Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” ~1 Corinthians 15:51–55
If the message of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection mean anything, it’s this: in Jesus, death has died.
The one power that has held sway over every human being since the beginning of time has now been wholly routed in Jesus. There is no final victory of death over the believer.
So why do we have such respect and fear of death? Why do we lavish such honor upon it at our funerals and memorial services? We speak in low voices or don’t know what to say in the presence of it. We think it is so final and decisive that we use “death” to mean the ultimate end. But is this right?
For the believer in Jesus, death is a defeated enemy. No, it’s not a friend or “a natural part of life,” it’s always an enemy, but one utterly overpowered by Jesus’ resurrection. We indeed recoil at its threat and the ways it can come to us, and we suffer when our loved ones are taken by it, but it’s not the final word or the greatest power over us. Its victory and sting have been neutralized.
This victory is true not only in the personal, physical realm (death of the body) but also in the realm of our professions, broken relationships, and life dreams.
Our jobs can be lost, our careers can take a downward turn, and our dreams may come crashing down in a single afternoon, but nothing can be lost in this world that is beyond recovery.
If our very bodies can be brought back to life (even greater life than before), then the lesser things of life are equally open to restoration and transformation.
This is the hope available now, in this present life, to the believer in Jesus.
Fortunately, God demonstrates this in the nitty-gritty of our daily lives. All the “little resurrections” (the rescues, healings, and answers to prayer) give us a solid reason to expect a great resurrection at the end.
In Revelation 21:4, we read, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.
In the last act of history, God appears on the scene again to rule in person over his beloved creation and banish all evil, tears, pain, bitterness, and death forever. Paradise is restored. And that is God’s last word pronounced over our universe. All pain, disillusionment, failure, distress, disappointment, and loss won’t even be a memory. The Good News is not just for then, but for now.
What grief is overwhelming you today? Praise God for the rescue you so desperately need, which he is bringing to you.
This Easter, let us move forward in joy and utmost confidence, knowing “that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Today’s Prayer
Lord God, please reveal the true meaning of the resurrection, and may its power fill me with your hope and everlasting joy, I pray in the strong name of the resurrected Christ, Amen.
Today’s Commitment
I commit to praise…
- Easter: The Day Death Died - April 20, 2025
- Bleak Saturday: New Life - April 19, 2025
- Good Friday: What’s Good About It? - April 19, 2025
