A tombstone and a cross

Ever noticed the contrast between a tombstone and the crosses that line up in a perfect grid in a cemetery?

These symbols speak to us no matter how cloudy the day, how long the grave has been there, or how elaborate or inexpensive the headstones are.

Both of these emblems tell us something. A tombstone says, "This person lived on this earth, laughed, loved, worked, sang, and other people loved him.

The cross, not a crucifix, but an empty cross, signifies that this person who walked the earth but now has departed from his earthly home may sometime come to life as the dry bones Ezekiel testified would come together one bone and joint at a time, as Jesus walked out of the tomb alive. If the person whose body is in the grave believed in God, repented of his sins and accepted the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross and followed Jesus, according to Scripture, there will be a "coming out" day.

The narrative is found in 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18: "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as those who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
(Apparently they have been with the Lord as spirit creatures, and he brings them back to earth to unite with their resurrected bodies.)

"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of god: and the dead in Christ shall rise first;

"Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

"Wherefore, comfort one another with these words."