The Bottom Line

I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 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. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 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. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:50-58 ESV). It’s always funny how much of the time we spend chasing after “more.” We are a people of the bottom line. When all of the expenses are calculated and factored with all of the profits, we look to the margin of difference. Is there a positive difference? Is there more than there was before we began the venture? It is never a good idea to be misled by the bottom line while still in the midst of gathering the assets. Sometimes what seems to be a sure loss is really merely the necessary step to an incredible gain. Malcolm Muggeridge wrote, “We acknowledge a king men did not crown and cannot dethrone.” It’s easy to lose this vision. When we become discouraged in our service to Christ, it helps to remember God is the divine subversive (Eugene Peterson’s term). Most of God’s work doesn’t appear on the human radar screen. It doesn’t make the evening news. Just as the seeds a farmer plants are hidden in the earth until the outburst of spring, we trust the ongoing, concealed work of God until the day of harvest arrives. The media makes it appear the enemy is winning. But Paul reminds, “we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18). We’re called to hold, in faith, a vision of the reigning, yet veiled, eternal Christ. We and our work have no “abiding city” here. In faith we await the day when both we and our work done for Christ will be ushered into the eternal city “whose designer and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:10), when death is swallowed up in victory. The lesson Paul draws from the certainty of our future victory is that our faith needs to be put into action now. Lend your energies to being steadfast, unswerving, immovable, resolute, “always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (v. 58). It’s a challenge that will be worth the struggle.