Paul completes his masterpiece on resurrection, addressing what seems like a mystery to the world:
“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” (1 Cor 15:50-51a).
Even the holiest, most dedicated believers cannot simply inherit the kingdom of God. The mystery is how something can happen that will transform us into something new and wonderful. It is not by inheritance earned, but by the independent grace of God:
“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” (1 Cor 15:51b-53).
I am fascinated by the word “twinkling” here. What do you think of when this phrase is used – the twinkling of an eye? The translation of this could easily be in the “blinking of an eye” to indicate how quickly the trumpet will sound and we will all be changed. But I sense something more here – maybe I am right, or maybe it is just a nice thought: when I think of a twinkling of the eye, I think of a father’s pride in his children, maybe reflected by a couple tears.
But alas, after researching this, I found only a racist comment in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice which I will not dignify by quoting.
So allow me some leeway to at least suggest that there may be something more to the trumpet sound at the Day of the Lord, which is all about power and might and judgment, all of which is quite true. But this God who will shake the earth with power unimaginable is also a loving father for those who know him, his Son, and their Spirit. For those judged in his coming it will be anything but pleasant. But for those who have endured in Christ, there is a smiling father with a twinkle in his eye, the kind of twinkle a father gets when his kids come home for a visit – pure joy!
Do you think of God in both these ways?
“When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ O death, where is your victory? O death where is your sting’” (1 Cor 15:54-55; Heb 25:8; Ho 13:14)?
As a father and grandfather myself, there is nothing more enjoyable, if not tear-jerking as well, when one of my kids succeeds where he or she risked failure, and with a twinkle in my I eye can say, “I knew you could do it!”
Paul has the same future feeling in mind as he concludes this chapter:
“The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Cor 15:56-58).
This is perfect unity with the Lord.
This is no mystery.
I know you can do it!