Behold I Show You A Mystery

“Behold, I Show You A Mystery.”

(1 Cor 15:51-52)

Introduction;

News of __________ illness and the journey of treatment has been on our hearts and in our prayers these last two years.

Our family wishes to convey our love and prayers to the entire family circle.

as Solomon wrote, “a woman who fears (worships) the Lord is to be praised”... and I would add, admired... and, ... is to be emulated.

_______ was someone who deeply loved the Lord... she was not a Sunday Christian – for her Jesus was the true center of her life.

And now we turn to the scriptures – the only place that can properly address the deep issues of life.

Read text: 1 Cor 15:51-52

51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 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.

Context: Corinthian Christians (1st gen - new believers) are beginning to die – and so questions arise about what’s next...

It's a question that every visit to a funeral home brings to the surface – and one we often brush aside because it's too mysterious... so many unanswered questions.

Life – and death - is so filled with mystery, a sense of wonder and transcendence.

In this passage Paul speaks into the mystery...

“Behold I show you a mystery...” says Paul. ( I am intentionally using that good old King James word, “behold” – instead of the more pedestrian word, “listen or look”

1. Behold, I tell you a mystery – though death Is all around us – it is a defeated foe.

Corinth was experiencing death of saints...

Paul centers on Jesus’ defeat of death.

• 2 weeks ago - 2 young Fishermen were lost at sea in central NL...

• Death is a mystery... so random at times... so unpredictable... so unfair.

• Life is so fragile – James calls it a mist or a fog that is here for a little while and then vanishes. (James 4:14)

And Death brings with it loss – and loss brings grief... there’s a profound absence – someone is missing from the dinner table...

Memories, vacations, rites of passage, and pictures become more cherished.

Life is a mystery...Death is a mystery...

... A grave and a tombstone mark the date and set out the resting place.

It's a place to visit... to place flowers... to look back and to look forward.

In Israel there’s a graveyard beside the Mt. of Olives –it's 500 years old.

...the Mt of Olives being the place where the Messiah will appear – where Jesus will stand upon his return to earth – and, upon his coming - the graves will be opened !

– the thinking is... that’s the closest seat in the house – and those graves will be the first to open and release their occupants upon the messiah’s arrival on that mount.

And...

** In many Christian churches Easter morning – resurrection morning - begins in a cemetery with a service that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus

– it's intended to signal the defeat of death and the victory of eternal life because Jesus tomb is empty.

Behold, I show you a mystery --

though death is all around us it is a defeated foe.

2. Behold, I tell you a mystery - One Day, “history” will conclude & “The Trumpet Will Sound”: v. 52

That trumpet blast will signal a new era...

Not “a” trumpet – but “the trumpet” – capital “T”

It's the Announcement of a new era – “eternal” life has transitioned from hope to reality... a new day will dawn!

The trumpet sound is familiar to us on Remembrance Day - and is heard at military ceremonies – “Taps” is trumpeted – its a way to remember those we have lost...

But for the believer there’s another triumphant trumpet blast coming ?

“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. 1 Thess 4:16

3. Behold, I tell you a mystery... We Will Be all be Changed: v. 52

From Mortal to immortal... think about it... we can’t really imagine it... we cannot grasp immortality.

it's a mystery to us...

from perishable to imperishable says Paul (v. 53)

Paul tries to answer a question from the believers in Corinth...paul they ask, “what kind of body will we receive?”

Paul tries to help...

“when you sow seed says Paul, you do not plant the body that will be – but just a seed.

Likewise for believers... it is sown a natural body – but it is raised a spiritual body.” (v. 44)