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New Testament Reading - God gives us the victory

⁴²In the same way, our earthly bodies which die and decay are different from the bodies we shall have when we come back to life again, for they will never die. ⁴³The bodies we have now embarrass us, for they become sick and die; but they will be full of glory when we come back to life again. Yes, they are weak, dying bodies now, but when we live again they will be full of strength. ⁴⁴They are just human bodies at death, but when they come back to life they will be superhuman bodies. For just as there are natural, human bodies, there are also supernatural, spiritual bodies.

⁴⁵The Scriptures tell us that the first man, Adam, was given a natural, human body^a but Christ* is more* than that, for he was life-giving Spirit.

⁴⁶First, then, we have these human bodies, and later on God gives us spiritual, heavenly bodies. ⁴⁷Adam was made from the dust of the earth, but Christ came from heaven above. ⁴⁸Every human being has a body just like Adam’s, made of dust, but all who become Christ’s will have the same kind of body as his — a body from heaven. ⁴⁹Just as each of us now has a body like Adam’s, so we shall some day have a body like Christ’s.

⁵⁰I tell you this, my brothers: an earthly body made of flesh and blood cannot get into God’s Kingdom. These perishable bodies of ours are not the right kind to live forever.

⁵¹But I am telling you this strange and wonderful secret: we shall not all die, but we shall all be given new bodies! ⁵²It will all happen in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For there will be a trumpet blast from the sky,^b and all the Christians who have died will suddenly become alive, with new bodies that will never, never die; and then we who are still alive shall suddenly have new bodies too. ⁵³For our earthly bodies, the ones we have now that can die, must be transformed into heavenly bodies that cannot perish but will live forever.

⁵⁴When this happens, then at last this Scripture will come true—“Death is swallowed up in victory.” ^55-56O death, where then your victory? Where then your sting? For sin — the sting that causes death — will all be gone; and the law, which reveals our sins, will no longer be our judge. ⁵⁷How we thank God for all of this! It is he who makes us victorious through Jesus Christ our Lord!

⁵⁸So, my dear brothers, since future victory is sure, be strong and steady, always abounding in the Lord’s work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever wasted as it would be if there were no resurrection.

1. Literally, “was made a living soul.” but Christ, literally, “the last Adam.” is more, implied.
2. Implied.