Be Changed
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1 Corinthians 15:42-54
42. So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. 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 physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. 45. Thus it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46. But it is not the spiritual which is first but the physical, and then the spiritual. 47. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48. As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. 49. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. 50. I tell you this, brethren: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51. Lo! 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 imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53. For this perishable nature must put on the imperishable, and this mortal nature must put on immortality. 54. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory."
In the twinkling of an eye? Wow! I better be sure I stay on my toes today! Paul lived each day as if “this is the day” that Christ was coming again. And why not? Who knows when it will happen?! He is explaining that just as we became flesh through Adam, we become imperishable through Christ. Just as we became sinners, because of Adam’s sin, we are saved because of Christ. Just as we roam the earth, seeking wisdom we do not need, asking questions to which we don’t need the answers, like Adam, so through Christ do we have every question answered, we find direction and purpose, and we see and know all that Christ does at the second coming!
I can hardly wait! But, oh my gosh! That puts a lot on us, doesn’t it!? That means that if today is “the day” I have a lot of fences to mend. I have some apologies to make. I have some bad habits to change. I have some friends I’ve neglected – I better call them! I have so many things to make right in my life – that, well, maybe tomorrow would be better! But oh, yeah—it’s going to come “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.”
Was Paul being foolish to believe that every day could be the one he would be reunited with his Lord and Savior? Was he being naïve? Was he being overly dramatic to make a point? I don’t think so! I think he’s right: we don’t know when “it” will happen! And when it does, he wants to be ready – and he wants us to be ready – as does God. Flesh to spirit. Sin to salvation. Death to eternal life. Perishable to immortal. That’s what I want! I want to “be changed.”
Paul spends a lot of time explaining the process. He painstakingly draws the parallels between Adam and Jesus. He wants us to understand how important it is for us to grasp what he’s saying. God made man. Mankind couldn’t hack it on its own. We got way off track. We couldn’t help it, because, after all, he made us human! But we have a promise that one day we will be perfected in Him—through Him. With Him.
That’s why we strive for perfection. That’s why we try to live a life acceptable to God. That’s why we try to do the right thing. Because of that promise. And we know he’ll keep it because he already kept the 2nd greatest promise he made: he sent us His Son! So how can we help but anticipate fulfillment of the 1st greatest promise? As much as God loves us just the way we are, he wants us to inhabit our salvation bodies—so we can spend eternity with him.
I hope today you examine what still needs to be done in your life for you to achieve perfection. And that you’ll set in place a plan to get as close to perfection as you can.
Mary
