“The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. (57) But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15.56-57
I don’t know very many people who naturally enjoy talking about death. But in these verses we discover that when Jesus went to the cross, He removed the STING of death. When most believers come to the point of dying, their greatest fear is NOT where they are going, but rather, will DEATH hurt. When Jesus was nailed to the cross, the intention of the Roman executioners was to inflict as much pain as possible on Him – after all, that was the distinct purpose of crucifixion. So, they WANTED Him to suffer … and suffer He did. In fact, in that time of suffering, He was pulling the stinger out of death one breath at a time. When He cried, “It is Finished!”, not only was the payment for sin complete, but Jesus had succeeded in extracting the STINGER from death. That is why Paul could write these words, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? (56) The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.” (vs. 55-56)
In addition to pulling the STINGER out of death, Jesus also accomplished something else of great significance. He became VICTORIOUS over the grave. When the stone was rolled away from the tomb, it was not so Christ could get out or the disciples could steal His body. It was to reveal that He had already CONQUERED death and had become VICTORIOUS over the grave. Now v. 57 gives us real hope and real joy. Read it with me with great delight: “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The victory is in Christ and NOTHING or NO ONE else. Let’s allow God’s Spirit to reflect our great victory to others today – not because we are arrogant, but because we are confident of WHO we are in Christ and WHAT we have in Christ! Just My Thoughts …
Pastor Jerry
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