A Simple, Yet Profound, Benediction

 

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.”

—Philippians 4:23

The New Testament writers of letters followed a tradition of Koine Greek literature by ending each letter with a phrase of blessing. These benedictions were intended to serve a purpose similar to that of the best friend, who ends a letter with the words:

“In deepest friendship.”

In some ways, it may seem like a simple gesture of politeness. But actually, these words of closing in the letters from the Apostles meant a very great deal to those reading these letters.

Some of the words of blessing were longer than others. In closing the letter to the Christians gathered at Philippi, the Apostle Paul chose to use what at first may appear as a quite simple phrase. However, upon closer examination, we can see how profound these words really are. Notice what Paul wrote, as recorded in Philippians 4:23:

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

Here, Paul is asking God to grant to these new and struggling Christians the very essence of His grace, expressed through the death and resurrection of His one and only Son, Jesus. And, Paul is asking for this blessing to fall upon the innermost being of these new Christians.

As we begin a new day, let’s take these words of Paul and accept them by applying them to our own lives. Let us receive the blessing of Christ’s grace into the very depth of our own spirits. And, let’s allow His grace to enable us to will and to do of His good pleasure, as we faithfully serve as His ambassadors.

 

_{Copyright © 2025 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Give Ourselves Fully

 

“Therefore, my dear brothers (and sisters), stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

—1 Corinthians 15:58

“The only way you will ever learn this material is if you give yourselves fully to studying it until it sinks into the core of your brain. That’s the way with anything in life that you truly deem as important.”

It was the first day of Advanced Mathematics class my senior year in high school. The teacher was Frederick Rehm. He handed us a thick textbook that contained an introduction to Calculus and intoned the above warning. His point? If we wanted to succeed in learning Calculus, we would have to intentionally determine to commit ourselves to whatever study was necessary to learn this higher form of mathematics.

Mr. Rehm was also right that in order to achieve any goal in life, it becomes necessary to devote oneself fully to meeting the objectives that lead to satisfying that goal. This is exactly what the Apostle Paul had in mind when he wrote these words found in 1 Corinthians 15:58:

Therefore, my dear brothers (and sisters), stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

As Christ’s ambassadors in this troubled and needy world, if we want to become the best possible representatives of our Lord, we must devote ourselves to the work of His Kingdom. Our devotion must be unswerving. We must invest time, talent, and ability if we are to succeed.

At the beginning of this new day, it seems worthwhile to ask ourselves this question:

“Are we willing to give our all for God’s Kingdom?”

 

_{Copyright © 2025 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

True Victory in Jesus

 

“But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

—1 Corinthians 15:57

Every time I read the verse highlighted in today’s blog post, I remember a gospel song that we often sang at Wednesday night prayer meetings when I was growing up. Written by Eugene Bartlett with a delightful melody, this song expresses the essence of this verse of Scripture found in 1 Corinthians 15:57:

But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Here’s that song: ¹

I heard an old, old story,
How a Savior came from glory,
How He gave His life on Calvary
To save a wretch like me;
I heard about His groaning,
Of His precious blood’s atoning,
Then I repented of my sins
And won the victory.

Chorus: O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood.

I heard about His healing,
Of His cleansing pow’r revealing.
How He made the lame to walk again
And caused the blind to see;
And then I cried, “Dear Jesus,
Come and heal my broken spirit,”
And somehow Jesus came and bro’t
To me the victory.

Chorus: O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood.

I heard about a mansion
He has built for me in glory.
And I heard about the streets of gold
Beyond the crystal sea;
About the angels singing,
And the old redemption story,
And some sweet day I’ll sing up there
The song of victory.

Chorus: O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood.

May our hearts resound in a song of victory this day and every day.

 

______________________

1 Bartlett, Eugene M. “Victory in Jesus.” Powewll, MO: Brumley Music Publishers (Albert E. Brumley & Sons, Inc.), 1939, renewed 1967. This Hymn is also included in various Hymnals that are copyrighted by the publisher of the Hymnal. Citation of Copyrighted material is made on this blog post strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

 

_{Copyright © 2025 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

No More Sting

 

“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

—1 Corinthians 15:55

Honeybees have a well-earned reputation for having only one shot at inflicting pain. That’s because God created them with a barbed stinger that stays in the stung person or animal. Once they honeybees lose their stinger, they no longer pose a threat. In fact, in certain cases, the tearing off of that stinger results in the honeybee’s death.

Because of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, death can only intrude into the lives of humans who belong to God just one time. When we pass from this earth to eternal life, that one-and-only sting is felt by all those we have left behind. But, for our own sakes, we are moving from this life to the next. We leave behind our sin-stained bodies and receive the final culmination of new life in Christ.

The power of the resurrection is expressed by the Apostle Paul this way in 1 Corinthians 15:55:

Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?

For believers, Christ has defeated death. He has overruled its power. He has turned darkness to light. And, we who belong to Him through faith receive a great benefit. So, at the beginning of this new day, let’s rejoice that death no longer has an eternal hold on us. Rather, because our Savior overcame death, sin, and Satan, we will find that death’s sting is gone forever.

 

_{Copyright © 2025 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Victorious

 

When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

—1 Corinthians 15:54

How do we know when we’ve won? When the buzzer sounds at the end of the last period in basketball? When the last out is made at the bottom of the final inning in baseball? When the last hole is played in golf by the golfer with the fewest number of strokes? When the fastest runner crosses the finish line? When the king is captured in chess? When the shot is put the farthest at the Olympic games?

In most every contest in life, an endpoint arrives and a winner emerges. That’s true in our spiritual lives, too. Notice what the Apostle Paul writes, as found in 1 Corinthians 15:54:

When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

At the end of the age, when the reality of Christ’s resurrection is fully realized, as described in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17:

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

The Protestant Reformed theology described in The Westminster Confession of Faith puts it this way:

32.1: After death the bodies of human beings decompose and return to dust, but their souls, which do not die or sleep, have an immortal existence and immediately return to God who created them. The souls of the righteous are then perfected in holiness and are received into the highest heavens, where they behold the face of God in light and glory and wait for the full redemption of their bodies. The souls of the wicked are thrown into hell, where they remain in torment and complete darkness, set apart for the great day of judgment. Scripture recognizes only these two places, and no other, for souls separated from their bodies.

32.2: Those who are alive at the last day will not die but will be changed. At that time all the dead will be raised with the very same bodies and no other than the same bodies they had before, although with different characteristics, which will be united again to their souls forever.

32.3: By the power of Christ the bodies of the unjust shall be raised to dishonor, but by his Spirit the bodies of the just will be raised to honor and be made according to the pattern of his own glorious body.

As we begin a new day, let us rejoice that, as the old gospel song by Albert E. Brumley states: ¹

“This world is not my home. I’m just a-passin’ through.”

Amen and Amen.

 

______________________

1 Brumley, Albert E. “ I Can’t Feel At Home Any More.” Public Domain. This Hymn is included in various Hymnals that are copyrighted by the publisher of the Hymnal. Though this citation is noted to be in the Public Domain, in the case of anyone claiming Copyright protection of this material, citation of any Copyrighted material is made on this blog post strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

 

_{Copyright © 2025 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

We Will All Be Changed

 

“Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.”

—1 Corinthians 15:51-53

You’ve likely heard of the mom who, with tongue in cheek and a smile on her face, painted the wall of the church’s nursery that faced the entrance door with these words from 1 Corinthians 15:51:

We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed …

Her wonderful sense of humor made many a parent smile, as they brought their little one to the nursery on Sunday morning.

But, the thrust of this passage of Scripture has far greater implications in our Christian lives than a mere wink at the ambiguities of the English language. In fact, part of the greatest expression of our faith in the life-transforming power of the living Lord Jesus Christ is contained in these words of the Apostle Paul found, more completely, in 1 Corinthians 15:51-53:

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.

For now, we live on this earth as Christ’s ambassadors. God has chosen us to belong to Himself. He has redeemed us from the penalty of our sin through the shedding of the precious blood of His one and only Son, Jesus. God has claimed victory for us over sin, death, and Satan, through the resurrection of our Lord and Savior.

Once our sojourn on this earth is done, we will pass into glory and spend eternity with God. We cannot imagine what heaven will be like. Some believe that the Book of Revelation indicates we will actually spend eternity on this earth. But, it will be a new heaven and a new earth. All sin will be gone. Only light and life will remain.

Whatever eternity turns out to be for us, we know that spending it with God will be more marvelous than we can ever possibly imagine. So, as we begin a new day, let’s follow the instruction of the writer of the letter to the Hebrews, found in Hebrews 12:1-3:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Ineed! Let it be so! Amen.

 

_{Copyright © 2025 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Christ Conquered Eternal Death

 

“ For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.”

—1 Corinthians 15:25

We have not experienced the last chapter of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. A careful reading of the Book of Revelation exposes the narrative that, in the last days, the reign of Christ will bear fruit on this earth. The Apostle Paul describes those coming days using these words found in 1 Corinthians 15:25-26:

For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

As believers, we recognize that Jesus has been victorious over sin, death, and Satan. But, I wonder if we fully comprehend that, in addition to death serving as the personal enemy of human beings, death is also an enemy of the Kingdom of God. Eternal death results from sin. When sin is conquered by our Savior, He also conquers eternal death. The conquering of eternal death opens the way to eternal life.

At the beginning of another day, we need to pause to understand that our life with Christ begins at the moment we acknowledge God’s gift to us of salvation. But, our life with Christ becomes fully realized in those last days when He is on His throne and reigns over all the earth. Then, and only then, will we see the miracle of His love and grace fully at work in our world.

 

_{Copyright © 2025 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}