In 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 Paul writes of two great revelations for the true follower of Christ. The first revelation concerns our death as believers or, in the case of some, the lack of death. Paul inadvertently gives us two assurances as believers in this statement:
• “Sleep”: From a worst-case scenario, we die and our physical bodies cease to function on any level, and we’re gone. I can think of no greater thing in all of human experience that brings forth more of a sense of hopelessness to loved ones than death. Here, Paul uses a word to describe a believer’s death that ought to arrest our attention. He simply calls it “sleep.” To Paul, the word did not mean “eternal sleep” in which we are in some “unending night.” No, to him, the word meant “resting in the Lord.” In fact, it was Christians who first coined the word “cemeteries” as the word literally means “sleeping places.” So what is the assurance that Paul speaks of here? Even in a worst-case scenario in which a believer dies, they are just going to be resting with Jesus. In fact, Paul says as much in his second letter to the Corinthians in 5:8 that for the believer, “we would rather be away from these bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord.” As Christians, we don’t have to fear death, as we know exactly what awaits us: we will be resting with Jesus, in His presence, at home with Him. All right, praise the Lord, what a great assurance!
• “Not all sleep”: The second assurance deals with the truth that some Christians who are alive at the time of the rapture will not even experience death. Some of us in will not even have to pass through the door of death. Some of us will not go through the uneasiness or pain that causes us to cross the bridge into Jesus’ presence. No, we will just be going on in our everyday life, as we are today, and then “bam,” we are ushered into His presence at home with Him! I’m not going to tell you that this will be your or my experience, but it very well may be. I could be in mid-sentence and not be able to finish it! Doesn’t that excite you with the possibility of instant eternity?
This leads us to the second mystery that Paul reveals and the third assurance. I believe that this is the greatest of them all as it covers in hope both assurances as well. Paul says, “We all shall be changed,” YES! Our corruption is going to put on incorruption, our dishonor is going to put on glory, our weakness is going to put on power, and our natural body is going to put on a spiritual body!
It matters not if we sleep in Jesus or are just raptured, as we all will be changed. Every day I pray that I will be changed more into Jesus’ image, that His character and nature will be more visible and less of me will be seen in my attitude and actions. But by the end of the day, I realize that I did not meet my expectations, so I confess my failures and start the next day with the same prayer! Oh, but one day something glorious is going to happen to me, as my prayer for transformation will be complete one way or the other—I’m going to be changed. I’m so sick and tired of my lack of change at times. The truth be told, most of the time I can’t stand my old flesh. Paul spoke to the Romans (7:24-25) about this feeling he had about himself when he said, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” He then answered his own question by saying, “I thank God; through Jesus Christ our Lord!” That is it, “we all shall be changed”!