“This corruptible must put on incorruption.” —1 Corinthians 15:53
Marvel of marvels! The sleeping ashes of the sepulcher springing up at the tones of the archangel’s trumpet!—the dishonored dust rising into a glorified body, like its risen Lord’s! At death, the soul’s bliss is perfect in kind; but this bliss is not complete in degree, until reunited to the tabernacle it has left behind to mingle with the sods of the valley. But tread lightly on that grave, it contains precious, because ransomed dust! My body, as well as my spirit, was included in the redemption price of Calvary; and “those also who sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.” Oh! blessed Jubilee-day of creation, when Christ’s “dead men shall arise”—when, together with His dead body, they shall come; and the summons shall sound forth, “Awake, and sing, you who dwell in the dust!”
All the joys of that resurrection morn we cannot tell; but its chief glory we do know—”When He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.” Like Him!—My soul, are you waiting for this manifestation of the sons of God? Like Him!—Have you caught up any faint resemblance to that all-glorious image? Having this hope in you, are you purifying yourself, even as He is pure? Be much with Jesus now, that you may exult in meeting Him hereafter. Thus taking Him as your Guide and Portion in life, you may lay down in your dark and loathsome grave, and look forward with triumphant hope to the dawn of a resurrection morn, saying, “What time I awake, I am still with You!”
A JOYFUL RESURRECTION by John MacDuff