I woke up this morning totally disoriented. I had no idea where I was or what day it was. It was not the most pleasant experience of my life. My body must have awakened but my brain was still partially asleep.
Ever since I was a little boy and learned the story of Lazarus and learned that Jesus called death a sleep, I have been fascinated with the idea of a resurrection. Paul wrote in I Corinthians 15, “I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible.” Those first few moments for those who have been dead must be extraordinarily disorientating with the brain trying to find some context. If we continue thinking what we were thinking when we died the questions of “where and when” will be amazing. I live in New England in a modern world. What about the pilgrims buried here? This is not the same Massachusetts they called home. It might as well be Pluto for all the differences.
Whatever God did for Adam the moment He breathed into the breath of life so God will have to do for all of us. There will have to be, not only the creation of a healthy body but the creation of a mental context, a present tense, a now. One of the things angels in the Bible usually said to people was, “Do not be afraid.” Whatever it will be I do know this. We don’t want to miss it and because of Jesus’ love and grace we will not.
Written by Roger Bothwell on June 15, 2017
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