The Great Fifty Days of Easter - the Feast of the Harvest - Pentecost

Day 44-50

Inherit, Mystery, Changed, Clothe, Victory, Thanks, Stand Firm

1 Corinthians 15:50-58

  

In these final verses of 1 Corinthians 15, Paul celebrates with words that can be seen as a song or symphony of victory.  If you look closely, it's divided into three sections, movements, just like a symphony.  The first movement is a celebration of the future transformation of our bodies, the second celebrates the future termination of sin -- the death of death, and the third, and final movement, celebrates the future compensation of our work -- what we celebrate today during the Feast of the Harvest -- Pentecost.

As we finish reading through the final verses of 1 Corinthians 15 and celebrate Pentecost, it seems appropriate to focus on what we have learned about 1 Corinthians 15 and to reflect on today's lectionary reading of Luke's account of Pentecost in the Acts of the Apostles.  I hope you will use the following litany as a way to conclude our observance of the Great Fifty Days of Easter and to celebrate the Feast of the Harvest - Pentecost.

Centering Music:  "GodSo Loved the World" by John Stainer

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

John 3:16-17

Celebrate the Future Transformation of Our Bodies

I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.  Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all 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.

1 Corinthians 15:50-53

Listen to "My Lord, What A Morning," arr. by H. T. Burleigh & performed by the Moses Hogan Singers.

 Celebrate the Future Termination of Sin

When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

    “Where, O death, is your victory?
    Where, O death, is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

1 Corinthians 15:54-57

Listen to "Death O Where Is Thy Sting" by Joel and Russell Nagy.

Celebrate the Future Compensation of Our Work

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

1 Corinthians 15:58

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.  Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.  They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Acts 2:1-4

Listen to "A Fanfare for Pentecost" by John Purifoy.

Prayer:  Flame within the fire, breath within the breeze, Dove of highest heaven, come and dwell within me.  Amen. (from "A Prayer forPentecost" by Pamela Stewart & David Lantz III)

The Great Fifty Days of Easter - Day 37-43 - May 6-13

Day 37-43

Glory & Power, Spiritual, Life-Giving, First, Heaven, Earthly, Image

1 Corinthians 15:43-49 (NIV)

...it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.  So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.  The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.  The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven.  As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven.  And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.

For the next few days, I am going to ask you to refer to this blog for each daily verse & key word.  Remember that yesterday, we started looking at the second resurrection reality -- the bodily resurrection is new and improved.  And we looked at the first of four changes that must occur to transform our earthly bodies to heavenly bodies.

Day 37

Glory & Power

Verse 43

Change #2:  Dishonor to Glory.  We all have a point in our lives where we look at our bodies and feel dishonored, a reminder that we are frail.  But God promises that we will be raised in glory.  Change #3:  Weakness to Power.  Isn't it true that we all want to live long, but we don't want to grow old.  God will give each of us a glorious, unique, and perfect body at the resurrection that will never fail or disappoint us.  Our resurrection bodies will be powerful.  We will not grow wear or weak.  Our way of life will be radically different than it is here on earth.

Day 38

Spiritual

Verse 44

Change #4:  Natural to Spiritual.  When Paul states that our resurrection bodies will be spiritual, he's referring to the type of body we will have.  In Luke 24:39, Jesus says, ”Look at my hands and my feet; it’s me! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones like you see I have.”  This is exactly what Paul is referring to -- we will not be a spirit, we will have a spiritual body.

Day 39

Life-Giving

Verse 45

During the next few verses, Paul draws comparisons once again between Adam and Jesus, using the argument that there is a difference between earthly and spiritual bodies.  Remember previously Paul referred to the first Adam and the last Adam (Jesus).  The first Adam was merely a human being.  The last Adam, Jesus, is not merely living, but life-giving.  Paul's point is that Christ gives life through His resurrection.

Day 40 - 43

First, Heaven, Earthly, Image

Verses 46-49

These last four verses are very simple by arguing that the heavenly is greater than the earthly.  However, in order to experience the heavenly, we must first experience the earthly.  Simply, the best is yet to come for when we die we have truly begun to live.

The Great Fifty Days - Day 36 - May 6

Day 36

Imperishable

1 Corinthians 15:42 (NIV)

So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable.

Yesterday Paul spoke about the splendor of the sun, the moon, and the stars.  Today's verse continues stating that the differences in splendor will also be true for the resurrection of the dead.  The body is buried in a state of degradation, decay, and corruption.  When it is resurrected, it will no longer be subjected to corruption, degradation, and death - sin.  Remember several of blogs ago, we talked about the two resurrection realities that will prepare us for heaven?  This verse starts us into the second reality -- the bodily resurrection is new and improved.  And for this to happen we must go through four changes to transform our earthly bodies to heavenly bodies.  The first change is revealed in this verse -- perishable to imperishable. Our earthly bodies are perishable.  Just like Adam to dust we shall return.  But when our bodies our resurrected, we will be imperishable.  We will never die again.  It will be indestructible.  Our spirit will flourish.  When we die, we will truly begin to live.

The Great Fifty Days of Easter - Day 35 - May 5

Day 35

Sun, Moon, Stars

1 Corinthians 15:41 (NIV)

The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.

We all know that the celestial bodies each have a different brilliance.  The sun is the brightest object in our solar system, then comes the moon, and then comes the stars.  Yet, even the stars have different brilliance among them.  Some are really bright and can be seen by the human eye.  And there are some that are just faint twinkles or can't be seen by our human eyes.  Paul's analogy here is a comparison of earthly bodies and celestial bodies.  The glory of our earthly bodies is different than the glory of our resurrected bodies.  Our earthly bodies do not shine until they become resurrected bodies.