RESURRECTION PRIZE
1 Corinthians 15:20-58
Vv. 42-43: “So will it be with the resurrection of the dead [stars differ from another star in splendor]. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.”
Resurrection (res-ur-RECK-shon means bodily reappearance) prize is life after death. Paradise Today devotion showed Jesus promising paradise that same day to one criminal as they hung on their crosses. But they had to die before entering paradise, believer’s heaven. 1 Corinthians 15:44 says how they entered paradise: “It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.”
Jesus and the criminal entered heaven (paradise) the moment they died as spirit beings. Heaven is full of spirit beings who believed in Jesus Christ while they lived. One day—just like Jesus—we will be clothed in new physical bodies, too. That’s why Paradise Today devotion also said, “Earthly life is the test road—our only chance to decide our future by the choices we make when alive.”
The criminal made that fateful choice hours before his death. Jesus promised him paradise that same day! People have until the moment before they die to believe in Jesus as Lord, in order to enter heaven when they die. But the opening Scripture tells us that the difference would be revealed in the splendor of their spirit bodies. Jesus’ spirit body must have radiated brilliant splendor in contrast to the criminal’s dim spirit body.
Everyone knows that funerals are sad times for family and friends after someone dies. While that person will never be seen again on earth, relatives and friends comfort each other the best they can. Jesus’ disciples mourned His death, too. Their despair was so deep that they forgot what Jesus told them in John 16:20: “I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.” Then they saw Him alive!
The funeral for persons who never believed in Jesus during their lifetimes are mourned by family and friends who have no hope to encourage them with! Theirs is the saddest funeral of all.
Take Home Nugget
But funerals for Christians are different. Their mourners share a secret from 1 Corinthians 15:51-53: “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will be changed—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. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.”
Paradise first—then later—resurrected bodies after we die!
J.D. Griffith
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