1 Cor.15:51-57 – Behold, I shew 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 trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
This great event, the return of Jesus, the first resurrected man, may be closer than we think. I have been watching the events in the Middle East even more closely than I normally do and what I see is moving parts shuffling around very quickly. We see Israel trying to destroy its great enemy, Iran. We see Russia trying to interject itself into the political quagmire with the USA and the middle eastern nations. We also see this latest war with Iran putting economic pressure on China; something is bound to give pretty soon. These events could combine for Ezekiel’s prophesy of an invasion of Israel to be tomorrow morning’s news. With all this going on how should I respond? If this is all true then the return of Christ and the resurrection of His people may be at hand. Here is what Augustine said about this resurrection.
“People are amazed that God, who made all things from nothing, makes a heavenly body from human flesh. When he was in the flesh, did not the Lord make wine from water? Is it anything so much more wonderful if he makes a heavenly body from human flesh?… Is he who was able to make you when you did not exist not able to make over what you once were?”
So what shall I do in light of these things? First, make sure my heart is ready to meet the Lord. As Jesus said, “keep your lamps trimmed and burning”. Secondly, do all I can to reach others, the current events should bring an urgency into our lives. Staying full of the Spirit and pouring out the love of God is all that’s left for us to do.
1 thought on “THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD”
Thank you , Pastor Frank , your blog is inspiring me to dig deeper . To be ready , wicks trimmed , lamps burning , with extra oil . Encouraging others to see Jesus .