Death's Defeat Makes Labor in the Lord Meaningful

When death is swallowed, work in the Lord is not empty.

Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Look, I tell you a mystery: we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. The trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. This perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. Then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, 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, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. The last trumpet does not authorize date-setting, conspiracy charts, identification of modern people, or neglect of long-term responsibility. Bodily change is still resurrection hope, not a claim that death was never real. The therefore sends them back to durable work.