We Will Be Immortal
The New Testament is a book written in the context of the world of Greeks and Romans. For the Greeks and Romans, there were two types of “people” (or rational beings) in the universe. There were the mortals and the immortals.
The immortals were those who could not die and possessed great power and abilities. Mortals were human beings on earth. The line dividing mortals and immortals was porous. Those who did great deeds or possessed exceptional beauty or skills on earth could become immortal. For example, the Roman Senate usually “deified” the Emperors, which meant that they were recognized as now having a life with the immortal gods.
In his letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul wrote, “For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.” I have no doubt that the Corinthians would have thought of the distinction between mortals and immortals when the leaders of the church read this letter to them.
So, when the Apostle Paul said, “I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable” (1 Cor. 15:50), this would have made complete sense to the Corinthian Gentiles. It did not mean that the physical body was bad. It meant that the kingdom of God was a place for those who were changed into immortals.
In the movie Thor, Oden casts Thor out of Asgaard, and Thor becomes a mortal in a flash, in a twinkling of the eye. The Apostle Paul envisions something like this but in reverse when he contemplates our destiny: “We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet” (51b-52a). This would have made sense to the Corinthians as well.
In spite of the similarities between the conceptions of Greek culture and Paul’s description of the end time event, there were significant differences as well.
First, in the Greek view, humans became immortal at death. In Paul’s view, immortality begins with Jesus. Jesus was not declared immortal or a god upon His death. He rose from the dead. He obtained immortality by conquering death (note, by the way, that the word Paul uses for conquering death is the word, “victory” [Greek: nikos (or in the feminine, nike!]).
Second, people become immortal at the end of the time. Jesus raises those who are dead or changes those who are living to be like Him in His glorious immorality. It occurs at what Paul calls “the last trumpet.”
Third, it is not only the great leaders or kings who become immortal, it is all people who believe in Jesus. “For as in Adam all die, so all in Christ shall be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22). It is not our great deeds that bring about our immortality but the great deeds of Jesus Christ.
At the same time, like the Greek heroes, the Christian’s immortality follows upon labor. This should encourage us that no matter how difficult things may be or how little results we may see, the result of the Christian life is eternal glory. “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Cor. 15:58). The glory of immortality awaits!
Talk About Death
“Talk About Death” says chapter heading 41 in Irvin D. Yalom’s The Gift of Therapy.
Why does Yalom say this? Consideration of death provides us an opportunity for growth.
This conclusion arises from two observations. First, he says that behind many of our problems is the subconscious awareness of death. Concerns about the transitions of life are often about the shortness of life. Instead of letting it be an undercurrent, we can make it explicit and gain wisdom by considering the shortness of our lives.
Second, he observed that those who were facing death often made the greatest progress in therapy. He did therapy with cancer patients who were facing death, and he was amazed at how quickly insights about life would come to them in contrast to other patients who took so much longer to really confront key issues in their lives.
One explanation for why this is the case is what the philosopher Martin Heidegger called two modes of existence: the everyday mode and the ontological mode. In the every day mode, we consider the events of our everyday life. In the ontological mode, we ask questions about being itself. Growth occurs when we step into the ontological mode.
I might re-phrase it this way: our normal way of thinking is to look at the small picture. In order to grow, we need to look at the big picture and ask questions like: why am I here? What is my purpose? What really matters? What is my relationship to God?
The specter of death has a way of helping us move into the ontological or big picture mode. This is where growth occurs.
So, do we need to wait until we are dying to ask big picture questions? Of course, we do not, but it’s hard for us to move out of the small picture, every day mode. So, how can we move into the big picture mode? How do we help others do the same?
Yalom notes that there are many events in our lives that present opportunities for considering the bigger picture: the death of a spouse, children leaving home, retirement, a move to another place. These things have a way of stripping away temporary things that we rely on and opening the possibility for deeper questions. Though these events can be sad or challenging, we can also see them as opportunities.
Yalom did a study that illustrates this point. He studied a number of spouses who had lost a spouse to death. He found that many of them went beyond returning to their pre-loss emotional levels. A fourth to a third of them went on to greater levels of maturity and growth.
This reminds me of the advice of King Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes: “It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart” (7:2).
Not only the therapist, but the minister, the Christian, and anyone trying to make their way through the world should not avoid the subject but talk about death.
Comfort in Loss and Struggle
“But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus . . .” (2 Cor. 7:6)
Last week, I had the privilege to officiate at a funeral for one of our members, Ed Sumner. During the funeral, I shared some thoughts on his situation based on 2 Corinthians 7:6.
The Apostle Paul, who penned these words, knew the Word and promises of God well, but he still needed comfort. He was downcast, and God gave him the comfort he needed. How? “By the coming of Titus.”
Ed was also one who knew theology. He was steeped in the Bible. He had shelves full of books.
But Ed was often angry and downcast. He was lonely. He was an only child. He had no relatives. Relationships had not worked out well for him.
One day, Ed showed up at our church. He attended, and he kept coming back.
A few weeks later, he joined our church and stood to profess his faith along with two young girls who were doing the same that day. It was a beautiful picture of the body of Christ in its diversity. Continue reading “Comfort in Loss and Struggle”