Our Eternal Victory

BY Erin Davis

Frustrated tears rolled down my face like tiny tributaries. Driving down the highway I recounted all the reasons I was sick to death of myself, of my sin, and the many ways my brokenness injects sorrow into the hearts of the ones I love most. 

“How long, O Lord?” I cried. “How long until you transform me into a woman who doesn’t keep repeating the same sin-soaked mistakes?”

Three words dropped into my heart like a lead balloon, “In. A. Moment.” 

My instinct was to grip the steering wheel and brace for impact because I wasn’t sure what those three words meant. Was I about to have a wreck I couldn’t prevent? While I trust the Lord to keep His promise to make all things new, including me, I also know that sanctification is a slow process—one that will not be completed until I see Jesus face to face. 

Thankfully, I did not have a wreck with another car, but I did collide with God’s truth. Still rattled by my rebellious streak and deeply grieved by the shrapnel I put into the hearts of others, I pulled out my Bible, looking for hope. Reading from 1 Corinthians 15, I found the words the Holy Spirit had brought to mind when I called out to God in my car. “In a moment…” (v.52) In a moment what? The preceding verse holds the answer. “We will all be changed” (v.51)

Clearly, I’m not the first or last to wonder when the work Christ has begun in me will finally be finished. Paul acknowledged that the timeline of our transformation is often hard to understand. 

Listen, I am telling you a mystery: We will not all fall asleep, but we will 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 incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this corruptible body must be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body must be clothed with immortality. 
—1 Corinthians 15:51–53

Though mysteries can be maddening, we know what we are meant to know for now: Jesus is a promise keeper. He will not leave us in our sin-filled state. A day is coming soon—on the timeline of history it’s nothing more than the twinkling of an eye—when our corrupted bodies will be clothed with robes of righteousness that cannot be contaminated by sin any more (v.53). All that is made of temporary materials will be traded in for our forever selves (v.54). 

The next time you’re sick to death of yourself or worried Jesus has forgotten His promise to make you more like Him, take heart. He always finishes what He starts. He will transform your broken body into a heavenly one and your broken heart one fully healed and devoted to Him. No more frustrated tears. No more sin, pain, or death—for all eternity. It will only take a moment.