"I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell 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 trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality."
We cannot in our current form experience the fullness of blessing that God has in store for us. Physical bodies are temporal, limited, and decaying. Spiritual, heavenly blessings are unending, unending, and so far beyond us that they can only be fully enjoyed in spiritual bodies.
Not every Christian must die to experience these blessings. Some will be transformed without death at Christ's return. It will happen in an instant. The day will seem like any other, then mortal to immortal, dieing to incorruptible.
This truth is encouraging on a couple of levels.
- We will eventually be freed from the pains of decay that we are progressively subjected to as we grow older.
- We will enjoy a fuller, deeper fellowship with God.
- We will be freed from the corruption of temptation to sin.
- Whether or not we experience death, we "must" experience this new life.
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