Victory in Jesus

 

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:54-58 (ESV)

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.”

            ⁵⁵          “O death, where is your victory?

                           O death, where is your sting?”

⁵⁶ 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 beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord our labor is not in vain.

 

Devotion:

            Today, as we think about the resurrection, I want to focus on what Christ’s resurrection gives to us mere mortals. We cannot imagine, I think, just what our new life in Christ will look like. We are too earth bound and sin oppressed to really know the glory that will be ours once we have been changed into our forever resurrection bodies. We will do well to spend some time today meditating on, and looking forward to, just what our eternity in the new heavens and the new earth will look like.

            Just exactly what our new bodies will look like we cannot know, but we can get some hints by remembering the gospel accounts of what Jesus resurrection body looked like. His body was real you could touch it. He could eat and talk. It still bore the scars of crucifixion but was without pain or distress. Yet it apparently could pass through locked doors without being hindered. And could ascend into the sky somehow. So, our bodies will be changed likewise when the resurrection of the dead becomes our present reality.

            In this world where death is an ever-present reality, we are hard pressed to hope for anything better. We need to remember what is promised in these verses; namely that because of Jesus death and resurrection we are promised an ultimate victory over death. We will have the ultimate victory over sin. We will be changed from what we are into what God promises is a glorious new state of being. Paul says elsewhere that “the eye has not seen what we shall be, but we know we shall be like Jesus.”  We wish that we knew more about what was to come, however, God has not ordained to let us know just what we will be like in our resurrection bodies.

            It has to be enough that we only know what God has chosen to reveal to us. We should be witnesses to what we do know about our future. Making sure that the world is aware that something better is coming into the world. The world must know that our current state of sin and death does not have to be our ultimate reality. There will be an ultimate triumph of life everlasting with God where there will be no more war and strife. Let us learn to live in light of the victory that Jesus has won for us.

 

Prayer:

            Glory to you our Father through Jesus Christ your son! We will have the ultimate victory over the forces of evil and death that reign in our world. Let the world sing praises to our God for he has saved us. Our future is secure, and it is wonderful beyond our wildest imagining. Glory to God in the highest! Amen.