The Ultimate Victory

“Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (I Cor. 15:50-58). There it is my friend, the most definitive description in the Bible of the ultimate victory for a disciple of Jesus Christ. That victory of course is the victory over death that the true believer and follower of Jesus is promised. Let’s look at it for a moment and see just exactly what we’ve read here, and how that victory comes to pass. First of all we see that we cannot ‘inherit’ the kingdom of God while still in this life. We can be 'in’ the kingdom of God and redeemed from sin while in this life, but the 'inheritance’ begins with the redemption of our body, which we see described in this passage of scripture (Rom. 14:17; Eph. 1:7; Eph. 1:14; Eph. 4:30 Rom. 8:23). Next up we see a shortened version of 1 Thessalonians 4:16,17, which describes the second coming of the Lord and the catching up his faithful to meet him in the air on his way here from heaven. That is when the righteous, both dead and living will be 'changed’ as the apostle states in this passage. That 'change’ IS the ultimate victory, because that is when the 'pure in heart’ will be clothed upon with immortality forevermore. THAT IS the victory over death. Now here’s where it gets even better, and more definitive about what the victory over death is all about. It is the body that dies when our spirit leaves our body (Jas. 2:26). Our soul and spirit will continue without interruption, and we will be consciously living in paradise if we have finished our course here without sin in our life. If we choose to die in sin then we will be consciously 'alive’ in hell fire, and there will be no victory over death in that circumstance. Therein is the fear of the Lord, and the beginning [and continuance] of wisdom (Prov. 9:10). But for those who do fear God, and “purify [themselves] even as [Christ] is pure,” the victory over death is all about the body, because again it is only the body that truly dies (I Jn. 3:2,3).

Now the apostle Paul makes it perfectly clear that our dead bodies will rise and be clothed upon with immortality, and that this IS the victory over death: “So when this corruptible shall have PUT ON incorruption, and this mortal shall have PUT ON immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” Our spirits are neither 'corruptible’ or 'mortal,’ because our spirits will never decay or die, regardless of where we end up after this life. And it is crystal clear by his writing, that Paul is saying definitively that OUR MORTAL AND CORRUPTIBLE BODIES will 'put on’ immortality and incorruption. That incorruption and immortality is the very heavenly substance of the living body of the Lord Jesus Christ, as the same apostle states clearly in another place: “Who [Jesus] shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body” (Philip. 3:21). The same apostle confirms these same things yet again, telling us what we need to have in order for this transformation to take place: “But if the SPIRIT of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies BY HIS SPIRIT that dwelleth in you” (Rom. 8:11). So even if our bodies are dissolved completely, the coming of the Lord will bring our atoms back together and our bodies will be restored, in order to be clothed upon with the immortal substance of God’s Spirit. Those who are baptized with that same Spirit, and “keep themselves pure,” will have their bodies effectively baptized with the holy Ghost at his coming (I Tim. 5:22; Mat. 5:8). The conclusion of the passage is quite integral, for this is where we see that this victory over death will only be obtained by those who truly go to their grave with no sin in their life. As he says, “the sting of death is sin.” Jesus had no sin, and he has given us the means to have no sin as well, which is the power of his Spirit that is received by all who truly believe and obey him (Jn. 7:38,39; Act 5:32; Acts 1:4,5,8). Jesus is the 'firstfruits’ of the resurrection from the dead, and those who will raise at his coming will have died as he died, meaning without sin in their life (I Cor. 15:20,23). That is why death will have no victory over them, but rather vice versa. And as Jesus raised in his own body, so will we raise in our own bodies. I don’t know about you friend, but I do not intend to be stung by death. I intend rather to sting death, and obtain that ultimate victory that Jesus purchased for us all with his very life. God bless.