“The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”
Hebrews 2:14-15 - “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death-- that is, the devil--and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”
1 Corinthians 15:54-57 - “When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
With reference to human beings, death is not the end of life. For man, physical death does not mean the end of existence, but the end of life as we know it and the transition to another dimension in which our conscious existence continues.
So many people look at death as final when the Bible teaches otherwise. We read the last enemy to be destroyed is death, then we see it too, has a time of destruction. Jesus provided a cure that destroys death itself.
Many people are working hard to find cures to various illnesses with the hope of prolonging the inevitable. Some seek to be frozen and revived.
In His resurrection, Jesus conquered death-- physical, spiritual, and eternal. Jesus came to destroy the power of death. That means He came to destroy a bodily separation, a spiritual separation, and a soul‘s separation from God. He did this by dying Himself.
When Jesus says “Whoever believes in me shall never die” (John 11:26), what a statement! We grieve over them when a doctor or medical examiner has officially declared them dead. I have conducted funerals for believers. I have performed burial services and watched their bodies be put in the ground. The penalty for sin is the curse of death, but the definition is separation. Jesus said in Him there is no separation from God. One moment you are in the presence of your loved ones and the next in the presence of Jesus. The body is gone but that too is temporary. It is a living experience, not a dying one from God’s perspective. We will get new bodies, which is what He wants us all to know.
Jesus defeated Satan at the cross and his power of sin and death over us. He beat Satan at his own game. God paid the price of sin by dying Himself through His Son. Our sins are forgiven, so the penalty is taking away. Instead of separation, there is reconciliation. In the book of Revelation there is also a prophecy about death itself. It is taken and thrown into the lake of fire. (Read Revelations 20).
Revelations 21:4 “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
So, Christ has abolished death and taken away its terror and will some day utterly destroy it.
Application: Have you trusted Christ to be your savior and Lord? Like Jesus, we will leave our grave clothes behind and exchange our mortality for immortality.
Prayer: Lord, thank You that You have redeemed me and conquered death. Thank you that You say, Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His Saints.
