Recently I visited a church and spotted a humorous sign on the door of the baby nursery. It was a clever take on today’s Scripture. It read “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.” True story! Well-run nurseries can’t guarantee that your baby will nap while in their care, but every baby’s diaper is changed before pick-up time.

Paul’s use of the word “sleep” in some translations is contrasted with the more direct translation in our Common English Bible. There the Scripture reads, “All of us won’t die, but we will all be changed.” We have to give Paul a little grace here, as he fully, hopefully, and optimistically anticipated that Christ would return in his life time. And we also have to acknowledge that by saying “All of us,” he may have believed that there will be one last generation that would be on alive on earth at the moment of Jesus’ return. In any case, Paul taught us that in a singular moment at Jesus’ Second Coming, the dead will rise and join the living in receiving changed bodies that will be appropriate for heaven. 

1 Corinthians 15 (Common English Bible)

⁵⁰ This is what I’m saying, brothers and sisters: Flesh and blood can’t inherit God’s kingdom. Something that rots can’t inherit something that doesn’t decay. ⁵¹ Listen, I’m telling you a secret: All of us won’t die, but we will all be changed— ⁵² in an instant, in the blink of an eye, at the final trumpet. The trumpet will blast, and the dead will be raised with bodies that won’t decay, and we will be changed. ⁵³ It’s necessary for this rotting body to be clothed with what can’t decay, and for the body that is dying to be clothed in what can’t die. ⁵⁴ And when the rotting body has been clothed in what can’t decay, and the dying body has been clothed in what can’t die, then this statement in scripture will happen:

This understanding of a future imminent kingdom of God on earth makes perfect sense. Humanity began in the perfection of the Garden of Eden and Paul’s words indicate a return to an Eden-like existence where fellowship with God is restored and bodies do not break down and decay as they once did. Paul explained that since we are made in the image of Christ, we have a clue about what our resurrection bodies will be like. We can look at Jesus’ resurrection appearances for a hint. He had a material body that could walk, talk, and eat, and yet he was not bound by the laws of nature, as demonstrated by the fact that he could walk through a closed door. This “mystery” of the Second Coming is not so much a mystery in the usual sense, but rather a biblical mystery that can only be understood in a spiritual sense. This mystery is something that the church in Corinth could only learn by God revealing it.

Death has been swallowed up by a victory.
⁵⁵         Where is your victory, Death?
        Where is your sting, Death?

Many Christian readers today have a deep interest in trying to figure out what will happen at the end of time. Theories about a “rapture” and its pre-and post-millennial times abound and there is a great diversity of thought. Paul reminds us that such mysteries will only be understood when God chooses to reveal them to us at the Second Coming. Until then, we are to learn, study, and hold fast to the Word that teaches us about the life, death, and resurrection of our Savior. Death has no victory over us, and it has no sting thanks to Jesus’ promise that we will share in his resurrection. What are you doing to be ready?

Garden Path by Kathy Schumacher