March 4, 2014

1 Corinthians 15:50-58. Final thoughts: The Mystery of the Resurrection

I need to emphasize, friends, that our natural, earthy lives don’t in themselves lead us by their very nature into the kingdom of God. Their very “nature” is to die, so how could they “naturally” end up in the Life kingdom?

But let me tell you something wonderful, a mystery I’ll probably never fully understand. We’re not all going to die—but we are all going to be changed. You hear a blast to end all blasts from a trumpet, and in the time that you look up and blink your eyes—it’s over. On signal from that trumpet from heaven, the dead will be up and out of their graves, beyond the reach of death, never to die again. At the same moment and in the same way, we’ll all be changed. In the resurrection scheme of things, this has to happen: everything perishable taken off the shelves and replaced by the imperishable, this mortal replaced by the immortal. Then the saying will come true:
Death swallowed by triumphant Life!
Who got the last word, oh, Death?
Oh, Death, who’s afraid of you now?


It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three—sin, guilt, death—are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God!
 With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don’t hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort. – The Message -

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A little thought and we realize it’s really not “death” that people fear. It’s what comes after death. They’re a little shaky on that point so many of them prefer to say death is the final act. There is nothing after death. We cease to exist so our consciousness of anything…reward or punishment…ceases to exist as well. Under these rules nobody really fears death. They may feel some sadness and loss but…no big deal. That ceases as well…as soon as we die.

Pretty good gig if you can get it.
Lots of speculation surrounding a really big deal. With that much at stake I’d think everybody would want some evidence. But, no…most of humanity is so prejudiced against God they will run this risk…at their own peril.

I, on the other hand, am a wimp. I won’t gamble that way. And, the real glory of the whole thing is this: The only reason we deny death is because of our fear. The only reason we fear is because of our sin. When we believe in Christ our sins are gone…nothing to fear.
Can I know this for sure? Hebrews says Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. This is amazing!

Of course, you won’t know until you try it…
Live boldly out there today…

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