The Upper Room Daily Devotional "The Whole Picture" Friday, 7 March 2014 - Read 1 Corinthians 15:51-58

The Upper Room Daily Devotional "The Whole Picture" Friday, 7 March 2014 - Read 1 Corinthians 15:51 Behold,[a] I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will 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 will be changed. 53 For this perishable body must become imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 But when this perishable body will have become imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then what is written will happen: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”[b]
55 “Death, where is your sting?
    Hades,[c] where is your victory?”[d]
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power 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 brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
Footnotes:
a. 1 Corinthians 15:51 “Behold”, from “ἰδοὺ”, means look at, take notice, observe, see, or gaze at. It is often used as an interjection.
b. 1 Corinthians 15:54 Isaiah 25:8
c. 1 Corinthians 15:55 or, Hell
d. 1 Corinthians 15:55 compare Hosea 13:14
“Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”--1 Corinthians 15:54-55 (NIV)
One Ash Wednesday, I attended a graveside funeral service for a 16-year-old boy, the son of family friends. He had died in an automobile accident days before. As the mourners gathered by the freshly turned earth, grief washed over us. “Why?” seemed to be the question on everyone’s lips. “Why did this boy, bright with promise who loved God passionately, die so young?” No one knows why tragedies occur. But remembering the whole picture helps me. As Christians, we know that our story does not end on Ash Wednesday. Nor does it end on Good Friday. Early on Sunday, the stone rolled away; Jesus emerged alive from a dark tomb and eternally shattered the grip of death. On resurrection morning, Jesus gave us the ability to look death straight in the eyes, and say, “It isn’t over.” To those who put their trust in the resurrected One, Jesus gives the assurance of eternal life. Jesus’ words, “The one who believes in me will live, even though they die” (John 11:25), bring immeasurable comfort and hope to any who would believe — especially those dealing with the loss of a loved one.
The Author: Beverly Varnado (Georgia, USA)
Thought for the Day: Every day we can have victory in Christ Jesus.
Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for bearing the cross for us. Thank you for rising from the dead and conquering death forever. Amen.
Prayer focus: Parents grieving the loss of a child (Visit devotional.Upperroom.Org/blog for more content.)
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