Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The text for today’s meditation is 1 Corinthians 15:51

Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. ⁵³ For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." ⁵⁵ "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" ⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

I find it interesting to talk to people that work during non-traditional hours. I was recently talking to Jane Stiegler about the sunrise. She told me she sees it daily when they are on the road. That time of day is her shift for driving. Her description of the sunrise was fascinating. She says there is darkness with traces of light then suddenly it is light. The sun hasn’t risen yet but there is light. When I read today’s Epistle "but we shall all be changed, ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye" I thought of Jane’s description of a sunrise. Each day, in a moment the earth is changed, in the twinkling of an eye darkness is changed to light. Just like that (snap fingers) we go from being in total darkness into the light.

As I read this passage I thought of someone else as well. I thought of Jesus in the tomb. "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye" He was changed by His Father. One moment He was not alive and the next moment He was alive. Since Jesus was true man His body was either alive or dead. Don’t get me wrong, the process of bringing Jesus back to life might have taken a long time but there is that moment that you change from dead to alive. Just like when you die they will assign a moment of death known at the time of death. In that moment you will change from alive to dead. Jesus was in the dark tomb and at that moment He came out of the darkness into light.

"In the twinkling of an eye" God the Father changed everything. He changed darkness into light, He changed death into life, He changed hopelessness into hope. "In the twinkling of an eye" "Death is swallowed up in victory." Imagine that, He defeated death "In the twinkling of an eye."

God turned the tables on Satan. Satan thought victory was in the bag. He saw Jesus dead and buried. God turned Satan’s victory celebration into defeat "In the twinkling of an eye." We have had some fast victories in the past such as the 100 hour war during Desert Storm which was lightning fast by all standards. But to lose the battle and the war in "In the twinkling of an eye" is almighty fast.

We were lost to sin, we were dead because of sin. Paul says "The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law." We had all been stung by sin and the law, God’s will, proves it. You know you haven’t lived up to God’s will. The lying, cheating, stealing, gossiping are all results of the sting of death. "But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Christ’s resurrection brings a new dawn for mankind. Through Christ’s victory your new dawn is life, eternal life with Christ. We know that "at the last trumpet… the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed." We will become imperishable whether we are alive or dead at the time of the last trumpet. Christ’s death swallows your death.

Now, if you are fighting sin and the devil by yourself. You are not claiming Christ’s victory. You know what I mean. If you are telling yourself I can do this on my own; "I can control … "insert your poison, alcohol, drugs, pornography, abuse" because I am have control of me. You are fighting a fight that doesn’t need to be fought. You see, as the words of the song "Redeemed" goes, "Stop fighting a fight that’s already been won." Christ has won the battle, rely on His defeat not your ability to defeat sin because you can’t defeat sin. Call on God’s power in the time of the battle. After all, He raised Jesus "in the twinkling of an eye." Come out of the darkness; call on Jesus to bring you into the light. Remember, God… gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" who on the third day came out of the dark tomb victoriously into the light. As we witness the sunrise let us remember the power of God; He changed death to life "in the twinkling of an eye" just as he changes the darkness here on earth to light everyday in the "in the twinkling of an eye."

Amen.