April 18, 2025

1 Corinthians 15:50-58 (HCSB)
Victorious Resurrection
50 Brothers, I tell you this: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and corruption cannot inherit incorruption. 51 Listen! I am telling you a mystery: We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed,
52 in a moment, in the blink of an eye,
at the last trumpet.
For the trumpet will sound,
and the dead will be raised incorruptible,
and we will be changed.
53 For this corruptible must be clothed
with incorruptibility, and this mortal must be clothed with immortality.
54 When this corruptible is clothed
with incorruptibility, and this mortal is clothed
with immortality, then the saying that is written will take place: Death has been swallowed up in victory.
55 Death, where is your victory?
Death, where is your sting?
56 Now the sting of death is sin,
and the power of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ!
58 Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Adrian Bullard
(vs. 57) “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Amen! Paul ends this chapter with enthusiasm for what is and what is to come. He is saying that believing God sent Jesus to die for us means we do not have to die eternally. On the contrary, your mortality turns to immortality and as this body will perish, your spiritual body will flourish. The Greek verb harpagesometha, translated “caught up,” refers to a specific moment in the future when believers are caught up by Jesus Christ as he descends from Heaven. When Christ comes again the bodies of believers will be transformed.