1 Corinthians 15:50-58 - The ultimate victory of the resurrection

What will happen to the believers at the resurrection? Why must the resurrection take place?  In verse 51 we are told a mystery. It concerns a great transformation that will happen to us. In this transformation each of us will have an entirely new body, very different from this present one. This transformation must take place because the body we have now is flesh and blood. And what is made up of flesh and blood belongs only to the dimension of earthly living and cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. Furthermore, flesh and blood are perishable things and cannot receive what belongs to the imperishable. Thus, to be able to get into the dimension that’s beyond this earthly one, the body which is perishable must become imperishable. 

 

For every physical body to become imperishable there must be that great and dramatic change. However, not everyone need to die prior to that marvelous transformation. Because believers who are still alive when Christ comes back again will not have to experience death to be transformed. At that precise moment of His return, our present body, if we are still alive, will take on an entirely different fabric and character. Death will be dealt a final blow at that point.

 

Regarding this transformation, Paul said, Christians will experience change in the split of a second. He describes it as, “…in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.” Notice it’s not in the winkling of an eye, for that would be too slow. Christians everywhere will experience the change straightaway. The change will also be a universal one because Christians from all over the world will be able to hear the final trumpet when it sounds. The change will also be a permanent one. How will it be so? Paul tells us that the perishable will put on the imperishable and the mortal will take on immortality. It will also be a triumphant change because death, the scourge of sin, will be swallowed up in victory. It will no longer have any power over our resurrected bodies. This victory brings an end to sin and the power of the law. In eternity, we will operate by the fruit of the Spirit, against which there will be no law. We praise God for the victory which he has secured for us through our resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. As a summation to the whole discourse on the resurrection, Paul wrote, exhorting Christians to…be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that our toil is not in vain in the Lord.

 

The resurrection is a great hope to anticipate. It stands as a reminder for us to be steadfast, to be steady in our Christian witness and to be conscientious in our service to the Lord. We will ultimately know, without a doubt, that whatever hardship or difficulty we endure in living and serving Him, are all worth the effort. They will all be proven at His coming. So brace up and move on!