Our
bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be
raised in strength. They are buried as natural human
bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are
natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies. The Scriptures tell us, “The first man,
Adam, became a living person.” But
the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit. What
comes first is the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later. Adam,
the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second
man, came from heaven. Earthly people are like the
earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man. Just
as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like the heavenly
man. What I am saying, dear
brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of
God. These dying bodies cannot inherit
what will last forever. But
let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be
transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of
an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For
when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For
our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our
mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. Then, when our dying bodies have been
transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” For sin is the sting that results in
death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through
our Lord Jesus Christ. So, my
dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for
you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless. 1 Corinthians 15:43-58
Buried in
brokenness; raised in glory, is the essence of redemption and grace. We, who are broken, both in body and spirit,
are dying. We inhabit flesh that is
passing away bit-by-agonizing-bit. We
spend more and more time in hospitals, waiting rooms, and treatment facilities
as the years zip by.
If we think
of our bodies as houses, the windows fog over with cataracts, the skin of our
houses suffer shingles, corrupted, peeling, and wrinkled. Our nights and days get confused with
insomnia and sleep-walking. The pain of
loneliness, the agony of knee joints scraping bone-on-bone, aching feet, and
failing memory are signs that our human housing is crumbling as we
frantically-search for a way to have five minutes not worrying abut the
doctor’s bill, and wondering how to pay for the undertaker’s services.
In all that
physical and mental anguish, so consistent with 21st century COVID
woes, healthcare complications, political posturing, and other cultural
shifting sands, we still have not been able to overcome the worst of it – our
guilt over that which bought us all this trouble – Adam and Eve’s trip to the forbidden
fruit tree.
The evidence
of just how advanced is this metastasized endemic of moral human failure, or
sin, is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. With
the unquestioned God-given answers to our need and solution to our dilemma, we
celebrated the first “Good Friday” by nailing our anticipated salvation to
crossbeams at Golgotha, the town garbage dump outside of Jerusalem.
But this
Gospel also shows us the pattern of God’s love and amazing grace! See here the pattern of our burial in
brokenness and resurrection in glory:
On Good
Friday we beat Jesus unrecognizable, mocked him, scourged, and crucified
him. Then we buried him in his
brokenness, sealed the tomb, and walked away, imagining that was that! We thought!
We thought
it was game-over, story finished; life would again be on our
terms. We thought! But the tomb of brokenness couldn’t hold the
Man of Sorrows. Three days later the
earth trembled, the curtain of separation in the Temple tore in two from the heavens
to the earth, and on the earth, graves shook free their inhabitants; death
walked in life sprung loose!
Come early Easter Sunrise the
Graveyard became a Glory Ground!
Buried in brokenness, Raised
in Glory!
The meaning
of this is a pattern. Jesus said we
would also have this pattern. Our bodies
also get buried in our human brokenness.
And the song we sang last Sunday is also the song we will sing in just a
few minutes, Victory in Jesus.
The whole
pattern of God’s plan for our brokenness, the redemption of our souls, and
freedom from our sins, left off being prophecy, and settled forever into
history on Easter morning when Jesus came out of the grave. He broke the chains of sin and made for a new
pattern. Brokenness cannot bury us
anymore.
In Paul’s
letter to the Corinthian church he reminded them of these facts. In Jesus’ conquering death and sin there is a
new pattern:
· The nature of
who we’ve been gives way to the spiritual of who He is
· The earthly mind
gives way to the mind set on God’s Kingdom
· Dying gives way to Transformation
and we become His image again
· Sin gives way to Victory,
and we are more than conquerors!
I am
once-again reminded of the kind of faith we saw in public life in past
generations. On his eightieth birthday,
John Quincy Adams was walking slowly along a Boston street. A friend asked him How is John Quincy
Adams today? The former
president replied graciously:
Thank you, John Quincy Adams is well, sir, quite well,
I thank you. But the house in which he
lives at present is becoming dilapidated. It is tottering upon the foundations. Time and the seasons have nearly destroyed it.
Its roof is fairly-well worn out, its
walls are shattered, and it trembles with every wind. The old tenement is becoming almost
uninhabitable, and I think John Quincy Adams will have to move out of it soon;
but he himself is quite well, sir, quite well.
This is the
kind of faith that understands we will all be buried in our brokenness; these
bodies were never meant to be permanent prisons for transformed souls.
So…where do
YOU stand…willing to remain in brokenness, and ready to be raised for
judgment?
Or are you willing
to stand with Jesus, be healed of the worst of your brokenness, which separates
you from God, and someday, when your name is called from above, stand before
God with Jesus at your side, and hear from the Father, Well done faithful
one…you have fought the good fight, and finished well?
Our Prayer
Father, our
hearts are gladdened by the sight of an empty cross and an empty tomb. Thank you for the gift we can receive of
forgiveness and eternal life in Jesus Christ.
For the glory, honor,
and praise to which You alone are worthy, o Lord, we pray in the Name of the
Son, cooperating with the Spirit, to honor and exalt the Majesty of the
Father. Let it be so in each of our
lives…Amen!
Title
Image: via Pixabay.com
Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation
