The Department of Social Services in Greenville County, South Carolina, sent the following letter:

"Your food stamps will be stopped, effective immediately, because we received notice that you passed away. May God bless you. You may reapply if there is a change in your circumstances."

How utterly absurd to expect a reply from a corpse or to suggest that a deceased person can change his circumstances! Once you're dead, that's the end of your earthly story.

That's what makes the message of the gospel so mind-boggling. It announces to all the world the death-conquering miracle of Christ's resurrection, together with the wonder of His sin-forgiving sacrifice on Calvary. It heralds the great exception to the universal law that death is the guaranteed end of everybody's story.

There's no possibility of a reappearance and a postscript added to one's life. But Jesus, breaking the power of the grave, did reappear, convincing His doubting disciples that He was alive again. He had met death and defeated that dreaded foe, bringing life and immortality to light (2 Tim. 1:10). And because He lives, we who believe the gospel will also live again (Jn. 14:19).  — Vernon C. Grounds