We will be the only people in human history to cheat death, and death doesn't like it. This is when Death loses its sting, because Death is shocked at what happens and never quite gets over it.
I owe Robert an apology for saying yesterday he believed that Jesus left His body in the tomb. I got it wrong and I’m sorry. Rather, Robert believes that Jesus Christ left His body of the Mount of Olives, shedding it just before ascending into heaven in sight of His disciples, leaving it to His crew to figure out what to do with it. (I am hoping they took it to a taxidermist and that it will show up someday at a flea market or garage sale.)
Why did Jesus leave His body behind? Notwithstanding the fact Jesus told His disciples he was “flesh and bone,” Robert still insists that the resurrected body of Christ also contained blood. And since flesh and blood cannot enjoy an allotment in the kingdom, that body had to go. And of course Robert still believes that living members of the body of Christ
will leave corpses for our loved-ones to find, notwithstanding the fact that Paul says our bodies will be transfigured. Robert has his own way of thinking, refusing to avail himself of teachers. Teachers misled him in the past, therefore no teacher can be trusted. I began this show with a formal apology to Robert, but it was distracting and took up too much time, so I deleted it and hit the ground running with the topic at hand. I'll apologize on Monday.
But turning back now to happier topics that do not involve corpses (my apology to Robert and others who see corpses everywhere), let’s revisit Corinthians 15:54-54 and see when exactly Paul says Death will be swallowed up by Victory, and when exactly Death loses its sting. This study is engaging, as it intimately involves US, the living members of the body of Christ.
