S6 E12 - A Resurrected Bible

My everyday bible of seven years has fallen apart, and was in need of being rebound and brought back to life. So I sent it off to Orion Bibles, and they have done a complete transformation to it! I'm so thankful for its condition, and that I can use it once again. 

One day we are all looking forward to our own transformation. Over the years our bodies fall apart, but in the resurrection we will be changed and made new. That which is corruptible will put on immortality. That day cannot get here soon enough!

#SetYourMindAbovePodcast

Transcript

What if I told you that God could be seen in the most ordinary things every day? 

What if I told you that every day, ordinary events could teach us extraordinary eternal truths? Would you believe me? 

 Welcome back to season 6 of the Set Your Mind Above Podcast! My name is BJ Sipe, and I am a Christian, a preacher, a husband, and a father. In our next few moments together, we hope to learn some of the most important lessons from some of the simplest things in life. Thank you for taking this journey with me.

Roughly six or seven years ago, I received what has become my everyday Bible from the Holman Christian company. They were promoting a relatively new translation called the Christian Standard Bible, and people were able to sign up to receive a copy with the promise that they would review it. It was a great promotion where everybody wins – customers received a free Bible, and Holman Christian was able to promote the translation by word of mouth as people began to familiarize themselves with it. When I received it in the mail, I never knew just how nice of a Bible they were going to be sending out though! It was a single column, large print text with space for writing along the sides. It came brandishing three different colored ribbon markers and wrapped in a deep brown goatskin leather. I was so impressed with how well it was made, but even more impressed with how the Christian Standard translation balanced a word for word with thought for thought approach to the text. While there is no perfect translation, it quickly became my preferred – and as such became my everyday Bible. 

That being said, seven years of wear and tear on a Bible can do quite a number on it. Years of being stuffed in and out of a backpack. Years of coffee or water damage from things being spilt in and around it while studying. Years of handling, rubbing, opening and closing, you get the idea. Slowly and surely things started to fall apart in the Bible. Pages being torn and folded over, stitching coming undone, until finally over the last few weeks the binding coming completely unglued. There was no way I was going to be able to use it any longer – at least in this condition. For years I have watched the work of Chadwick Brewer out of Athens, Alabama who rebinds and remakes Bibles under the name “Orion Bibles” – which you can find via social media. He has taken Bibles that were even far worse condition than my own and made them brand new. So, I reached out and shipped it off his direction to see what he could do with it. Suffice to say, I am completely blown away by what he was able to do with my Bible. 

It arrives in the mail on Tuesday, but he has kept me in the loop through the entire transformation. Now wrapped in a beautiful soft & supple tan leather, it is stitched with a burgundy trim for contrast to match the three new ribbon markers as well. Inside is lined with a darker brown leather, and repairs have been made to the necessary pages that have seen better days over the years. He has restored life back into my everyday Bible and given me at least another decade of use out of it. If you ever have need of repairing one of your own books or Bibles, I cannot recommend Chadwick highly enough. Go give him your business and let him breathe new life into your worse for wear copy of the Scriptures. Tuesday cannot get here quick enough! 

You know what else cannot get here quick enough? Our own resurrection. Over this weekend, many people around the world have the resurrection of Jesus on their hearts and their minds, and for good reason. It was around this time of year nearly 2000 years ago that the Lord was crucified and then rose from the dead three days later. The resurrection is the foundation of the Christian faith, of all that we do and believe, and is therefore worth celebrating. That is why as laid out in Scripture, the resurrection is something to be celebrated and remembered not only one weekend out of the year, but every week when the church gathers together to remember these things through communion. This weekend is certainly special, but so is every Lord’s Day when we honor the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. 

The resurrection of Jesus reminds us of another transformation that is coming. For today’s podcast, we want to focus our attention on the text of 1 Corinthians 15. The very first point we want to make comes from vv. 20-23, where we read, “But as it is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, at his coming, those who belong to Christ.” The resurrection gives us something that we would not have otherwise: hope. Were it not for the resurrection of Christ, we would have no hope of our own resurrection. As Paul argued prior to this text, “For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Those, then, who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.” (1 Cor. 15:16-19) Everything is built on the resurrection – our hope, our faith, our purpose – everything. The fact that the tomb was empty and death could not hold the Author of Life gives to those who are found in Christ certainty of their own being raised to life. And with that will come an incredible transformation.
 
 We continue reading in vv. 50-57, “What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor can corruption inherit incorruption. 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. When this corruptible body is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body is clothed with immortality, then the saying that is written will take place: Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, death, is your victory? Where, 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!”

Much like my Bible, over the years of our lives our bodies go through much wear and tear. While at one point we were like new and beautiful, over the years things begin to stop working and fall apart. Our organs begin to fail. Our bones become brittle. Our hair falls out. Our eyes dim. Our hearing fails us. By the time we are laid in the ground, our bodies are no longer useful for work or for meaningful use in this life more often than not. But my friends, that is not the way that we are going to be raised! When Christ raises us up from the dead, we will undergo a transformation! That which was corruptible and perishable will be transformed into something that is not! We will be raised not just to life, but to eternal life – with bodies that are completely transformed and built for eternity. 

My friends, I can’t tell you exactly what our heavenly bodies are going to look like, but I can promise you that it’s going to be worth it. If this life is all that we’re living for, that is most certainly not worth it. This life is full of brokenness, sin, injustice, and desperation. We set our mind on things above, on eternal things, and the resurrection is the foundation of that mindset. Our hope is firmly set on our being raised to new life, to eternal life; as such, we live differently now so that we can one day live forever with our Lord. Let us conclude with Paul’s last words to close the chapter in vv. 58, “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

This has been season 6 episode 12 of the Set Your Mind Above Podcast – and I’m so thankful that we had this time to grow together! A new episode is dropped each Friday of the week. If you’re able to, go ahead and like and subscribe to the podcast, give us a good rating, and tune in next week. Even more important, share the spiritual truths that we learned today with someone else. And more than anything my friends, always remember the following: know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each and every day set our minds above.