What will resurrection day be like?
I think of the place where my body will someday rest, Maple Grove Cemetery.
What will happen on that little patch of land on the Day of Judgment, the day
when all are raised, some to eternal life and some to eternal punishment?
My ancestors and I, how will we come out of our coffins? How will we come up
through the earth? Will the ground explode with light? Will we look like zombies?
Those of us who are in Christ, will we waken peacefully, as from sleep,
to see our risen Jesus, the firstborn from among the dead?
That day will be our day of rest, as the Israelites finally had rest in the
land of promise. After a long and painful history since their birth as a
people under Abraham—400 years of slavery in Egypt, 40 years of
wandering and dying in the wilderness, repeated sin and failure and
breaching of the covenant, endless violence and struggle in warfare—after
all that, they had rest in the fulfilled promises of Yahweh.
How they must have longed for that day!
How deeply satisfied they must have been when it came:
the day when they lived on good land over which they did not
toil and ate from vineyards and olive groves they did not plant.
Oh Lord, stir in me a longing for the day of rest and wholeness,
the day when struggle ceases and the redeemed commune with You!
We will be with You resting in the peace of your promises as never before
and made certain, beyond all doubt, of your goodness and faithfulness.
Lord, stir our longing for that day! Waken our desire for those we
meet to share our hope of resurrection, of divine promises fulfilled.
Grant us the courage to speak, rightly and wisely, the good news of
Jesus the Nazarene. He is the Son of God who died and rose and will
return.
Our hope rests in you, Jesus. Draw us ever closer to yourself.
thanks jake!
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