No More Sting

"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" 1 Corinthians 15:55-57

The sting of death is gone for those who have found Jesus! The whole concept of death can be scary and uncertain- I mean, who really knows exactly what will happen when the time comes? But we can be assured that for those of us who love and follow Jesus, that death is but a part of life to go through. Just as we go through birth, puberty, and young adulthood, eventually we will take part in the process of death.

But death is simply a metamorphosis. It is the time when we shed these earthly skins and reveal our eternal bodies. How cool is that! Jesus conquered death for us when he sacrificed all for us- and as a result, we get to experience forever as eternal beings in the presence of God! Now that is something I'm looking forward to!

Death has no sting. As I've been reading a lot of history over the last year, I read quite a bit about the Spanish Inquisition and the subsequent inquisitions under King Henry in England. So many people were burned at the stake or had their heads removed because they didn't quite follow the church the way the kings and queens wanted them followed. There are accounts though, of the people who were burned at the stake, who didn't seem to feel any pain whatsoever. There are accounts of people who had their heads chopped off who appeared to be at great peace the whole time- even smiling while the deed was done. Why is that? I believe it is because they found Jesus, and death had no meaning for them. Death for them meant that they were to move on to the next phase of life- and death had lost its sting for them!

This may seem a little morbid for a Tuesday morning discussion-this subject of death, but I can't help but think that if we who love God with all our hearts can eliminate a fear of death from our lives, that we would be more successful in foiling the devils attacks. There have been many times where I have had a bit of a panic attack over something health-wise. Whether it be a blood clot in my leg, or an odd chest pain that terrifies me at the moment. In those moments, when I look back, I can see the devil trying his best to torment me, to scare me and make me think that I could indeed be dying. But if there were no fear of death at all- no fear of that moment of leaving this earth for a heavenly destination, that whole area of torture would be unavailable for the devils use. It would cut him off completely, because I could laugh in his face and proclaim that I am a daughter of the Most High and death has no sting for me!

I think that the more we spend time in our Bibles reading these verses that tell us that the devil really has no power in our lives, the more we will come out victorious when he sends his minions to try and knock us off course. The enemy will fail every time if we can continue to build up our faith in God, and in Jesus Christ who defeated sin and death for us! God already gave us the tools we need to win every single time, we just need to reach inside and pull those tools out! God is so good- He did not make us defenseless beings, He made us in His Image! He made us to be like Him, and gave us the very same power that raised Jesus from the dead- we just need to stir it up inside of us and bring it to the surface. And we do that by spending time in His Word, and building up our faith to the point where those tools float right to the top.

God is just so good.