A Christmas Carol: W3 - MON
The promised future of new beginnings I Corinthians 15: 51 But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! 52 It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. 53 For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.
54 Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 4: 13 And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope…16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. 18 So encourage each other with these words.
I know we don’t usually go this far with the Christmas story. We usually end with the birth of Jesus. However, the beauty of spending time focusing not just on the birth of Jesus, but also his life, death, and resurrection, is that because of these things we know what story the Christmas story leads us too..our forever story with Christ.
You see, when we believe in and accept the Christmas story as our own story, then we can know that the story we see with our eyes, the one full of death and mourning and crying and pain, we can know that that story isn’t all there is. There is so much more to our stories, to our future, and knowing this Biblical truth allows us to live differently, now.
And we all need this reminder, right? Because our world seems like it’s not only falling apart, it’s full of ends. Relationships end, jobs end, health ends. But when you come to believe in the Christmas story and all that God did for us, then you realize that this earth’s endings are really just our beginnings.
I love how the passage on our resurrection in 1 Thessalonians ends. Paul writes, “Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words.”
I have always taken that last line literally. I love to spend time thinking about what that future will be like. What it will be like to finally see Jesus face to face. What it will be like to see my grandmother, alive, healed, youthful, and reunited with my grandfather who I never met. What it will be like to talk to David, pal around with Peter, talk to Martha and tell her, “I get it, I was you.” And I even like to think about all the things that could happen, like flying, exploring the universe, having a home at the base of a mountain that has a river/waterfall flowing through it.
I like to think about these things, talk about these things with others, and find out from others what they are looking forward to when that future comes. I believe talking about those things now can remind us that even when life is difficult, it’s not our whole story. There is so much more coming; more than we could ever imagine. And that not only encourages me, it gives me hope.
54 Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 4: 13 And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope…16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. 18 So encourage each other with these words.
I know we don’t usually go this far with the Christmas story. We usually end with the birth of Jesus. However, the beauty of spending time focusing not just on the birth of Jesus, but also his life, death, and resurrection, is that because of these things we know what story the Christmas story leads us too..our forever story with Christ.
You see, when we believe in and accept the Christmas story as our own story, then we can know that the story we see with our eyes, the one full of death and mourning and crying and pain, we can know that that story isn’t all there is. There is so much more to our stories, to our future, and knowing this Biblical truth allows us to live differently, now.
And we all need this reminder, right? Because our world seems like it’s not only falling apart, it’s full of ends. Relationships end, jobs end, health ends. But when you come to believe in the Christmas story and all that God did for us, then you realize that this earth’s endings are really just our beginnings.
I love how the passage on our resurrection in 1 Thessalonians ends. Paul writes, “Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words.”
I have always taken that last line literally. I love to spend time thinking about what that future will be like. What it will be like to finally see Jesus face to face. What it will be like to see my grandmother, alive, healed, youthful, and reunited with my grandfather who I never met. What it will be like to talk to David, pal around with Peter, talk to Martha and tell her, “I get it, I was you.” And I even like to think about all the things that could happen, like flying, exploring the universe, having a home at the base of a mountain that has a river/waterfall flowing through it.
I like to think about these things, talk about these things with others, and find out from others what they are looking forward to when that future comes. I believe talking about those things now can remind us that even when life is difficult, it’s not our whole story. There is so much more coming; more than we could ever imagine. And that not only encourages me, it gives me hope.
- When you think about the resurrection, how do you imagine it happening? Is Jesus in the clouds surrounded by angels? Are people popping up all around you? What and who do you see?
- What are some things you look forward to about our new life with Jesus, both in heaven and on the new earth?
- Aside from Jesus, who is someone you can’t wait to talk to and why?
- Is there someone in your life who you think could benefit now from the reminder that this story’s end is just the beginning of our next story?
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