Rosa Rugosa Just imagine a world in which the grass never withers and the color and fragrance of a rose never fade. In this world my skin would be as soft and smooth and unblemished as a baby's. Food would never spoil and pets would never grow old and die...
This, of course, was God's intention for His Creation...and a far cry from our experience of modern life! Out of curiosity I did a little research tonight. Both the consequences and the cost of sin and death are staggering!
By 2009 Americans were spending $282,000,000.00 PER HOUR on health care. The following year $106 BILLION dollars were spent at the dentist. Last year the cost of prescription drugs in the U.S.A. was $328,000,000.00 (Yes, that's BILLION!) We even spent $88 BILLION on WRINKLE CREAM!
What is most disturbing is (and we tend to forget this), in spite of our most valiant efforts, flowers will wilt, food spoils and we all get old (if we are blessed with a long life) and die.
Even those materials we cherish as symbols of permanence, like gold and diamonds, have the potential for decay. Diamonds are occasionally reduced to graphite, and gold will dissolve (if exposed to a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids).
As a child and in my younger years I often had dreams of flying. I still occasionally dream of running swiftly and tirelessly. Oh the joy and freedom of those dreams! Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that God 'has put eternity into man's heart.' If we are honest with ourselves, we know this in the fiber of our beings. It's in our DNA!
In my reading of 1 Corinthians 15 this morning I was sweetly reminded of this VERY Good News! God has given us victory over death through our Lord Jesus Christ! One day this mortal will become immortal and this perishable body will put on the IMPERISHABLE!
IMPERISHABLE
This is a POWERFUL, ENCOURAGING word! In the Greek it literally means:
"a genuine, unending, incorruptible existence."
No more wrinkles. No more cavities. No more cancer. LIFE as is was meant to be! Oh death, where is your sting? Oh grave, where is your victory? What love the Father has lavished on us! This love CASTS OUT FEAR!
This, of course, was God's intention for His Creation...and a far cry from our experience of modern life! Out of curiosity I did a little research tonight. Both the consequences and the cost of sin and death are staggering!
By 2009 Americans were spending $282,000,000.00 PER HOUR on health care. The following year $106 BILLION dollars were spent at the dentist. Last year the cost of prescription drugs in the U.S.A. was $328,000,000.00 (Yes, that's BILLION!) We even spent $88 BILLION on WRINKLE CREAM!
What is most disturbing is (and we tend to forget this), in spite of our most valiant efforts, flowers will wilt, food spoils and we all get old (if we are blessed with a long life) and die.
Even those materials we cherish as symbols of permanence, like gold and diamonds, have the potential for decay. Diamonds are occasionally reduced to graphite, and gold will dissolve (if exposed to a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids).
As a child and in my younger years I often had dreams of flying. I still occasionally dream of running swiftly and tirelessly. Oh the joy and freedom of those dreams! Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that God 'has put eternity into man's heart.' If we are honest with ourselves, we know this in the fiber of our beings. It's in our DNA!
In my reading of 1 Corinthians 15 this morning I was sweetly reminded of this VERY Good News! God has given us victory over death through our Lord Jesus Christ! One day this mortal will become immortal and this perishable body will put on the IMPERISHABLE!
IMPERISHABLE
This is a POWERFUL, ENCOURAGING word! In the Greek it literally means:
"a genuine, unending, incorruptible existence."
No more wrinkles. No more cavities. No more cancer. LIFE as is was meant to be! Oh death, where is your sting? Oh grave, where is your victory? What love the Father has lavished on us! This love CASTS OUT FEAR!
"Therefore, my beloved brothers (and sisters),
be steadfast, immovable,
always abounding in the work of the Lord,
knowing that in the Lord
your labor is NOT in vain!"
(1 Corinthians 15:58)
"And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness
of the sky above;
and those who turn many to righteousness,
like the stars forever and ever."
(Daniel 12:3)
NOW GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES!
be steadfast, immovable,
always abounding in the work of the Lord,
knowing that in the Lord
your labor is NOT in vain!"
(1 Corinthians 15:58)
"And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness
of the sky above;
and those who turn many to righteousness,
like the stars forever and ever."
(Daniel 12:3)
NOW GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES!
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