Have you ever had a time in your life that was so difficult that your constant thought was how to be delivered from it? Maybe it was a family situation that weighed heavily on your soul. You knew it was not a good situation, but you feared the consequences of separating yourself from your family. It could have been a physical ailment that nagged you continuously. Some struggle with addictions that own them like a master owns a slave. The only way to true freeing deliverance is through Jesus Christ. In I Corinthians 15:57, Paul thanks God for victory through Jesus Christ.
I Corinthians 15:57 “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
In verse 50, Paul reminds us that our earthly bodies, flesh, and blood, cannot inherit Heaven. This is the realm where God lives, and there will be nothing corruptible there. The only way we can be fit to live in Heaven is to be changed. At the point of salvation, our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, but we are always in the process of sanctification. This is the process of becoming more like Jesus. In verse 53, we see that one day, everything on earth will come to an instant halt. The trumpet will sound to announce Jesus is coming to get those who are His. The dead that are saved will come out of the graves with a new body to join Him and reunite with their souls. Their souls are now in Heaven, but then they will receive a new body to live forever with Him.
I Corinthians 15:50-52 “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.”
Our corruptible bodies become incorruptible. No longer will death be a dreaded curse that inflicts us. Sin will no longer tempt us. We will experience complete freedom from anything bad. Victory is ours forever.
I Corinthians 15:53-57 “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.”
What we will experience then is far beyond our imagination. The glory that we will behold in God cannot be compared to anything we have experienced here on this earth. Therefore, Paul tells us in verse 58 to be actively living for Christ. We are to be steadfast. This is a settled attitude. A resolution to sit and not be moved. We are to be unmovable. No matter what happens, we will not go back to our old ways or make excuses for the sin in our lives. When the Holy Spirit shows us areas we need to change, we are ready and willing to repent and change. We have made up our minds to do what is pleasing to God.
When we approach our life in Christ with this resolution we will abound in His work. We will have such a desire to please Him that we cannot do enough to show our love to Him.
This labor, this determination, this love, does not go unnoticed. It is not in vain. It is quite the opposite. When we seek Christ and the things He loves above all else, when we suffer for His name sake, He tells us in Matthew 5:12 to “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”
I Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
Matthew 5:12 “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”
I pray you never get over the deliverance Jesus provided for you. We have a great inheritance, and most of all, we are delivered from the pits of Hell and the evil people who go there. We are delivered from the horrible torments that exist there. Today, spend some time thanking God for your deliverance through His Son.
