The Victory Is Ours, Thank God

TO READ: 1 Corinthians 15:51-58

Thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:57

Death, and with it the termination of human possibilities, comes to all of us, small and great, rich and poor, young and old. What place does the word victory have in the same sentence as the word death?

When Christ rose from the dead, he demonstrated immortality of the soul. He killed death through the Resurrection and blew hell wide open (Hosea 13:14).

This truth, mixed with faith and the comfort of the Spirit, is intended to give us relief as we face the passing of someone close to us. Clark Pinnock says, “God is God not only of the sweet by and by, but of the bitter here and now!” As we believe the promise of victory over death, God will turn “the beating time” into “the blessed time.”

If the last enemy is death, and Christ has defeated him, we can know that death is already retreating, wounded and bleeding to his own end. But a mortally wounded animal is the most dangerous animal of all. He will do as much damage as he can to anyone that dares to venture near. Watch him warily and with respect, remembering that in a little while he will be gone forever —and in that rejoice. As we stand helplessly by, watching dark death snatch our dear treasures away from us, let us remember that death cannot but loose our beloved ones into God’s loving arms.