1 Corinthians 15:50-52
As I sat down to write this devotion, in my head I can hear Carly Simon singing the chorus of her song titled, “Anticipation.” “Anticipation, anticipation is makin' me late, is keepin' me waitin'.” Fun little fact is that her inspiration came from waiting on the arrival of Cat Stevens for their first date. During her wait, she felt a mix of nervous energy and agitation. Instead of just waiting, she grabbed her guitar and she wrote the entire track -the words and the music- in 15 minutes. Another fun fact; if you know the song, you are now singing it. Ha.
The Oxford English Dictionary describes the meaning of anticipation to be “the action of looking forward to something; eager.” I suppose students felt this the night before the first day of school. Maybe you can relate as you think back to your own childhood and how you felt on Christmas Eve. Our Michigan sports teams sure do produce a lot of suspense. And if you were around in the 80’s you probably remember anticipating who shot J.R. Just curious, how well do you wait and anticipate?
The greatest anticipation for every believer is the return of Jesus Christ and the promise of resurrection. In 1 Corinthians 15:50-52, Paul urges Christians to understand that our earthly bodies cannot inherit God’s eternal kingdom. “I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 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.”
In a culture familiar with death, loss, and uncertainty, Paul offered hope that transcended the grave: “we will all be changed” in an instant when the trumpet sounds. This promise remains relevant today. While people anticipate careers, celebrations, future milestones or the Lions winning the Superbowl, Christians anticipate something far greater—the moment Christ transforms us, conquers death, and brings us into His eternal presence. That is our greatest hope.
The Oxford English Dictionary describes the meaning of anticipation to be “the action of looking forward to something; eager.” I suppose students felt this the night before the first day of school. Maybe you can relate as you think back to your own childhood and how you felt on Christmas Eve. Our Michigan sports teams sure do produce a lot of suspense. And if you were around in the 80’s you probably remember anticipating who shot J.R. Just curious, how well do you wait and anticipate?
The greatest anticipation for every believer is the return of Jesus Christ and the promise of resurrection. In 1 Corinthians 15:50-52, Paul urges Christians to understand that our earthly bodies cannot inherit God’s eternal kingdom. “I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 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.”
In a culture familiar with death, loss, and uncertainty, Paul offered hope that transcended the grave: “we will all be changed” in an instant when the trumpet sounds. This promise remains relevant today. While people anticipate careers, celebrations, future milestones or the Lions winning the Superbowl, Christians anticipate something far greater—the moment Christ transforms us, conquers death, and brings us into His eternal presence. That is our greatest hope.
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