THANKS BE TO GOD

“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. 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.”  (1 Corinthians 15:54-57 NRSV)

In “A Grief Observed” -- reflecting on the loss of his wife, Joy, due to cancer -- C. S. Lewis wrote, “How often -- will it be for always? -- how often will the vast emptiness astonish me like a complete novelty and make me say, ‘I never realized my loss till this moment’? The same leg is cut off time after time. The first plunge of the knife into the flesh is felt again and again.”

It’s normal -- and healthy -- to grieve when those we love are taken from us. But in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul explains why the resurrection of Jesus matters so much to those who believe [in Christ]: This earthly chapter is not the end of this eternal story; the pain of death will one day be only a memory.

When we leave our physical bodies behind at death, we’ll be ushered into God’s presence, where we’ll feel His healing embrace. We’ll be enveloped by His all-consuming love. And suddenly, in the light of God’s face, and in the face of His passion for us, all our questions, our grief -- and our sorrows -- will all fade away. Thanks be to God.

--  adapted from the “New Women’s Devotional Bible”

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