Tag: Victory Over Death Comes by Death and Dying - 1 Corinthians 15-16

1 Corinthians 15:50-57 (ESV Strong's)

(Mystery and Victory)

I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”

“O death, where is your victory?

O death, where is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Tag:  Victory Over Death Comes by Death

We all face death.  Death wants to conquer us.  The ultimate power of sin is to take life.   Romans 6:23 reads:

Romans 6:23 (ESV Strong's)

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Death wants to swallow us up.  Death has, of course, a physical form.  It is the most prominent of sin’s deadly outcome.   But, sin’s most devastating outcome is spiritual death.   Sin wants to ultimately kill any relationship we could have with God.  This relationship is restored because Christ paid for our sin by dying and defeated death by raising again.  This is Paul’s point in the above.  We, too, will someday raise from the dead.  But, the only way to defeat death is through dying and then raising again with Christ in the great resurrection.  The way to beat death is by death.   Jesus beats death via the resurrected life.  We, too, therefore have the same outcome in our future.  We probably all fear the experience of dying.   But, we should not fear the event of death.  Save Christ returning today, death is our only avenue to resurrection and a resurrected body.   We can fear the experience but we must savor the event for what it brings after: Complete victory over death and ultimate destruction of sin.