

Apollos was gifted—brilliant, eloquent, powerful in the Scriptures, and deeply used by God. But he was also strong‑willed. Acts and 1 Corinthians together paint a picture of a man who was not easily persuaded once he had made up his mind. When Paul urged him to join the team going to Corinth, Apollos declined. Paul pressed him strongly. Apollos still declined.

And Paul’s response is telling. He did not manipulate him. He did not shame him. He did not question his devotion. He respected Apollos’ decision and moved on. Paul understood that gifted people often come with strong personalities, and that the unity of the church is not maintained by forcing everyone into the same mold. Paul chose balance.

That balance is exactly what he then commends to the Corinthians:
a firm grip on the truth, and a firm grip on love.
Strength without love becomes harsh.
Love without strength becomes sentimental.
The church needs both.

Corinth especially needed both. Their assemblies were filled with strong personalities, competing teachers, and people who struggled to handle disagreement without fracturing into factions. Apollos himself had become a rallying point for one of those factions, even though he never intended it. Paul’s gentle handling of Apollos becomes an implicit model for the Corinthians: firmness without coercion, conviction without domination, love without naïveté.

Walking with that kind of balance is never easy. It becomes even harder when encountering people like Apollos—gifted, valuable, but not always easy to work with. Yet Paul shows that the way forward is not control but charity; not force but respect; not suspicion but trust.

The church still needs that balance today:
a strong faith anchored in truth,
and a strong love that makes room for the complexities of real people doing real ministry in a real world.

LORD, give us a strong faith, balanced by a strong love.

Posted in Apollos, balance, faith, love | Tagged | Leave a comment

timid Timothy

Posted on June 13, 2016 by Jefferson Vann
June 2016 (13)

1 Corinthians 16:8-11

1Co 16:8 But I will stay on in Ephesus until the Pentecost celebration,
1Co 16:9 because Ephesus is proving to be like a large wide-open door, and I have many opponents.
1Co 16:10 When Timothy arrives, make sure that he feels comfortable working among you, because he is doing the work of the Lord just as I am;
1Co 16:11 So then, let no one treat him with disrespect. But send him on his way in peace so that he may come to me. Because I am expecting him to accompany the brothers.

timid Timothy

Paul’s concern for Timothy in this section is pastoral, practical, and deeply revealing about the dynamics inside the Corinthian assemblies. Corinth was not an easy place to minister. Strong personalities, competing teachers, spiritual pride, and a tendency toward factionalism made it one of the most challenging churches Paul ever dealt with. Timothy knew that. Paul knew that Timothy knew it. And Paul also knew that Timothy dreaded the assignment.

So Paul makes a very specific request: that Timothy be allowed to work among them “without fear.” The phrase is striking. It shows that Paul understood how easily a congregation can intimidate, discourage, or even crush a young minister. The NLT’s “don’t intimidate him” captures the sense well, but the literal wording is even more revealing. Paul is asking the Corinthians not to create an atmosphere that drives Timothy into fearfulness or retreat.

Paul valued Timothy as a ministry asset—not because Timothy was impressive, but because Timothy was faithful. He was doing “the work of the Lord,” and that alone made him worthy of respect and protection. But Paul also understood something that every seasoned pastor knows: many who are called to do the Lord’s work are chased away from that work by people who have no consideration for them. A harsh word, a dismissive attitude, a critical spirit, or a demanding posture can wound a minister more deeply than most congregations ever realize.

Paul’s request is simple but profound:
Be considerate of those who minister among you.
Not because they are fragile, but because they are human.
Not because they deserve special treatment, but because they carry a burden that is often invisible.
Not because they are above the congregation, but because they serve it.

“All of us have our limits.” Paul knew that. Timothy knew that. And every minister since has learned it the hard way. Ministry is holy work, but it is also vulnerable work. Paul’s plea to the Corinthians remains timeless: create an environment where those who serve can do so without fear, without intimidation, and without being driven away by inconsiderate behavior.

It is a reminder that supporting the workers of the gospel is itself a spiritual act—one that strengthens the church and honors the Lord they serve.

LORD, we value those you send to minister among us. Help us to treat them well, and give them no reason to fear us.

Posted in consideration of others, fear, ministry, Timothy | Tagged | Leave a comment

travel plans

Posted on June 12, 2016 by Jefferson Vann
June 2016 (12)

1 Corinthians 16:5-7

1Co 16:5 But I will come to you whenever I go through Macedonia (because I am going through Macedonia),
1Co 16:6 and I might stay with you, or even spend the winter, so that you can send me wherever I need to go.
1Co 16:7 Because I do not want to see you now just as a stop over. I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord allows it.

travel plans

If all goes well, by the time this is posted, my wife and I will have arrived back in New Zealand, after visiting two countries in Africa. That will make four different countries we have visited so far this year, either as Asia Pacific missions area directors, or as global trainers. These trips help us to see what God is doing in different parts of the world, and gain a better perspective on the people he has gifted his church with, and the problems they face. It is not always fun. In fact, sometimes we are overwhelmed by what we see. But, by God’s grace, we hope to be an encouragement, and to be encouraged. There is no substitute to going and spending time with these holy ones whom God has sent.

Traveling across continents, meeting believers in wildly different contexts, seeing both the beauty and the brokenness of the global church — that is spiritual work. It is resurrection-shaped work. It is the kind of labor Paul had in mind when he said that nothing done “in the Lord” is ever in vain.

My reflection on returning to New Zealand after Africa fits naturally into the flow of Paul’s thought:

  • Resurrection hope fuels perseverance.
  • Perseverance expresses itself in real, embodied ministry.
  • Real ministry means showing up — in person, in love, in service.
  • And showing up is often exhausting, overwhelming, and deeply holy.

Paul’s collection for the saints was not a fundraising campaign. It was a spiritual act of solidarity. It was the church saying, “We belong to one another because we belong to the risen Christ.” In the same way, your travel, your training, your presence among believers in Africa and the Pacific is not logistical work. It is resurrection work. It is the church being the church.

There is no substitute for going.
No substitute for seeing.
No substitute for standing beside the holy ones God has placed in difficult fields.

And there is no substitute for the encouragement that flows both directions — the kind you receive and the kind you give — when believers meet face to face, share burdens, and remind one another that the risen Christ is still building His kingdom in every corner of the world.

Your closing line captures Paul’s heart as well as your own:
There is no substitute for going and spending time with these holy ones whom God has sent.

That is resurrection hope made visible.

LORD, raise up a team of heroes who have the time to spend with those you have placed on the mission field.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

serious spiritual business

Posted on June 11, 2016 by Jefferson Vann
June 2016 (11)

1 Corinthians 16:1-4

1Co 16:1 But about the collection for the holy ones, follow the directions I gave to the churces of Galatia.
1Co 16:2 On the first day of a week, each of you must put something aside, storing it by himself, depending on how much he has gained, so that no collections have to be taken when I come.
1Co 16:3 Then, when I arrive, I will send those whom you approve with letters from me to carry your gift to Jerusalem.
1Co 16:4 And if it there is cause for me to go also, they will travel with me.

serious spiritual business

Paul’s final instructions in the letter are not an appendix, nor a shift into unrelated practical matters. They belong to the same broad category he introduced back in 12:1—spiritual things, matters shaped by the Spirit and expressive of the life of the kingdom. The collection for the saints is not bookkeeping. It is not administrative cleanup. It is not a footnote to the “real” theological content. It is a continuation of the same spiritual logic that has run through the entire letter.

Relief work is spiritual work.
Generosity is spiritual obedience.
Material giving is a visible expression of invisible grace.

Paul treats the collection as a deeply spiritual act because it embodies the very gospel he has been defending. The resurrection chapter ends with a call to steadfast, abundant labor for the Lord. Immediately afterward, Paul gives a concrete example of what that labor looks like: caring for the needy within the body of Christ.

Money matters—not because money has spiritual value in itself, but because it becomes a tangible expression of love. It is a way of participating in God’s care for His people. It is a way of embodying the unity of the church across geography and culture. It is a way of demonstrating that the resurrection hope produces real-world fruit.

For Paul, theology and practice are never separated.
The resurrection leads to hope.
Hope leads to steadfastness.
Steadfastness leads to generosity.
Generosity becomes a spiritual act of love.

The chapter on resurrection is not an isolated theological treatise. It flows directly into the call to give, because both belong to the same Spirit-shaped life.

LORD, may we learn to practice the spiritual discipline of helping the needy.

Posted in compassion, giving, money, Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

victory in one gulp

Posted on June 10, 2016 by Jefferson Vann
June 2016 (10)

1 Corinthians 15:54-58

1Co 15:54 And when this person that rots does put on indestructibility and this mortal person puts on immortality, then what scripture has predicted will happen: “Death has been swallowed up via victory.”
1Co 15:55 Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting?
1Co 15:56 Sin’s sting is death, and the law empowers that sin to kill.
1Co 15:57 But thankfully, God has given us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1Co 15:58 For this reason, my loved brothers, hold your ground, be immovable, keep working incessantly for the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not for nothing.

victory in one gulp

Paul closes the chapter by gathering every thread of his argument into a single, triumphant conclusion. The resurrection is not a side doctrine, not a metaphor, not a poetic flourish. It is the essential center of Christian hope. Everything he has said up to this point has been building toward that reality.

He has shown that the resurrection is essential to the gospel. Without it, the message collapses. Christ’s death would not save, faith would not matter, and the dead would be lost forever.

He has shown that the resurrection is inextricably linked to Christ Himself. Christ is the firstfruits—the first to be raised permanently. His resurrection is the beginning of God’s new creation, and the destiny of all who belong to Him.

He has shown that the resurrection is essential to God’s plan for the world. Christ’s return, the harvest of the saints, the destruction of every enemy, and the final restoration of creation all depend on resurrection. Without it, God’s plan remains unfinished.

He has shown that Christian ministry is pointless without resurrection. Every missionary’s labor, every sacrifice, every act of faithfulness would be meaningless if the dead are not raised.

He has shown, through the seed analogy, what the resurrection body will be like—not a reanimated corpse, but a transformed, Spirit‑animated body suited for the age to come.

He has shown that our present bodies are “in Adam,” mortal and perishable, and that only resurrection can make us “in Christ,” immortal and incorruptible.

He has shown that the transformation will be instantaneous, a divine act that reverses death in a single moment.

And now, knowing that death, decay, sin, and mortality will be swallowed up in one great victory, Paul turns from argument to exhortation. If resurrection is certain, then life in the present has purpose. If the kingdom is coming, then labor for the Lord is never wasted. If Christ will raise the dead, then every act of faithfulness is an investment in a future that cannot be shaken.

The resurrection is not merely a doctrine. It is the church’s rescue. It is the anchor of Christian hope. It is the promise that God will finish what He began in Christ.

LORD, thank you for the hope of eternal rescue that is coming with you.

Posted in deliverance, resurrection, second coming | Tagged | Leave a comment

transformed in a split second

Posted on June 9, 2016 by Jefferson Vann
June 2016 (9)

1 Corinthians 15:51-53

1Co 15:51 Notice, I am telling you a mystery. All of us are not going to fall asleep, but all of us will be transformed,
1Co 15:52 in a split second, in a blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. Because it will blast, and the dead ones will be raised indestructible and we will be transformed.
1Co 15:53 Because this person that rots needs to put on indestructibility, and this mortal person needs to put on immortality.

transformed in a split second

Paul brings his long argument to its climax by describing the moment when everything changes—the moment when mortality is undone, when death’s grip is shattered, and when the people of Christ are finally made fit for the eternal kingdom. The transformation he describes is not gradual, not symbolic, and not internal. It is sudden, physical, and total.

It happens “in a moment, in the blink of an eye.” That single instant is enough for God to reverse everything death has destroyed. The dead in Christ—those who have slept under the weight of mortality—will be raised in bodies that cannot decay, cannot weaken, cannot die. Those who are still alive at Christ’s appearing will not be left behind or disadvantaged. They too will be transformed instantly, clothed with immortality.

The reason is simple: mortals cannot inherit an immortal kingdom. Humanity in its present condition cannot fulfill God’s plan. Flesh and blood—meaning humanity as it exists in Adam—cannot enter the age to come. A resurrection is required. A transformation is required. Immortality must be given, not assumed.

The last trumpet signals that moment. For the angels, that trumpet is the call to battle—the beginning of the final campaign in which Christ subdues every enemy and brings all creation under God’s rule. For the saints, that same trumpet is not a call to war but a call to rescue. It is the sound that announces deliverance from death, the moment when Christ gathers His people and equips them for the eternal kingdom.

Paul’s point remains consistent through the entire chapter:
Resurrection is necessary because mortality cannot inherit eternity.
Death must be undone.
Corruption must be replaced with incorruption.
Weakness must be replaced with power.
Mortality must be swallowed up by life.

And all of it will happen in a single, decisive instant—when Christ appears and the trumpet sounds.

LORD, thank you for the blessed hope of our immediate transformation at your return.

Posted in angels, deliverance, kingdom of God, mortality, plan of God, second coming | Tagged | Leave a comment

inheritance and resurrection

Posted on June 8, 2016 by Jefferson Vann
June 2016 (8)

1 Corinthians 15:47-50

1Co 15:47 The first man came from the dirty land; the second man came from the sky.
1Co 15:48 Like the one made from dirt, so also are the ones made from dirt, and like the one made from sky stuff, so also are the ones made of sky stuff.
1Co 15:49 Just as we now look like the dirty man, we will someday look like the sky-stuff man.
1Co 15:50 I am saying this, brothers, because flesh and blood is not able to inherit the kingdom from God, nor can the thing that rots inherit that which is indestructible.

inheritance and resurrection

Paul continues pressing the point that resurrection is not optional, not symbolic, and not a theological ornament. It is necessary because the alternative being taught in Corinth simply does not work. Certain leaders were promoting a view in which human beings automatically inherit immortality at death. In that framework, death becomes a doorway, the soul becomes indestructible, and resurrection becomes unnecessary. This is the old Greek doctrine of innate immortality dressed up in Christian language.

Paul dismantles that idea by insisting that nothing about immortality is automatic. Immortality does not belong to human beings by nature. It belongs to Christ alone. He is the one who “came from the sky”—the one who descended from God and then ascended again through resurrection. If immortality is ever to be ours, it must come from Him, and it must come through resurrection.

“Flesh and blood,” Paul says, cannot inherit the kingdom of God. That phrase does not refer to the physical body as such. It refers to humanity in its present Adamic condition—mortal, corruptible, perishable. Humanity as it now exists cannot simply transition into eternal life. Mortality cannot transform itself into immortality. Corruption cannot evolve into incorruption. The human condition cannot be upgraded by death.

A resurrection is required.

Human beings are creatures who die and decay. That is the inheritance from the first Adam. Nothing about that condition contains the seeds of immortality. The Corinthians were being told that the “spirit” within them was already immortal, already fit for heaven, already beyond death. Paul rejects that idea entirely. The whole person is mortal. The whole person must be raised.

Immortality comes only from the second Adam—the risen Christ. He alone is the life‑giving Spirit. He alone can impart the kind of life that cannot die. And He will do so only at His coming, when He raises the dead and transforms them into beings suited for the age to come.

Until that day, humanity remains what it has always been since Adam: mortal. That is why resurrection is not a theological luxury. It is a necessity. Without it, death wins. With it, Christ’s victory becomes ours.

LORD, thank you for our future hope — a hope that rests solely on Christ.

Posted in Adam, conditional immortality, human nature, Jesus Christ, mortality, resurrection | Tagged | Leave a comment

soul and spirit and resurrection

Posted on June 7, 2016 by Jefferson Vann
June 2016 (7)

1 Corinthians 15:44-46

1Co 15:44 It is planted a soulish body, it is raised a spiritual body. If what is planted is soulish, what is raised is spiritual.
1Co 15:45 Scripture puts it this way, “the first man, Adam, turned into a living soul”; the last Adam turned into a life-making spirit.
1Co 15:46 But the spiritual does not come first, the soulish does; the spiritual comes next.

soul and spirit and resurrection

Paul continues pressing the case for the necessity of resurrection by exposing the confused anthropology circulating in Corinth. Certain leaders were promoting a hybrid doctrine—part Greek philosophy, part Christian vocabulary. They had blended the Platonic idea of an immortal, death‑proof spirit with the Christian teaching of resurrection. The result was a theological mixture that affirmed both mortality and immortality at the same time. According to this view, the “soul” dies, but the “spirit” survives. And if something in humanity already survives death, then a physical resurrection becomes unnecessary.

Paul rejects that framework entirely. He acknowledges a distinction, but it is not a division of parts within the human being. It is a distinction between two modes of existence, each tied to a representative head. Humanity as it now exists is wholly psychikos—soulish, mortal, perishable. This condition is inherited from Adam. When Adam sinned, he became subject to death, and the entire human race shares that mortality. Death is not a partial experience; it is the destiny of the whole person. That is why all die.

The good news is that Christ, in overcoming sin and death, became pneuma zōopoioun—a life‑giving spirit. This does not mean Christ became a ghost or a disembodied being. It means that Christ, in resurrection, became the source of immortal life for others. Through Him, humanity has the potential for a new mode of existence—one that is imperishable, powerful, and eternal. But that new existence is not ours yet. It awaits the resurrection.

Paul reminds the Corinthians that there is an order to God’s plan. Christ is first. Those who belong to Christ will be made alive at His coming. Until that moment, humanity remains what it has always been since Adam—mortal. Mortality is not a temporary inconvenience; it is the defining mark of life in Adam. And because mortality remains, resurrection is not optional. It is essential.

The Corinthians needed to understand that the present human condition cannot be patched together with fragments of Greek philosophy. The human problem is not that a part of us dies. The human problem is that we die. The whole person is mortal. And the whole person must be raised.

That is why resurrection is necessary. Without it, humanity remains in Adam—soulish, perishable, and destined for death. With it, humanity enters the life of Christ—spiritual in the sense of being animated by the Spirit, immortal, and fitted for the age to come.

LORD, thank you for raising Christ, and giving us the hope of eternal resurrection life when our life-maker returns.

Posted in Adam, conditional immortality, eternal life, human nature, resurrection | Tagged | Leave a comment