not even death

"I will ransom them from the power of the grave, I will redeem them from death.
Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave is your destruction?"
Hosea 13:14

Today I saw a dead body for the first time. I had passed his room earlier and noticed Cheyne-Stokes breathing...which basically means that he was on his way out. And I watched as a heartless nurse shut the door on her way out of the room and told no one to go in. She shut the door on a still leaving person, someone who is still deeply loved and being mourned over and she shut the door on him. but I know that he was not alone. After he died my instructor made me assess him, check for a pulse that I would not find, listen for a heart that would never beat again, assess for respirations that would no longer exist, open his eyes to check his pupils. And every time I checked something I was hoping that I was doing it wrong, that I would see his chest rise again, that I wasn't listening to my stethescope closely enough.
I don't think that anyone can completely understand the glory of the gospel unless they have a good understanding of death, which until today, I did not. Death, even when it is quiet, "comfortable" and expected, is an awful awful event that I know my God did not originally intend for us to experience. And my God, my savior, my Jesus, volunteered to go through that for me. It's an experience that I could never wish upon anyone, the fate that my sin has cost me. And Jesus, Holy and blameless Jesus paid my ransom and did it for me. He didn't just stop living, he experienced death in its fullest extent, and he conquered the grave. The power of death is shattered by Him who saves and I will forever rejoice because of it.

Lead me to the cross where your love poured out,
Bring me to my knees, Lord I lay me down,
Rid me of myself I belong to you,
Oh lead me, lead me to the cross