GOSPEL

“O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?“

“O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?“

The Resurrection of Jesus – a token for our resurrection

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Cor. 5:55-57.

The hope of the resurrection forms the basis of the faith of every true Christian. We know that faith is based on the resurrection of Jesus from the dead which is recorded unanimously by the gospels and presented as a trustworthy fact.

The tomb of Jesus was emptied in the resurrection morning. The records of the Bible for this event are of such a wonderful nature that it is hard for a man to grasp the whole account. Yet since they touch on an area where scientific knowledge cannot penetrate, only faith can lift the veil from this mystery. The Apostle Paul consecrates a whole chapter, comprised of 58 verses, to the subject of the resurrection and tries to show that the uplifting or diminishing of the saving message of Christ depends on this fact.

Then he describes very nicely and to the point what death is, the cause of it, and lastly the victory over it. He talks of the Victor who was to conquer death. We are going to examine these points extensively.

Sin – the reason for death

What makes dying so sorrowful is our consciousness of guilt which Paul calls “the sting of death”. From the very beginning, sin was a misuse of the freedom that God gave to man. Death, as well as sin, was not a part of God’s intents regarding man. But after the first human couple misused the gift of God and went astray from the path of righteousness, the inevitable result of their sin was death. Rom. 6:23; Gen. 2:17. Since by Adam sin entered into the world, death has come to all of us, without any exceptions (Rom. 5:12). Christ was the second Adam who gave us a second chance, and bought deliverance for us through the sacrifice of His own life.

Yet how much do we think about these things when we have good days? The older we get and the more notable are the signs for the soon coming end of our lives, the more our mind is engaged in considering these issues, that turn our eyes to God, eternity, and the awaited resurrection. To die looking at our own guilt and without being forgiven is terrible. Without Christ, we would all be taken by fear of this last and hardest step in life. But with Him, having Christ as our personal Savior, death loses its terror and bitterness for us.

Through His death, Christ came into the kingdom of death, “that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” (Heb. 2:14-15). Christ entered death and defeated the prince of darkness because he had done no sin. Therefore, death could not hold Him and he had the power to lay down His life and to take it up again (John 10:18). He, the Sinless One, conquered sin and entered into the tomb so that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

Victory only in Christ

There is a certain kind of faith that conquers the world. This faith does not consist in escaping death but in us being Christ’s possession throughout our lives. Unbelievers may get so opposed to human courts or the heavenly Judgment, as to stop fearing death. There are enough examples of this. Soldiers bravely go to war and hardened criminals calmly go to the scaffold. But to die courageously is something vastly different than to gain victory through Christ.

The Christian, when the hour of his parting with this world comes, puts his trust in a world the bliss of which he has already partially tasted. Heb. 6:5. How often he has tasted that the Lord is good, by believing in His promises! He has thousands of experiences with Him, and while in his life every day he died to sin, for him death was only the final barrier to that world where we shall be brought through the resurrection.

Do we truly want to be overcomers? Then we need to be in communion with Christ, to become one with Him in our hearts, and to do His will. Then there will be love in us that will actuate and enable us to do God’s will. 2 Cor. 5:14; Rom. 8:2; Gal. 4:5. We must not only strive but also conquer! We must defeat doubt, sin, and the fear of death, until our struggle ends and we are either resurrected to see the Coming of Christ or welcome Christ while we are still living, being a part of the 144,000 living saints.

How are the dead going to be resurrected? What bodies are they going to come up with?

These are questions of great significance that Paul asks in 1 Cor. 15, and he also gives the answers to them. He uses the example of the seed to show the decomposition of the mortal substance, and the sprout that emerges from the ground as the beginning of the new life. This picture is a model of what will happen in the resurrection. The mortal man is placed in the grave where his body is subject to corruption. There is nothing immortal in man. Life goes out and – according to the biological laws – all the components decompose to their initial, basic state.

The resurrection of the dead is a mystery that shall never be grasped by the theory of science. Just like the Creation of our world. This is a whole new creation, a second work of creation by God in the material and the spiritual world. The resurrected body is going to be in a much higher state of existence than our current, corruptible bodies.

Just like Christ, after His resurrection, was clothed in glory, so the resurrected man will be clothed in incorruptible glory. Luke 24:31. He will be renewed in beauty and purity which – according to God’s word – shall resemble the state of the angels, and he will be given immortal life!

Sin will be conquered and – together with him – death will be no more. The latter one would not have any more power over us. For this reason, the shout of victory of those who place their hope in the resurrection, will be: “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” 1 Cor. 1:55.

Keeping in mind this wonderful promise, death loses its fearfulness and terror for us. Because there will be a reunion in eternity!

May the Lord help us stand in this faith until the hour when we will also ascend in this glory!

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