Sting Of Death

(1 Corinthians 15:51-54, The Message)
But let me tell you something wonderful
A mystery I'll probably never fully understand
A signal from heaven
The dead will be up and out of their graves
Beyond the reach of death, never to die again.

At the same moment and in the same way
We will all be changed
In the resurrection scheme of things, this has to happen:
Everything perishable will be taken off the shelves and replaced by the imperishable
This mortal will be replaced by the immortal.

Then the saying will come true, "Death is swallowed by triumphant Life"
Who will have the last word, O' death?
O' death, who's afraid of you now?

Anxiety, fear
A life in chains
A clammy hand that grips the heart
Squeezing the joy out of everyday life.

The perishable will clothe itself with the imperishable
The mortal clothed with immortality
O' death where is your victory?
O' death where is your sting?

Inadequacy, shame
A notion of being small, nobody, nothing
A pain from deep within
Knowing I'm not the one I should have been.

[1 Corinthians 15:56-57, The Message]
It was sin that made death so frighetning
And law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage
Its destructive power
But now in a single, victorious stroke of Life
All three - sin, guilt, death - are gone
The gift of our Master, Jesus Christ.

Loneliness, emptiness
Withdrawing into myself
Confused about truth
Lost in the egocentric sphere of my pathetic life.

The mortal clothed with immortality
O' death where is your victory?
O' death where is your sting?