Posted on 04/30/2016 4:12:58 PM PDT by metmom
Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? . . . but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:54-55, 57).
The Resurrection seals what we could not: victory over death.
Death is the great enemy of mankind. It comes to everyone without exception. It violates our dominion of Gods creation, breaks apart relationships, disrupts families, and causes us to grieve the loss of loved ones. However, Christs resurrection has broken the power of death for Christians because death no longer is master over Him (Rom. 6:9).
In todays passage the apostle Paul reminds us of the final victory over death that results once we have been transformed into our resurrection bodies. To make his point, Paul quotes from the Old Testament prophets Isaiah and Hosea. In using Hoseas sting of death metaphor, Paul implies that death left its sting in Christ, as a bee leaves its stinger in its victim. On the cross Jesus bore all of deaths sting (sin), so we wouldnt have to bear any of it. When sins penalty has been removed, death merely interrupts our earthly life and ushers us into the heavenly realm, where we will worship and praise God forever.
Paul concludes (v. 57) by thanking God, who provided us the triumph over sin and death. We also should be thankful to God who, through Christs redeeming work, gave us what we could never have obtained by ourselves. God promises to all believers the heavenly in exchange for the earthly, and the immortal in exchange for the mortal.
With Jesus Christs triumph over death, we have no reason to fear what death can do to us. Instead, we should rejoice concerning the Lords promise to us about the next life: Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire . . . and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain (Rev. 20:14; 21:4).
Suggestions for Prayer
Thank God that in His sovereign wisdom and power He has defeated death and removed all reasons for the believer to be afraid of it.
For Further Study
Read 2 Kings 2:9-14 and 4:18-37. What do these passages preview about Jesus control over death, His own and ours? Do they remind you of any particular New Testament stories?
I frequently think of the verse "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted." Mat 5:4.
As the final certain victory over death gives us comfort.
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