When we think of what we were, we can use it as a lens through which to view what Jesus has done in our lives. Our sins, horrible as they were, are what He has redeemed us from. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ has brought a change in our lives. We are no longer the person we were.

The answer to our shame and regrets from the past is more than, “It’s ok, because I’m forgiven.” The answer is to say, “By God’s grace I have changed. I am not the person I was. By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain.”

Paul never claimed or thought he was all that God called him to be. Instead, he said, “I’m a long way from being perfect. But Jesus Christ has made me His own and I am pursuing the purpose for which He laid hold of me” (Phil. 3:10–13).

By God’s grace you, too, will be able to say, “I am not what I should be. I am not what I want to be. I am not what I one day will be. But I am not what I used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am.”

When you are troubled by past sins, use it as an opportunity to remind yourself of what the grace of God has done in you.

The word grace is used three times in these verses. This whole chapter is about how the grace of Jesus changes the future for all who believe. But Paul begins with the effect of grace on past sins.

Paul tells us we have redemption from our past sins: “I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God” (15:9). People who walk most closely with God often struggle with things they regret. How do you live with things in the past that now make you deeply ashamed?

The voice of conscience reminds you of things you wish you had never said, or things you wish you had never viewed. You sometimes wonder, How could I have been such a fool?

Paul knew what this was like. He remembered that he had a foul mouth and a raging temper. He had committed violence against the people he now loved: “I persecuted the church of God” (Gal. 1:13). That was the reality Paul lived with. He never forgot it. How could he?

Or perhaps your regret is not over what you did but what you failed to do. Paul tells us that the risen Christ appeared to him “last of all” (15:8). You may think, “If only I had come to faith in Christ sooner. If only I had exercised more faith. If only I had walked more closely with God.”

Every thoughtful person knows what it is to live with regrets, shameful sins, missed opportunities, and wasted years.

Where do you feel deep regret in your own life? How does Paul’s experience encourage you?

Jesus dying for our sins would not have been good news if He had not been raised from the dead. If Jesus had not been raised, hope, for us, would have died and been buried with Him. But Christ was raised on the third day, and this is of “first importance.”

The Bible records twelve occasions when the risen Lord appeared to His disciples, and Paul lists six of them here in 1 Corinthians 15.

• “He appeared to Cephas [Peter]” (15:5).
• He appeared... to the twelve” (15:5).
• “He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time” (15:6).
• “He appeared to James” (15:7).
• “He appeared... to all the apostles” (15:7).
• “Last of all... he appeared also to me” (15:8).

Other people that Jesus appeared to, but who are not mentioned here in 1 Corinthians 15, include Mary Magdalene, two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and the apostles on multiple occasions.

Hope is found not in something but in someone. Our hope is in Jesus who died and rose—not in an ethic, not in a more disciplined way of life, not even in a creed, but in a person, a saviour to whom you can come, a person in whom you will find hope.

And, in this chapter, Paul talks about the hope that Jesus brings. There is hope in Jesus because He died and rose again.

How does it strengthen your confidence in the resurrection knowing how many people encountered the risen Lord?

Here are five things God says about sin in the Bible.

1. Our sins are offences against God. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Sin is not an occasional lapse in standards we set for ourselves. It is our consistent falling short of the life to which God calls us.

2. Our sins alienate us from God. “They are… alienated from the life of God” (Eph. 4:18). This is the reason why the default human experience is that God seems far away.

3. Sin makes us antagonistic toward God. “The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law” (Rom. 8:7). The more a person sins, the more resentful and resistant toward God he or she will become.

4. Sin makes us unfit for the presence of God. “Strive for… the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14). Sin will keep us out of heaven unless it is removed.

5. Sin makes us liable to the judgement of God. “The wrath of God is revealed… against all ungodliness” (Rom. 1:18). Sin is not something in us that is “slightly off.” It is a complete breakdown in our relationship with God, to whom we must all give account.

Sin’s consequences are catastrophic. And nothing in us can rectify the problem. This is why Jesus died for our sins. All that was due to us on account of our sins was laid on Him so that all that was due to Him on account of His perfect life should be freely given to us.

Which of these 5 things have you, personally, experienced?

Asaph began Psalm 73 saying, “Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart” (73:1). What does it mean to say that “God is good to Israel?” The ancient philosophers —Plato, Socrates, etc.—used to debate what was the highest good in life. They used an old Latin phrase —the summum bonum—which is the highest good. What is the highest good?

Asaph says to us: “It is good to be near to God” (73:28). In other words, “I’ll tell you what the summum bonum is. For me, it is good to be near God. He opened my eyes in the sanctuary when I thought about the ultimate end of the wicked. Those who are far from Him will perish, but God is good to Israel because Israel has been brought near to God.”

Asaph would say, “I see now that if everything in my life was as I wanted it to be, but I was far from God, I would be in a desperate position. If nothing in my life was as I wanted it to be, but I was near to God, then I would still be supremely blessed. For me, the summum bonum is to be near God.” There is nothing greater in all of life than this. That’s what Asaph learned.

The blessing of the gospel is that Jesus came into the world and gave His life on the cross so that you could come near to God now and near to God for all eternity. “You who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Eph. 2:13).

You get near to God through the blood of Jesus Christ. He is our peace. He came to preach peace to you who are far away and to those who are near.

Why would you remain at a distance from God when you know that Jesus Christ has come to bring you near?.

This shows how far Asaph has come. In verse 15, the best thing Asaph could do for God’s people was to keep his thoughts to himself: “If I had said, ‘I will speak thus,’ I would have betrayed… your children.”

Now he has something to say, a story of God’s grace to share that will bring strength to other believers. Every Christian has a story of God’s grace. Your story is still being written. Every time you go through an Asaph experience another chapter is added. Every experience in your life can add to your testimony of God’s grace.

Psalm 73 describes the worst time in Asaph’s life. Yet here we are 3,000 years later, feeding on the story of God’s grace to him, drawing strength and encouragement from his testimony. What God gives to you is also for the good of others. Your testimony to God’s grace contributes to the strength of the whole body.

Paul says, “Death is at work in us, but life [is at work] in you” (2 Cor. 4:12). When you persevere through discouragement, it brings strength to other members of the body of Christ. Your testimony will be a means of God’s grace to other believers.

Who could you share your story of God’s grace with?