We Will All Be Changed

Paul encourages the church in Corinth something rather interesting.

In 1 Corinthians 15:51 Paul says that not everyone will sleep but they shall all be changed. Of course that promise doesn’t mean much until we appreciate what we’re being changed from and we’re being changed to.

The contrasts given are stunning – death to imperishable life – the mortal puts on immortality. Such is the triumphant state of affairs Paul even taunts death and the grave as they have been defeated by the power of the life of Christ.

I haven’t been feeling too well today – nothing major, but enough to keep me more or less bed ridden. It’s not unusual to feel the effects of living a perishable mortal body from time to time. I am grateful for the sign of healing that points us to something better and greater that we can experience now. I certainly don’t want to use verses like these in Corinth to suggest that this body is to be used anyhow because it’s destined for the earth anyway.

Yet for every cough and splutter there is a hope of something better. For every tear that comes down my eyes because of the pain, there is the hope of something better. For every headache and migraine that causes pounding and almost relentless throbbing, there is the hope of something better. For every frustration at an area that I’m not able to manage or handle physically or mentally, there is the hope for something better.

Jesus shows the example of what to live for now – to truly be grateful for our bodies, our environment and His world. We are to be diligent positive stewards towards all aspects of it. Even as we consider these responsibilities we do so knowing that that which perishes will soon put on the imperishable – that’s not just a human reality.

When Paul says we will all be changed the ‘all’ refers to his audience of believers who although messed up with division and malpractice, Paul still sees them as being called out ones who are to live in the light of the reality of the good news. Likewise then all of us on the journey with Jesus, however messed up we are, should keep our focus on Jesus and work with Him to live in the light of the reality of the presence of His Spirit. As we do so and see His Kingdom reality come, for all the injustice we still fight and the pains we still endure it is not futile.

There is hope – we will all be changed.

For His Name’s Sake

Shalom

C. L. J. Dryden