In the Resurrection Scheme of Things

[adorable little packages tied up in string sent to me by my amazing friend & cousin, Sharon]

"...let me tell you something wonderful, 

a mystery I'll probably never fully understand. 

We're not all going to die—but we are all going to be changed. 

You hear a blast to end all blasts from a trumpet, 

and in the time that you look up and blink your eyes—

it's over. 

On signal from that trumpet from heaven, 

the dead will be up and out of their graves, 

beyond the reach of death, 

never to die again. 

At the same moment 

and in the same way, 

we'll all be changed. 

In the resurrection scheme of things, this has to happen: 

everything perishable taken off the shelves 

and replaced by the imperishable, 

this mortal 

replaced 

by the immortal. 

Then the saying will come true: 

   'Death swallowed by triumphant Life! 

   Who got the last word, oh, Death? 

   Oh, Death, who's afraid of you now?'

It was sin that made death so frightening 

and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, 

its destructive power. 

But now 

in a single 

victorious 

stroke of Life, 

all three

—sin, guilt, death—

are gone, 

the gift of our Master, 

Jesus Christ. 

Thank God!

With all this going for us, 

my dear, dear friends, 

stand your ground. 

And don't hold back. 

Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, 

confident 

that 

nothing 

you do for him 

is a waste of time 

or effort."

- I Cor. 15:51-58, The Message