Tuesday, May 8, 2007
1 Corinthians 15:50-53 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed -- 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. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
JESUS' EASTER VICTORY CHANGES US INSTANTLY
Because Jesus' Easter victory over the grave guarantees us that our sins are forgiven, we are told that we will receive new, glorified bodies when He comes again to raise the dead from their graves on Judgment day.
On that day, the living and dead in Christ will receive new, glorified bodies, and that change will take place instantly. In the verse above, the word "moment" literally means something indivisible; an amount of time so small it can't be made any smaller. The expression "in the twinkling of an eye" means the time it takes for an eye to move when casting a glance. When that day comes and the trumpet sounds, we Christians won't have to wait very long at all to receive our new bodies.
But until that time comes, remember the instantaneous changes that are at work in us each day with regard to Jesus' Easter victory. Sometimes we are tempted to carry our sins around with us, burdening ourselves with guilt. When this happens, all we are really doing is telling ourselves that Jesus' blood isn't effective enough to wash this sin away quite yet. We tell ourselves that a certain sin is so heinous that its stain must remain on us for a while before Jesus' blood can remove it.
That is simply not the case! Our powerful and victorious Easter-Jesus who grants us the power for our bodies to be changed instantly at His second coming has also done all that is necessary so that all of our sins find immediate forgiveness in His shed blood.
