1Cor 15:50 - Shameful Death Made Joyful

50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.


This line of thought all started because seeds of doubt were being sown about the resurrection of the saints by false teachers. Having made his case from nature, scripture and history that resurrection is not only possible, and has already happened in our forerunner, the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul reemphasises the point that it is far more than possible - it is necessary.

The body we now inhabit is part of the old order. It is corruptible and corrupted. It must pass away or the new body cannot be received. We cannot be both earthly and heavenly, both mortal and eternal - neither in spirit, nor in body. God has so designed and appointed all things that all men must die bodily and all men must be raised from the grave. But the children of God will be raised in glorified bodies suited to their eternal life with their Saviour. The reprobate will be raised with eternal bodies perfectly suited to experience the torments of hell forever.

The bodies we now inhabit are destined to be put off because they are ravaged by the curse upon the race in Adam. They are, in a sense, betrayers of our delight in God. They war against the regenerate spirit because of their fallenness. They are a Trojan Horse within the kingdom of our hearts. They must be pummelled and subdued, controlled and denied due to their myriad sensations and lusts and feelings and impulses. Our bodies are not of themselves evil, but due to their weakened condition they are often made allies of the enemy. They are the means by which our inward lusts are expressed outwardly, and they are defiled by our sin.

But when God has completed His work of sanctification in our souls, using those very self-same tendencies and leanings to educate and to convict and to change us so that we trust in Him alone, then the fallen body’s usefulness to God’s work will be over, and it will be time for the glorified one. When God says it is time it is time. Not a moment before - and certainly not a moment longer. All things will be made new.