Bible Study with the Cincottis – Corruption – 09/06/2026
Today’s Bible Study, Authored by Arthur Cincotti.
Listen to our Bible Study Discussion at: Corruption Podcast
Or watch the Video Zoom Session of our Study on YouTube:
Corruption
“For You will not leave my soul in Sheol,
Nor will you allow Your Holy One to see corruption.” Ps. 16:9
At a workshop I recently attended, Rob Reimer, author of Soul Care, said, “Jesus came to reverse the effects of the fall.” One of the effects of the fall was corruption. It’s as if the day that Adam and Eve sinned and failed to repent, the clock started ticking and the law of entropy kicked in. There are two types of corruption that we are familiar with, as the definition of the word goes, and both, I think, are applicable in a spiritual context. First is physical corruption of the natural world. Things break down and fall into disrepair. Metal rusts, wood rots, cars break down, bodies grow feeble, all as a result of the passage of time. There is also the corruption that we apply to things like politics. This is a deterioration of the human spirit; moving from that pristine form, like a brand new car, to a place quite contrary to its design.
Paul describes corruption as a bondage; “because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” Rm. 8:21. The only thing that’s sure, they say, is death and taxes, and we can’t escape either one. These are time-based entities.
Corruption brings sorrow and hardship. There is nothing good associated with corruption. Yet, God “has placed eternity in their hearts,” Ecc 3:11. Eternity is contrary to corruption since, as we have already seen, corruption is linked to time. Somehow we have a sense of eternity, and the writer of Ecclesiastes is more than suggesting that God has placed it there by design so that we would yearn after it.
There are other views about eternity, precipitated by other religious beliefs. Some claim that we go into the collective consciousness in some undefined form. Some say that we are reincarnated to live a fleshly life over again, only in a slightly elevated manner. Still others describe the spiritual realm as a heightened ecstatic form of the natural realm. Whether or not these notions are satisfying is subjective. Whether or not they have any evidence is less subjective. C S Lewis said, “If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.”
Consider all the effort that we put into this natural world. We build things: relationships, reputations, skyscrapers, all with the hope that they will endure. A stroll in the cemetery will quickly subdue that idea. All the buried dreams, plans, and hopes for greatness are briefly cataloged there. If you can’t remember four generations back in your own family, that should indicate that you are only that far away from anonymity. A very sobering thought that most people don’t entertain too often.
The Christian faith offers an alternative to some of the fatalistic views on eternity. It hits the bullet points of what is satisfying to our souls: life, love, freedom, and comfort. These desires are universal. God even throws in riches. Everybody wants this.
Jesus said, “this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” Jn. 17:3
So life is offered with all its dimensions: consciousness, form. Paul says of this form, “So also is the resurrection of the dead, the body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” I Cor. 15:42-45.
More than just consciousness and form, we are invited into a love relationship with the Creator of all that is and ever will be. Jesus continues, “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundations of the world.” Jn. 17:24. This invitation has parameters. It must be received and embraced and even maintained, but the Giver promises His help in all of the above. Peter says, “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” II Pet. 1:3-4. He says elsewhere that the Father has, “begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God…” I Pet. 1:3.4
Jesus lived an incorruptible life in every way while He was among us. He entered time, in part, to give us a glimpse of what that might look like. Paul explains, “Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.” Rm. 6:8,9. He goes on to say, “But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.”
Rm. 6:22. In a place where, “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Rev. 21:4
These are what the writer of Hebrews calls, “better promises.”
It’s not as though we are competing with other religions and worldviews, as if to say, “our God is better than your god.” It is simply a matter of what is true. Truth is the driving force. There is no value in living my life with a contrived sense of who God is, having created god in my own image. What kind of a god is that? I’m not too proud to admit that I am very limited and therefore my god would be likewise limited.
Freedom from the bondage of corruption is what is at stake. Jesus is offering eternity with a longed-for oneness with Himself, the Father, and the Holy Spirit in an intimate relationship where the glory of God is on full display. That never gets old or corrupted.
As we say often, eternity begins now, in the present. His presence is in the present. Jesus confirms that when He says, “the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Mt. 10:7. The condition of our souls is the evidence of that reality and the degree to which we enjoy it.
John Piper said, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.”
The abundant life that Jesus offers is satisfying to the core of our being because it fulfills our design. It’s available to all. “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” II Pet. 3:9. This repentance is from dead works, which are corruption, and false notions of who God is, which are blasphemies.
“You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Ps. 16:11
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