TEMPORAL REPLACEMENT

 RESURRECTION REPLACEMENT

Wednesday, April 03, 2013        

  Today makes 3 weeks since a surgical team entered my neck from the front in order to remedy severe stenosis causing pressure on”… the central nervous system that extends from the base of the brain down to the lower back and that is encased by the vertebral column. It consists of nerve cells and bundles of nerves. The cord connects the brain to all parts of the body via 31 pairs of nerves that branch out from the cord and leave the spine between vertebrae.” (http://www.niams.nih.gov/health_info/Spinal_Stenosis/#spine_b )

  I agreed to the treatment due to decades’ gradual functional interference and potential for regrettable upper body handicap.

  In 2.5 hours the surgical team removed bones, replaced them with healthy cadaver (An oxymoron if ever was one.) parts, and fastened spine together with titanium plate and screws.

  For 21 days I have lived a compliant “collared” life. Yesterday several restrictions were modified. Whereas I haven’t set foot on stair, in garage, in vehicles, or outside, beginning today I’m permitted to “carefully” get mail and newspaper (Wonderful helpful family and neighbors are being retired.), sit on front porch for a few minutes per day, and, blessedly not have to restlessly sleep on my back anymore so long as I keep my neck horizontal. 

  Which brings me to facts of overarching significance; In spite of the wonders of modern science our body will wear out and by appointment it will die. (Heb.9:27) For those never trusting Lord Jesus Christ, death will be eternal disaster. (Jn.3:18) For John 1:12 individuals death will be eternal glory; said glorification including a wondrous resurrection body: “… someone will ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?" You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell 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 trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." (ESV 1Cor.15:35-54)

  The need for physical repair and maintenance is inescapable condition since Adam’s deciding against God’s healthcare. But fear not, for believers “… our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” (ESV Phil.3:20-21)   EBB4