Day 28 - Saved by the Bell!
1 Corinthians 15:35-58 (Continued)
Scripture Passage: 1 Corinthians 15:35-58
Focal Verses: Listen, I am telling you a mystery: We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed. ~ 1 Corinthians 15:51 (CSB)
Because Paul felt this subject was so important that he dedicated such a huge amount of space in his letter on the subject of the resurrection, I thought this passage we discussed on Day 27 deserved another entry. There’s so much confusion on the subject. Confusion and doubt. And while devotions are not supposed to be in-depth Bible studies, It still deserves some more words about it.
There’s an old expression in the English language that almost all of us know: ‘Saved by the bell!’
What many aren’t aware of is the origins of that expression. Although some grammar police and historians disagree on this, the common belief is that historically, mankind has had one unified irrational (at different times in history, not so irrational) fear. The fear of being mistaken for dead and buried alive. This fear, especially during the great cholera epidemic of the 17th century, became so prominent that many great minds began working on the creation of what’s known as ‘Safety Coffins’, or coffins that would somehow alert the living that someone alive was inside a grave. The hope that this alert would bring people to dig them up and rescue them.
While there were many various patents filed for various contraptions in safety coffins, the most prominent was invented by Dr. Johann Gottfried Taberger and included a bell on the outside of the grave which was tied to a string that was fed down into the coffin. If someone awakened, trapped inside the coffin, the idea was they could simply pull a string to ring the bell and bring the graveyard’s caretaker to help dig him out.
In effect, the prematurely buried individual would literally be saved by the bell. (Once again, this explanation is considered with some skepticism by some in the academic community, but I believe there’s enough evidence via these ‘Safety Coffin’ designs to warrant at least some credibility to the tale).
As I ponder this irrational fear of being mistaken for dead and buried alive, I’m reminded of something I think is truly awe-inspiring: the exact opposite has been true of every man, woman, and child throughout the history of mankind. We have been mistaken for being alive, when we were actually born spiritually dead. We have been been entombed in the grave of sin until the day comes when we submit to the clarion call of the Holy Spirit and make Jesus Christ the Lord of our lives. It is that moment in which we are removed from our worldly tomb. It is that moment that we are truly made alive. We are rescued at the sound of a metaphorical bell that calls us to salvation!
In today’s focal verse (go back and re-read the whole passage for context though), Paul shares a ‘mystery’ with the church at Corinth (and with us!). The mystery of irrevocable change that will one day occur. The reuniting of our renewed and reborn spirits with our revived and renewed (and even further down the road, perfect!) bodies and we will be whole and complete and truly incontrovertibly alive!
Paul goes on to tell us that not everyone of us will have “fallen asleep” (meaning physically die). One day, in the blink of an eye, as we’re going about our business (washing dishes, stuck in traffic, cussing at the guy who just cut you off or yelling at your kids), the ‘change’ will happen. The reuniting will occur. Naturally, the vast majority of those affected by the change will be those in the grave, but there will be a handful of us that will be alert and awake and maybe slightly embarrassed by our own actions at the timing in which this happens depending on what we’re up to at the time.
One day, the ‘bell’ rang and our dead spirits were rescued and we became alive for the first time. Some day soon, another klaxon will sound and our lives will experience life like we’ve never imagined!
Are you ready for that day? Are you excited about it? When I was a kid, I honestly hoped I’d be one of those who hadn’t fallen asleep when the time came. I was, after all, scared of death and wouldn’t it be much better not to physically die before Christ’s return? Sure. I don’t think anyone would argue that point. However, as I’ve grown older and as I grow closer and closer to a physical grave, my attitude toward it all has shifted a great deal.
Now, I’m not so concerned whether I’ll be awake or asleep when that day comes. Now, my only prayer is “Come, Lord Jesus. Come!”
Father God, thank you for rescuing me from that grave of a lost and fallen world. Thank you for ‘ringing the bell’ yourself to bring me into a relationship with You. For making me alive when I was just seven years old and maintaining that life throughout my existence! Thank you, Lord, for that glorious day in which Life truly begins…when the sleep in our eyes fall away and we see reality the way you originally created it. Come, Lord Jesus. Come!
That was awesome.
Yes Lord, please come!!