“Where, O death, is your
victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the
power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:55-57
Perhaps you have seen the bumper sticker that reads simply
KNOW CHRIST – KNOW PEACE … NO CHRIST – NO PEACE. There are far too many people who fear death. On that subject they have no peace. Perhaps it is fear of the unknown, of what to
expect when they pass from this earth.
Perhaps it is because they have just enough understanding of scripture
to know that bad things await those who have not made peace with God prior to
the last day. Forgiveness, peace,
fulfillment and hope for tomorrow lie in knowing Christ. Not a peripheral or a one sided relationship,
but rather a close, personal one. It comes from submitting your will to the will of God.
Once you surrender to the Lord your wants and desires, you begin to
hunger for more of Him. You are cheating
yourself if you fight that hunger. Get
to know God for who He truly is, what He has done and what He promises to do
for any ardent believer. Just believing
is not enough. Submersion is
necessary. You must submerge to emerge
into a new life in Christ.
Why is knowing Christ important? When Christ rose from the dead by the will of
God, He took the venom out of the sting of death. Once the sting is removed there is no longer
anything to fear. Without Christ’s death
there is no redemption for man. He is
irreversibly stuck in his own sin and must pay the penalty on his own. That
is something to fear. But it doesn’t
have to be that way. We can have victory
over sin and death by accepting Christ’s death as payment for all our misdeeds
and living in the freedom He provides.
We avoid the second death by receiving all the benefits of the second
birth. We are free of our sin, not to
sin again but to live according to the prescribed plan God has for us. He knows what is best for us all and will
reveal His plan for our life if we ask Him to.
To live for Christ is to live a life of victory. Take your focus off your problems and place
them squarely on Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews
12:2). Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!
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NOTE:
The Apostle
Paul paraphrases verses from Isaiah and Hosea in the Old Testament to cement
his argument about the finality of death’s destruction at Christ’s
resurrection.
Isaiah 25:8 (NIV)
“… he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from
all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. The Lord has spoken.”
Hosea 13:14 (NIV)
“I will deliver this people from the power
of the grave; I will redeem them from death.
Where, O death, are your plagues?
Where, O grave, is your destruction?”
