1 Corinthians 15:51-57 — Behold, I show 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 trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

I hope this week’s devotions aren’t seeming morbid. That’s not my intention at all. Perhaps it’s because on Saturday I’ll be attending the third memorial in three weeks that I’m focused on last things. I’m wanting to set a hopeful tone, because there is no doubt in my mind that God’s provision for us at that time is as gracious and merciful as everything else he provides.
Remember the story. Adam and Eve were in the garden, in fellowship with God. Satan tempted them and they sinned. Satan thought he’d won, with the best of God’s creation under his control — and, if he could get them to eat of the other tree, perhaps he has them for all time. God provides a limit to that control by expelling Adam and Eve from the Garden, guaranteeing a limited lifespan.
God’s plan, of course, went much further. He would restore the fellowship. He made it clear, right back in Genesis: “and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15) The plan depended on another death. God’s Son — His partner in the Trinity — would join with man in death, so that man could join with Him in going beyond death to eternal life. There are those who claim Jesus did not really suffer death and corruption. They are wrong. He absolutely did. “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.” (Hebrews 2:9)
Death was never a punishment. It was a natural part of life in the Garden before the fall, and it has been used by God to redeem His fallen children. It is our gateway to living with Jesus — who has gone ahead to prepare a place for us.