1 Corinthians 15:50-58 NKJV
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
“So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.(vss. 54-56)
Honestly, these are such uplifting words of Holy Scripture, they need to be returned to again and again to crush any temptations of the world, our flesh and the devil attempting to bring about doubt. It isn’t any wonder that these words are very popularly read at confessional Lutheran Funerals — and rightly so!
The scoffers in Corinth could not conceive that God would have anything to do with disfigured human corpses. To their reason, the idea was abhorrent. They actually had a good point— How can flesh that is fallen inherit the kingdom of God, which is absolutely pure? Flesh and blood, corruption, dishonor, weakness, and natural limitations (cf. 15:42-44) characterize our lives in this fleeting world. Boy, doesn’t that truth of God’s Word strike hard against pride-filled, presumed-righteous, ‘turned-in-on-itself’ sinful flesh!
With Christians, however, when he is roused from the sleep of death (at least for those who are asleep, there will remain some to still be alive), at the dawning of God’s kingdom, the believer will be clothed with the new outfit! That new outfit (new nature) was promised and declared upon them in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism — in which God has viewed you since your justification through faith. A new spiritual body that is incorruptible and immortal becomes a reality in an instant, at God’s doing! That’s biblical, and that’s Lutheran theology! Let us pray: Gracious Father, we give you thanks for a blessed week in Your Word that has fixed us on Christ’s death and resurrection, and has, thus, assured us of our own. Amen.