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Randal Rauser

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My Dad’s Ashes: A Resurrection Reflection

April 21, 2019 by Randal

What does Christian resurrection mean?

On April 3rd, my dad died at the age of 85.

Three days later, an oven heated to approximately 1500 degrees Fahrenheit incinerated his body, reducing it to fine, grey powder. The father I had once known and loved was now vaporized, leaving behind a few pounds of ashen remains.

Resurrection means that these few pounds of ash are not the final chapter. On the contrary, they merely conclude the prologue of a never-ending story.

Resurrection means that those few pounds of ash will be ground zero for an extraordinary bodily reconstitution. Those ashes will form dry bones. And the Sovereign Lord will say to those bones, “I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.” And there will be a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones will come together, bone to bone. Tendons and flesh will appear on them and skin will cover them, but there will as yet be no breath in them. Then the Sovereign Lord will say, “Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into this man, that he may live.”

And live again, he shall. The prologue is complete, eternity now to begin.

That’s what resurrection means.

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: Easter, resurrection

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