We are heavenly dust

Laura Digan January 02, 2021 0 2

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1 Corinthians 15: 35-58 (NRSVA)

35 But someone will ask, ‘How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?’ 36 Fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And as for what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be, but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. 39 Not all flesh is alike, but there is one flesh for human beings, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are both heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one thing, and that of the earthly is another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; indeed, star differs from star in glory.

42 So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, ‘The first man, Adam, became a living being’; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the physical, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven.

50 What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled:

‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’
55 ‘Where, O death, is your victory?
    Where, O death, is your sting?’

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labour is not in vain.

I used to be frightened of death. 

My biggest fear when training for Ministry was how to pastorally care for the dying. 

But when the time came I understood that being with a soul as they journeyed from this world into the next was an honour and a privilege. There was nothing to be frightened off because Jesus was there. His presence was overwhelming. He was there to hold the hand of the dying, to comfort and strengthen and guide. He was there to whisper in their ear that promise of restoration that comes in the world beyond here. The world beyond with our Lord Jesus where there is no more pain, no more limitations. 

This wasn’t a one off or a figment of my imagination for each time I have had the honour to be with someone as they die I have had the same experience. I am certain that death is not the end for us. We don’t just become dust in the earth when we die. Death has lost its sting because Jesus has a place prepared for each and every one of us in heaven. A place where we will be restored and will dwell forever. 

PRAYER:

Thank you, Lord Jesus, that through your dying on the cross and your resurrection you defeated death. 
Amen.