“I think this might be the definition of pure joy,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said in a postgame interview after the Atlanta Braves defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the National League pennant. Thousands celebrated the victory well into the early morning hours as the Braves return to the World Series for the first time since 1999.
The celebration of a new baby seems to be at a different level. Kinsey said the joy after Corrie Mae was born is ‘indescribable.’ Seeing pictures of my parents holding their newest great-grandchild brings joy to my heart.
Corrie Mae’s big sister Keightley also experienced joy this week. She celebrated her third birthday.
But there’s a much greater joy coming: “Listen, I tell you a mystery: we will not all sleep, but we will all 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 will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 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.’” (I Corinthians 15:51-54)
This is the triumph of Jesus: “Then the end will come, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For He must reign until He puts all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” (I Corinthians 15:24-26)
This triumph is closer than ever… and all who trust in Jesus will experience pure joy: “Therefore, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” (I Corinthians 15:58)
“Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.
“Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” I Thessalonians 4:13 -5:11