Posted on 07/28/2015 5:26:27 PM PDT by Gamecock
The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. 1 Corinthians 15:26
Reading 1 Corinthians 15:20–28
Our children are born into a war. The labour room of every hospital is a war zone. Enemies surround us! Satan and a godless society are not our friends and will do us no favours. It could not get worse! There is an enemy within our own ranks. We are frequently our own worst enemies! Every day we battle the desires of our own sinful nature. If it were not for the saving work of Christ and the powerful message of victory in the blood of Jesus we could easily succumb to disillusionment and frustration. We’d put out the white flag of surrender.
To our dying day it is our sinful tendency to be turncoats and side with the enemy. There is, however, one enemy that no one really longs to meet—death. Every person attempts to outrun death through medical treatments, proper nutrition, dieting and a general care of the body.
Our culture is somewhat ambivalent about death. Some treat death as another medical procedure. Two facts testify to this: the countless aborted babies and the growing number of sick and elderly who die by euthanasia. By far the majority of people, perhaps including ourselves, try to avoid all thought of death. Youth and beauty are idolized.
Death is the last enemy we face. For all those who die without faith in Christ, death offers no hope; it offers nothing but endless sorrow and despair. Only when our life is in Christ can we say, “Death is swallowed up in victory...the sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor 15:54, 56–57)
Throughout his writings it is clear that the apostle Paul is not afraid to address the topic of death. Every time he speaks of death he places it within the context of the hope we have in the Lord Jesus. If Christ does not return beforehand we will all face death. Grief and sorrow enter every home. Yet when we face the last enemy, we do not grieve as those who have no hope. What is sown into the ground will be raised through the power of Jesus Christ: the resurrection and the life! Even though we and our children are born in the middle of a war zone we can leave this life confident and victorious!
Evening Devotional Ping!
Thank you.
It is a battle indeed.
Throughout his writings it is clear that the apostle Paul is not afraid to address the topic of death. Every time he speaks of death he places it within the context of the hope we have in the Lord Jesus. If Christ does not return beforehand we will all face death.
Heidelberg Catechism 42 Q. Since Christ has died for us, why do we still have to die? (good question --lnf)
A. Our death does not pay the debt of our sins. Rather, it puts an end to our sinning and is our entrance into eternal life.
And Paul, writing a last letter to Timothy while anticipating his execution, writes "... and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,(2 Timothy 1:10 ESV)"
Christ has abolished death! Amazing.
Yet when we face the last enemy, we do not grieve as those who have no hope.
Death, for the people of God, takes on a different character, than it has for others.
Come, my people, enter your chambers,
and shut your doors behind you;
hide yourselves for a little while
until the fury has passed by. --Isaiah 26
Grief and sorrow enter every home.
Thank you for this.
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