Perishable to Imperishable - 1 Corinthians 15:50-58

In our house, there have been countless times when my wife will buy fruit for the kids. They will scavenge the fruit, but more times than not, the kids leave the remaining fruit. It tends to sit there, and it will eventually rot and perish. It is no longer good. The flesh of the fruit cannot become imperishable again. There is nothing the fruit can do to reverse the process of decay.

But, we as Christians have hope through Christ Jesus.
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1 Corinthians 15:50-58
⁵⁰ I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹ Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, ⁵² 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. ⁵³ For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. ⁵⁴ 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.”

⁵⁵ “O death, where is your victory?
             O death, where is your sting?”

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
⁵⁸ 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.
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God created us in His image, but He created us as flesh and blood. Once sin entered the world, we were cut off from eternal life with God. There is no way for our present body to enter the Kingdom of God.

Paul says that we have hope because we will be changed. The sting of death no longer has victory over us. Jesus resurrected from the dead with his human flesh, truly conquering death's victory over us.

However, we are called to make a change. We are called to be committed, and through that commitment to Christ, we will put on imperishable bodies and have immortality through God's grace.

We don't know the time or day when Jesus will call us into heaven and bestow upon us a perfect and flawless body. Therefore, we must be ready, immovable, and remain steadfast through these trying times. Our labor in Christ, our labor to expand the God's Kingdom, our labor of discipleship will not be in vain.

Remember that there is nothing we can do to earn the imperishable, but we can humble ourselves and accept His grace through repentance.

God wants more from us. Do we want the same thing?