Moment of Meditation: Death Is Swallowed up in Victory (1 Corinthians 11:54-56)

Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
(1 Corinthians 11:54-56)

"Death is Swallowed up in Victory"

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!!

On the Last Day, when all the great wondrous mysteries have unfolded and we stand before God in our new imperishable, immortal, spiritual bodies, we will see the fulfillment of our passage this morning. St. John the Evangelist takes this one step further as he summarizes Heaven in his Revelation: "[God] will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away" (21:4).

There will be no more death because there will be nothing but everlasting life for those who believe in Jesus and everlasting torment to those who do not believe in Jesus. Why will there be no more death? Because sin will be done away with. And with the destruction of sin, God will destroy all the fruits of sin: death, sorrow and pain. These will all be gone because they have been swallowed up in Christ's victory over the grave when He rose from the dead.

That victory is given to you by faith in Jesus. Therefore you have this victory over death already. That's why Christians need not fear death but anticipate what lies beyond: a world with no sin, no sorrow, no pain, nothing that is unnatural to the way God created the world when He saw it was "very good". That's the victor's prize in this life. Amen.