The Sting Of Death

The Sting Of Death

When our perishable earthly bodies have been transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die—then at last the Scriptures will come true: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” –1 Corinthians 15:54-55

I’ve struggled with these verses. Because I know what it feels like when it seems death has won. Because I have felt the twisting, stinging bite of death-pain on my insides. Have you? How can we ever hope to taunt death and claim victory like Paul does in these verses?

Because death is not the end of the story. Physical death does not speak the final word in the life of the believer and therefore does not declare the ultimate victory. But it requires a step of faith to believe that a day is coming when Jesus’ victory over death will come to its complete fruition. And for those who are unable to receive the gift of victory over death by faith, the sting remains, and it is very real and very painful.

My friend Sue is a former hospice nurse, and she has witnessed many different ways patients and families deal with death. She has seen those who peacefully slip away, some completely unconscious of their passage, some clear-minded to the end as they pass from this life, oftentimes even verbalizing glimpses of the next. For those who love them, tears come, but there is also sweetness and even a joy mixed with the tears.

Others are terrorized as death approaches. These people seem to already taste the bitter sting of death, the gripping fear, the fright of the unknown, the anticipation of terror, and the inescapable despair. They are inconsolable, as are those around them when death comes.

As God’s child, you can approach death with the confident expectation that God will transform your earthly body into a heavenly body that will never die. Death will be defeated. You will know by experience that the poison sting of death no longer has any power to hurt you.

Death Slayer, your Word tells me that you have taken the poison sting so that those who love you will not have to be injected with its damning toxin. Fill me with confidence in your ultimate victory over death so I can rest in you.

DIGGING DEEPER