Hello everyone. Today's passage comes from 1 Corinthians 15:
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory. (1 Corinthians 15:51-54)
This is what we have to look forward to, guys. If you have accepted the gift of grace and mercy offered in Jesus Christ, this is your future. No more struggling with the flesh, no more disappointing God and those around us, and no more sin, for we will be changed. My mind cannot even comprehend this it is so amazing! Even Paul cannot fathom this concept, though he knows it to be true - "Listen, I tell you a mystery..." How this will work we do not know - that's how mysteries are. But we can trust in our God and have faith.
"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:55-58)
I could end here, but I feel I should mention something else, as well. Along with that one, glorious moment of change - "in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet" - there is another kind of change that we as Christians have been blessed with - continual growth.
But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:16-18 ESV)
As we behold the glory of the Lord with unveiled face, there is a certain power that comes with this. It transforms us. As we seek to see His face - to "behold the glory of the Lord" - we are changed. We should never be the same people tomorrow as we are today. Do you see how this all ties together? Throughout this life, as we seek Him (through reading His Word, through prayer, through worship, through witnessing, through keeping Him the center of our lives), we are being transformed into His image. Notice the active tense here - this is an ongoing process. And then, at Christ's return, we will be changed as death is swallowed up in victory.
So I encourage us all to "Always give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because we know that our labor in the Lord is not in vain." Let us remain steadfast in Christ and seek to always experience this change, this forward motion, as we await that glorious day when the battle will finally be over; when in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, we will be all changed for good.
Blessings,
Andrew
