God;s Precious Promise11: Goodbye, Graves

Too often have we gathered at the graves
Of kith and kin*, grieving, saying “Goodbye”,
Forgetting that God souls not only saves,
But gives all new bodies that will not die!
God never intended death for mankind,
But Adam incurred the penalty of sin,
And all his offspring offended in kind;
Jesus conquered death, defeating it for men!
No remains are too hard for God to find;
Each of us will live again forever;
Two worlds will be, peopled by all mankind;
No graves required in either place, ever!
Since Jesus came forth, and is living now,
He promised the same fate to us endow!

*kith and kin = friends and relatives

Promise Made: 1 Corinthians 15:51-55—“Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep [die], but we will be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortal. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true. Death has been swallowed up in victory. ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’ “ [Brackets added]

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)