51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 1 Corinthians 15:51-52
There is a long history of spiritual religions that teach the body is evil and the highest existence is to be liberated from the prison of our bodies. They teach that we are most alive and pure when we exist as spirit; free from material confinements. While this may sound like Buddism and other eastern mystical religions, Christianity has a spotty history with these beliefs as well.
In the early days of the church, there were groups that believed material things were evil, including our bodies. This was true of the Gnostics, but there were many other groups and individuals who believed this as well. While few people today would make identical claims to the Gnostics, there are still subtle ways these views creep into the church. We even see this in the way most people think of eternity. For the most part, it seems that the average American Christian thinks that their eternity will be spent in a spiritual heaven as a spiritual being. That’s partially driven by this false teaching; that we need to get rid of our bodies if we’re going to be in the presence of God for all eternity.
In Paul’s day, the belief that the body was evil, lead some to argue that there is no resurrection of the dead. Why would God join our souls back to our bodies if it’s better to exist spiritually for all eternity? Therefore, they claimed, there is no resurrection of the dead. This is the issue Paul has to address in 1 Corinthians 15.
The first, and most important, answer Paul gives to that question is that there has to be a resurrection of the dead or we don’t worship a risen Savior. If we don’t worship a risen Savior, then we don’t have a Savior. But, Paul says Christ has, in fact, been raised. Also, Jesus is only the firstfruits, which means there are more resurrections to come for all who trust in Christ.
Our resurrected bodies, however, will not be the same nature as our current bodies. Our current bodies cannot handle eternity or being in the presence of the glory of God. Our bodies simply can’t handle the radiance of the glory of God. It would overwhelm us and destroy us. Therefore, we need to be resurrected with glorified bodies. This is what Paul mentions in verse 50 just before our Fighter Verse passage begins, “50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.” We need imperishable flesh instead of our current perishable flesh.
Of course, that leads to a second question: What if Jesus returns before we die? How will our perishable bodies be ready for eternity? As our Fighter Verse for this week points out: We won’t all sleep (die), but we will all be changed. At the last trumpet, the dead will be raised with imperishable bodies and in the twinkling of an eye those alive will be transformed as well. And, from that point into eternity we will have glorified imperishable bodies that will be able to soak in and enjoy the glory of God for a trillion times ten trillion years and beyond.
Our eternity with Christ will be a physical eternity. Though it will be a different kind of physical existence, we will still see, touch, taste, and feel. We will finally have the glorified eyes we need to fully see the glory of Christ on display in all that he has made. And as we gaze at the beauty of the land with our glorified eyes and feel the breeze on our glorified faces and hear the sounds of the new earth in our glorified ears, we will finally worship with all our heart, soul, and strength the one for whom it all was made.