![[Photo of a Scripture verse]](https://www.deankwilson.com/Blog_images/1_Corinthians_15_54.jpg)
| 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? 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, we will see the dead in Christ rise. We who may remain alive will rise, too, and join the risen dead in the air. Thereafter, we will be forever with the Lord.
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, “This world is not my home. I’m just a-passin’ through.” Amen and Amen.
