1 Corinthians Chapter 15: A Hopeful Close to the Letter
In future devotionals, we will move on to Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians.
You will likely notice a change in the nature of future devotionals. Based on feedback from visitors to the God Revealed website and Facebook page, future devotionals will be less academic and more practical and applicable to our daily lives. I hope you’ll continue to follow the postings and share them with your friends.
Key Verses: (1 Corinthians 15:50–54)
50 I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed — 52 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. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 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.”
Daily Message
In this passage, Paul speaks glowingly of the glory that lies ahead for all believers. The dead will be raised, while the living will be caught up, and all will be transformed into their heavenly bodies. Mortality will suddenly be clothed in immortality. And death will be swallowed up in victory. This last message of hope was important to sustain the faithfulness of the believers in Corinth as well as to bolster the faith of the many converts yet to come. Indeed, even today it gives us joyous hope and expectation.
With the ultimate end game top of mind, Paul intended to give the Corinthians reason to stand firm in their faith and to give themselves over to service to the Lord under the assurances that it would not be in vain.
A Moment to Reflect
We all wonder about the nature of our eternal existence. Death seems so final, and we regret (or even fear) departing from what most of us consider a glorious existence and blessed life in our mortal bodies. My own father had a near-death experience and returned to life wanting to go back into that heavenly existence. We are encouraged by stories like my dad’s, but we also are reassured in the Scriptures by the words of Jesus Himself and those of Paul in his Epistles. Do you truly believe in these biblical truths? Do you live your life and serve the Lord knowing that your efforts are not in vain?