Thankful for death?

1 Cor 15: 35-57
"There is a preacher of the old school, but he speaks about as boldly as ever today. He's not very popular, even though the world is his parish, and he travels to every part of the globe, and he speaks in every language.   He visits the poor. He visits the rich. He preaches to people of every religion, and he preaches to many of no religion. The subject of his sermon is always the same. It never changes. He is an eloquent preacher, and he is able to stir emotions in hearts that are not emotional. He is able to bring tears to eyes that seldom weep. His arguments are beyond refutation. There is no heart that remains untouched and unmoved by the force of his appeals. This preacher shatters life. This preacher disturbs the status quo. Most people hate him. Everybody listens to him. His name is death. Every tombstone is his pulpit. Every newspaper prints his text. And one day you will be the subject of his sermon, and he will stand at your graveside and preach to others."                                                                John MacArthur

What will he preach at your graveside?

Will he preach the foolishness of living in denial of death? or will he preach the virtues of preparation?
What preparations are available to us? Good living? reparations? Reformations? Faithful church activity?

I am thankful for death. Not that I am a morbid sort of person. I love life, I love God's creation and the marvel of our bodies. I love God's people and love my wife.

Yet, I am thankful for death because all of these things that I love about this life will be immeasurably improved after death.I am thankful for death because I would not want to be trapped forever in this body of shame. God would be unwise indeed to allow foolish, sinful creatures to live forever. v.42 tells us something of the changes that are to take place.

Sown in corruption, raised in incorruption.

We have all seen mummies; road kill, pictures of bloated bodies floating in water after a natural disaster. We recognize the corruption of the bodies.
Imagine in the twinkling of an eye, seeing those same mummified bodies changed into pink, flexible, beautiful flesh and bone.

More to the point, we see daily the decay of our own bodies. There are things that we used to be able to do that we can no longer do. There are increasing dangers to avoid - increasing ills to combat-increasing pains to attend to.

"Sown in dishonor, raised in glory"

Thankfully, the bodies that we will have will be far different in substance than what we have now. Our features will be such that we are easily recognizable, but those marks of dishonor will be gone: Crooked backs will be straightened, Atrophied muscle will be full and non-fatiguing;
Wrinkled, sagging and blemished skin will appear firm, supple and softer than that even of a newborn child;
There will be no more need for surgeons or specialists, pills or potions.

Minds and hearts plagued with inflammations of tissue and emotion will be calmed and free of pain. Instead, we will have bodies of glory.
The Apostle Paul tells us something of that difference of the body that is raised incorruptible. It is a body that bears the image of the heavenly. v.49 That is they are bodies fit for heavenly existence. Just as our bodies are now fit for an earthly existence.

Look at all the beautiful sea creatures that the Lord has created. Their bodies are fit for existence in the various depths of the sea. The same is true for land creatures who are created with a fitness for their environment. If the environment changes too drastically, they perish for they are unfit and unadaptable to the new environment.

The beauty and glory of heavenly bodies is that they are infinitely adaptable to any environment. The Lord's resurrection body moved as easily as light moves through the ether. Yet, unlike light waves that are restricted by mass or gravity, these bodies move as easily and gracefully through matter as they do through a vacuum.These are indestructible bodies, incorruptible bodies, inviolable bodies...bodies that move at the desires of a heavenly head rather than the whims of an earthly head.

"We die in weakness, we are raised in power"

Standing at the deathbed of my father. Wondering at the loss of ability that cancer had rendered. Listening to his own wondering statement: "I never thought that I would ever get like this".  Unable even to roll in bed without excruciating pain, unable to even stay awake longer than 15 minutes.

Even though I was unsaved, I was drawn to reading this passage of scripture for myself and then sharing it with him. He responded with a look that seemed to say, "I surely hope that it is true."

What a hope there is for those who have trusted Christ for salvation! The weakness of our present will, in an instant, give way to the power of the eternal.
Never more to be wearied by activity,
Never more to be worried about disease,
Never more to be wary of those things that may injure or frighten us.


"We die a natural body, we are raised a spiritual body"

The natural body is a body governed by breath. It is expendable, it is as a vapor that appears for a brief moment and then vanishes away. Without breath we perish in a matter of moments.

By contrast, spiritual bodies are not governed by breath that is expendable or transient, but rather by a life giving spirit that is governed by breathing the living Word of God. While our bodies now testify of God's judgment on sin, our new bodies will testify of God's power to create life anew. Not only will our bodies be new but they will produce newness, they will give life.

1 Cor 15:57
This is the victory that is spoken of that comes only through Jesus Christ.

The death of Christ on the cross is a substitute for you and I. His death was unique by virtue of His eternal Son-ship. For by it He tasted death for every human soul. (Hebrews 2:9) Then He was raised up unto eternal life giving opportunity for every human soul to experience the same. (John 17:3)

He is the only man who will ever be in the heavens that bears the blemishes of sin: As a lamb freshly slain, (Revelation 5:6,12) He bears no scars but open wounds from the Nail prints, a crown of thorns and  a pierced side.


By His Poverty, we are made rich.