O Death, Where Is Your Victory?
As early as A.D. 500, calendars began to divide history by the birth of Jesus. Though there is some discrepancy as to the exact year, this single event became history’s pivotal point. B.C., (before Christ), indicated time before the birth of Christ and A.D., (Anno Domini or Year of the Lord), as referring to time after His birth. This distinction was first used in A.D. 500, but only gained popular usage in the 800s. The birth of Jesus is important to remember and celebrate, but the most significant event ever is His death and resurrection. Jesus came to earth with the assignment to redeem mankind and His death marked its completion. Having fulfilled His mission, death could not keep Him in the grave. The Giver of Life triumphed over death, broke the power of sin and satisfied the justice of God.
Death is the consequence of sin. God told Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If they did, they would surely die. Death was not in God’s plan for man, but was the consequence of disobedience. Death is the absence of the Life of God. It is not nothingness, but rather the consciousness of God’s goodness, yet without access to it. Death is torment and death is separation. When one thinks of existing without being able to experience the goodness of God, there is despair and fear. Jesus told the story of a rich man and a poor man who died. The rich man went to Hades, the place of torment, and the poor man, Lazarus, went to Abraham’s bosom, or Paradise. The rich man could see Paradise, but could not reach it. No one could cross the abyss that separated these two realities. Jesus showed, by means of this story, the finality of death and the consequence of sin.
Romans 3.23 says that all have sinned. And since all have sinned, all die. The Scriptures go on to say that the law of sin and death are in the members of our body. This is why we get sick and grow old. Sin causes there to be corruption of life. Death can only rule over a sin contaminated body. Jesus is Life. Death had no power over Him until the day He took our sins upon Himself. When that happened, darkness covered the earth, the Father stepped back and the Son of God yielded His body over to death. He who knew no sin became sin. The Giver of Life took our place, received our judgement and died our death. His death forgave us of our sins and redeemed us from its consequences. In satisfying God’s justice, sin and death had no more power. Life triumphed over death and Jesus rose from the grave.
Just as the death of Jesus brought forgiveness of sin, His resurrection brought life forever more. Paul talks much about the resurrection in I Corinthians 15. Some, in the church in Corinth, had been teaching that there was no resurrection of the dead. Paul wrote that if there is no resurrection, then Christ did not conquer death, and if Christ had not conquered death then we are all still under sin and our faith is in vain. Because Christ rose from the dead, we, who have placed our faith in Him, also will rise from the dead. Death has been swallowed up in victory. Death has no more “sting”. Death is no longer to be feared. The effect of death in our mortal bodies is completely annihilated in the resurrection. What was perishable, becomes imperishable. What was weak becomes strong. What was natural becomes spiritual. Now we bear the image of the man of dust, (Adam), but in the resurrection we will bear the image of the Son of God. So death where is your victory? Where is your sting?
Scriptures to meditate on:
I Cor. 15.10-18; Rom. 8.11; 10.9; Eph. 2.6; I Peter 1.21; Gal. 3.13-14