~5 min read
Ps Paul Cheng
1 Corinthians 15:50-57
“…end on a victorious note!...”
Dear Bethelites,
We have considered the exposition of the Apostle Paul in regards to what Christ's resurrection has got to do with us, regarding the inheritance and mystery. Having understood how the resurrected body will enable us to inherit the kingdom of God, the mystery reveals to us that we will either be resurrected or raptured, isn’t it wondrous and victorious? Thus, Paul went on to end on a victorious note!
I. The Victory
1 Corinthians 15:54, So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
When the resurrection and the rapture take place, then we shall see the saying being brought to pass or fulfilled. But where is this saying? Well, it is found in Isaiah 25:8, “He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.”
To swallow up is to be drowned, or to finish it. If I may use the illustration; sometimes, when we want our children to finish their food or drink, we would say, “Drink all of it” or “Swallow it up.” We do not want them to finish half of the food, or one quarter of the drink, we want them to finish it up completely. In a similar fashion, death will be completely finished, destroyed and swallowed up!
1 Corinthians 15:55, O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
Indeed, death has been the greatest enemy of every human being who has ever lived on the face of this earth. Let us pause and consider how this great enemy (death) has brought about so much heartache, pain, tears, sadness, separation and anguish. How many children have cried, “Why must daddy and mummy die?” How many parents have cried, “Why must my child be taken away from me?” When a person has a terminal illness and he dies, what do people say? They would say, “He lost the fight. He lost the battle against cancer, etc.” When a person has an accident and he dies, what do people say? They would say, “He lost his life.” It seems that death has the victory!
Here, Paul turned the table around, and it was as if he was mocking the enemy, “Come on, death, you have been our greatest enemy all our lives, but where are you now? Where is your victory now?”
O death, where is thy sting? — The word sting reminds us of a bee. What gives a bee power over us is its ability to sting us, and it is the poison in the sting. But what happens when the bee loses its sting? It no longer has any power against us, right? Our Lord Jesus took the sting of death when He bore our sins on the cross of Calvary, and because of that, death has lost its sting on us.
O grave, where is thy victory? — What gives death the power over us is its ability to put us into the grave. But death has the victory only if it can keep our body in the grave forever. However, our Lord Jesus was risen from the dead on the third day, and with His resurrection, the grave no longer has any victory over us.
Death, our last enemy, has been defeated by our Lord Jesus Christ when He died on the cross of Calvary. Death cannot keep Him in the grave for He rose again from the dead. That was why Jesus said in John 11:25, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” So, death has no more sting, and the grave has no more victory!
1 Corinthians 15:56, The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
Why is death so horrendous and dreadful? Where does death come from? It all started with sin. Adam and Eve were supposed to live forever in the Garden of Eden, but because of sin, they disobeyed God and took the forbidden fruit. And the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23); physically, man has to die, spiritually, he is separated from God, and eternally, he will be cast into the lake of fire!
and the strength of sin (or the power of sin) is the law. — What does that mean? 1 John 3:4, “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” Our God is a holy God, and He said, “This is my law and commandments. You must keep them.” So, when we refuse to obey God, we break, violate and transgress His law. And that is sin. God’s law reveals His standard, and when they are broken, they reveal man’s sin. That is what it means, the strength of sin is the law.
Some people may ask, “But what about those people who are not from a Christian home, and they have never heard of God’s law and commandments?” Romans 2:15 explained that even though the Gentiles who do not have the law, they by nature observe to do the things contained in the law, and they “shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another.” In other words, even if one has never heard of the law, they will still be condemned because the law of God which is also known as the moral law (Ten Commandments) is written in his heart and conscience. He has a sense of right and wrong, and when he does that which is wrong, he knows it. And one day, his own conscience will either accuse or excuse him.
Dear friend, as believers, have our sins already been forgiven? Yes! Have we been saved from eternal condemnation? Yes! Have we been set free from slavery to sin and Satan? Yes! Have we been transferred out of the kingdom of darkness and into God’s marvellous light? Yes!
But as long as we are still alive, and living in this mortal body, we will stll face our last enemy (death). One day, we will die, and be buried in the grave. But death has lost its sting on us, and the grave no longer has victory over us, because of the resurrection.
When our Lord Jesus comes in the clouds, our bodies will be resurrected from the graves, to be united with our souls. We will be changed and transformed into a glorified body. That is the ultimate complete redemption of both our body and soul. All this is only possible because of One Person alone, Jesus Christ.
If you are a believer, then you should say as the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:57, But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. If you are an unbeliever, then you must turn to Jesus today, because there is no salvation except the One who died on the cross to save you from the penalty of sins. Today is the day of salvation, and then you can participate in the resurrection and the rapture.
With love in Christ,
Pastor Paul Cheng
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