Last week my family and I traveled to Cordova to bury the brother of a friend. We left Whittier and took the ferry to Cordova. The fast ferry Chenega is an amazing piece of equipment. It is 238 feet long, carries 35 vehicles and cruises at 38 knots (almost 45 miles per hour). Cordova was beautiful. The graveside service prompted me to meditate upon death.

Thankfully, death for a believer in Jesus Christ is not the end but the beginning.

The hope of the Christian is expressed by the epitaph Benjamin Franklin wrote for himself. “The body of Franklin, printer, like the cover of an old book, its contents worn out and stripped of its lettering and gilding, lies here food for worms. But the work will not be lost, for it will appear once more in a new and more elegant edition, revised and corrected by its Author.” 1 Corinthians 15 focuses on the resurrection of the believer. Death for a believer is graduation day. It is promotion day to a far better existence. These verses praise God in anticipation of the resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15:50-58 spells out four great truths concerning life after death for the Christian.

• The first truth is the great transformation in verses 50-53. “Now I say this, brethren, that 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 must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.”

The resurrection body will not be flesh and blood. Even though our present bodies are wonderfully suited for Earth, they are not suited for heaven. The human body is perishable. Like the seed that is planted, the resurrection body continues its identity but in a radically and wonderfully different form.

All believers will be changed “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.” It will not be a process. It will be an instantaneous recreation from one form to the other. “Moment” is from atomos, from which we get the word atom. It denotes that which cannot be cut, or divided. It is the smallest conceivable quantity. To further emphasize the speed of the change, Paul said it will occur “in the twinkling of an eye.” The word “twinkling” refers to rapid movement. The eye can move much faster than any other part of our bodies. The change will be fast, instantaneous.

• The second truth is the great triumph in verses 54-56. “But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.”

Christ’s resurrection broke the power of death for those who believe in him. We no longer need fear death but it still invades and torments us while we are mortal. But one day, when Christ returns, the perishable “must put on the imperishable” (verse 53) and the mortal “must put on immortality” (verse 53).

Paul taunted death. “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” Paul implied that death left its sting in the Lord Jesus, as a bee leaves its sting in its victim. Jesus bore the whole of death’s sting in order that we would have to bear none of it. “…the sting of death is sin…” Death is caused by sin. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). “…the power of sin is the law….” Paul explains the sequence leading to death. God is holy and perfect. He has revealed his standard (the law). We fail to meet that standard. Sin brings death. This all leads to the good news of verse 57.

• The third great truth is the great thanksgiving in verse 57. “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jesus triumphed over sin and death. That which we could never do for ourselves God has done “through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jesus died on the cross paying for our sins. How can we do anything but thank and praise God for what he has done for us? He has promised us an imperishable, glorious, powerful and spiritual body for one that is perishable, dishonorable, weak and natural. For Christians death has no more power (Hebrews 2:14-15) because God has taken away our sin.

• The fourth great truth is the great exhortation in verse 58. “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” We demonstrate our thankfulness to Jesus by being steadfast, immovable, always doing the work of the Lord.

In the Civil War, a group of soldiers had to spend a winter night in the open field without tents.

During the night it snowed several inches, and at dawn the chaplain reported a strange sight. The snow covered soldiers looked like mounds of new graves. When the bugle sounded reveille a man immediately rose from each mound of snow, dramatically reminding the chaplain of the resurrection.

Standing in Cordova with the rain falling, at the graveside, I was reminded of the brevity of life and the reality of death. Thankfully, Jesus died and was buried and rose again. Jesus our Messiah enables his followers to overcome death. Repent of your sin. Turn to his saving work upon the cross. He died in your place. Surrender your life to him. Follow him and experience new life.

Ethan Hansen is pastor of Faith Bible Fellowship in Big Lake. He can be reached at ehansen@biglakefaithbible.org.