1 Corinthians 15

 

1 Corinthians 15 is segmented (by man) into three parts: resurrection of Christ, resurrection of the dead, and the resurrection body.  I'm not entirely sure why, but the following really spoke to me.

45 So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. 50 I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed-- 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." 55 "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

I already grasped the concept that I would not die and go to meet our Lord with my jeans and a hoody on; however, God's last victory on this earth will be the victory over death and I will no longer be a "human body in the flesh" when I meet God.  


The emboldened scripture (15:56) states that "the sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law." If the sting of death is sin, it is not death that I fear, but rather the regret that I leave behind me. If my last words to my loved ones were not "I love you" but rather a fight, what would I do with my self. If I died sinning, I cannot repent of that sin and, thus, it may not be forgiven. The second half of this scripture takes me back to the book of Romans as I did not know sin until the law told me it was so. Because of this, the law must be upheld, but sin ( something black and white) becomes gray as we try to find the "loop-holes" in life. 

This passage of scripture puts things into perspective: we have the likeness of two people within us, just as Romans states; however, we cannot enter heaven with our earthly form or mindset. Our sin is the "sting" of death, the thing that will cause it to happen and the knowledge of sin comes from the laws that we are to abide by.