ESOCS Devotional 12 May 2024 – The Resurrection Mystery
MEMORY VERSE: “But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed. It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed.”1 Corinthians 15:51-52 NLT
TEXT: 1 CORINTHIANS 15:35-58
35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?” 36 Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. 37 And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body.
39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.
40 There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. 43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 45 And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. 49 And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O[i] Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
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The resurrection mystery remains the most wonderful of all miracles. It is the greatest source of pride and boasting of Christianity, over and above all religions of the world. Jesus Christ was crucified to atone for the sins of the whole world. But on the third day He rose from the dead, and He lives forever (John 19:23; 2:22). He will also return to earth to judge both the living and the dead unto eternal life, or eternal condemnation (John 5:29).
The disobedience of the first Adam resulted in the contamination of all humanity. The outcome is that every person stands guilty before God (Romans 5:12). But through the agency of Jesus Christ, God sent another Adam. He came as a descendant of the first Adam, to take up our corrupt nature, and to take our penalty. He also came to show us the way by His life of obedience and to win the victory over death for us (1 Corinthians 15:45).
Through His life, death and resurrection, He made available to us God’s grace-filled gifts of righteousness and eternal life. In faith, we can hopefully look forward to new spiritual bodies like Christ’s. The nature of our present body is not made to dwell in the heavenly environment to come (Matthew 16:17). A body that dies and decays cannot dwell in an environment where there is no death. Here lies the resurrection mystery. In our text (vv. 50-53), Saint Paul reveals what will happen at the time of the resurrection. It is a mystery in the sense that this is a direct revelation from God. We will all be changed in a moment.
It follows, therefore, that the dead body that is buried forms the seed from which the changed body will be made available by God, through resurrection. Our bodies will be changed from being perishable, dishonourable, weak and mortal, to immortal and honourable bodies (vv. 42-45). The resurrection and transformation will not take a long process. It will happen in a split second (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). To the righteous, death will be swallowed up in victory forever. Praise ye the Lord.
- Only the righteousness of Christ can make resurrection unto eternal life possible. Do you agree?
- Lord Jesus, give me the grace to follow unto the end.
Further Reading: 1 Kings 20:1-21; Mark 5:35-end; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-end
ESOCS Devotional 12 May 2024
