1 Corinthians 15:53-55

1 Corinthians 15:53-55 (ESV)

[53] For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. [54] 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.”

[55] “O death, where is your victory?

O death, where is your sting?”

People were never intended to experience death. Death was the result of Adam’s sin. We were designed to live and rule. That is what makes death so painful. It is unnatural. It is against our nature. Added to that is the social aspect of our nature. We were created for community. Death robs us of those to whom we are closest. It is painful and unnerving, and it shakes our world. Death is not a good thing and never has been.

Evidence of that truth is all around us. People facing death do everything they can to hang on to life. They fear death. Those who choose to die or attempt to die often speak of their life as a living death or a living hell from which they want to escape. Biblically, death was the consequence of eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God warned Adam, “Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen 2:17). Death is the consequence of that action.

The good news is that while death itself has not yet been done away with, for the believer in Jesus Christ the sting of death has been taken away. Death is still painful. Believers still grieve. But we do not grieve with the same sense of hopelessness as those who have no hope. Speaking of the coming of our Lord and the resurrection of believers, 1 Thessalonians 4:13 says, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.” He does not say that we do not grieve, but that our grief is not the same as those who have no hope.

Their grief is a grief if finality. Ours is a grief of hope and expectation. We don’t like to be apart from those we love. I remember the first time I went to camp as a young boy. I enjoyed the week, but the last day as we were anticipating our parents return I was suddenly struck with the fear, “What if I don’t remember what my Mom looks like?” That reunion was important. It gave safety to being apart. The fear of not being able to reconnect was what caused fear. Thankfully, I further reasoned that even if I didn’t remember what she looked like, she would remember me. That gave me peace, and there was an overwhelming sense of relief when I saw Mom and remembered her.

It is the finality of loss that is unbearably painful. But in Christ we have hope. That is why believers through the ages have been willing to place themselves in jeopardy for the sake of others. It is why believers value life. It is why we can experience peace in the midst of an anxious society. One day our perishable will put on the imperishable, our mortal will put on immortality, and death will be swallowed up in victory. Death is not the end for those who have trusted Christ. Don’t keep this Good News to yourself.