Wednesday, March 30, 2016
1 Corinthians 15:55 O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
DEATH DEFEATED
A great victory comes with a great defeat. That is pretty obvious. It is true of sports such as in the NCAA Basketball's March Madness, or as in a national election, or in the time of war. So do you remember this historical account? "And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, 'Alas, my master! What shall we do?' So he answered, 'Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.' And Elisha prayed, and said, 'LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.' Then the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha" (2 Kings 6:15-17).
If you paused as you read the outcome of 2 Kings 6, know that in the same tone of this great victory and defeat the Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in the Roman-conquered and heavily persecuted Corinth, Greece, "O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:55).
Like a mighty enemy disarmed and defeated, it is an important fact the simple honeybee can only sting once, for they then lose their stinger and are harmless. Similarly, death lost its stinger when it stung Jesus. Jesus bore the dread punishment for the sins of the whole world--yours included--and won the victory for us on the cross. That victory over death is now ours through faith in Him. This victory enables us to go forward, even in the midst of life’s sorrows, steadfast and immovable in the Lord! After all, after a great victory and defeat it is soon time to go home.
-- Adapted from the devotional booklet "O Death, Where is Thy Sting" by Pastor Paul Naumann, available from www.clcbookhouse.org
