Today, churches all over will be talking about hope, new beginnings, power
over death and all the rest. Sadly, in so many cases, these will be empty
words that have no real foundation. People will be given an emotional lift,
but it will be just another passing feeling. When real hope and
encouragement will be needed, what they will be given today will be
worthless. Will mere slogans really help when someone is on his deathbed?
Will these catchphrases give strength when death is staring them in the
face? What good is some passing emotion then?
The Scriptures are clear. Jesus died. And on the third day He rose again.
And according to the Word of God that makes all the difference. Jesus has
done something that has changed not only death but life itself. You need to
believe this part of the Gospel also. You need to believe it with a solid
understanding of what Jesus has done. You need to believe it wholeheartedly
so that when you face death you will have a real hope; so that you will have
something solid to stand on not just some empty phrases. And that is my
desire this morning. I want to help you to have a solid and real hope.
If you are going to grow in your appreciation of what happened at Jesus’
resurrection you will need to begin by coming to grips with the
inevitability of your own death. You will die one day. There is no escaping
that. People these days are afraid of that and so they run from it. In a
way, it makes sense for them to do that since they have no resources to
handle that day. And that makes their approach to their death all the
sadder. I would hope that none of you are in that category. I hope that you
all can face squarely the fact of your coming death. It’s good to think
about the day of your death. It’s good to be prepared for it.
Let’s consider death and understand it. What is the intended goal of death?
Destruction! Death wants to destroy you. It’s not just after your body. It’s
after all of you. It wants to destroy you as a person. Death is like a
vicious attack dog. It waits and waits. And then it pounces and rips to
shreds. Pieces fly everywhere until there’s nothing left. That’s death’s
desire: your complete and utter destruction. It’s no wonder that people fear
death.
Now, what did Jesus do at His resurrection? Death, as you can imagine, was
especially eager to get at Jesus. It was ready to pounce, ready to rip Him
to shreds. Jesus died and death leaped to attack Him. But what happened?
Jesus caught death mid-leap, grabbed him by the throat and slammed him down
to the ground. And then Jesus squeezed. Jesus tightened His grip until there
was fear in death’s eyes. Jesus let him go and death went off yelping in
pain with its tail between its legs. Then Jesus walked out of the tomb. Do
you see what happened? Jesus defeated death. To use Paul’s language, ‘Death
is swallowed up in victory’. But understand what that means. Death has been
conquered. It’s not that Jesus is one that got away. The resurrection wasn’t
a little skirmish between Jesus and death where death lost that one but it’s
ready to go at it again when you show up. That’s not a conquest. That’s not
victory. When David conquered a people some were killed and the rest were
put to forced labor. That’s conquest. Jesus conquered death. And as a
result, you share in that conquest. Again from Paul: ‘But thanks be to God,
who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’ The vicious dog,
death, is now Jesus’ pet. And a very well trained pet at that. He quickly
obeys every command of His master. Remember Jesus said, ‘I hold the keys to
death and hades.’ Jesus controls death. And so, in our text, Paul speaks to
death. ‘O Death, where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting?’ Paul
is taunting death. ‘You think you’re bad? You think you can destroy me? No
way! Death, you’ve got nothing. Nothing! You can’t touch me. You can’t hurt
me at all.’ Do you see what has happened in Jesus’ resurrection?
So, death has been changed. It has been redefined. It is no long out for
your destruction. It is unable to do anything such thing. It is now a tool
in Jesus’ hands for your good. Yes, for your good! To understand that we’ll
need to consider how the Bible views this life. Read through the Scriptures.
It’s clear that this life is a battlefield. Your life is lived in the midst
of warfare. ‘For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this
world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Therefore take up the
whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and
having done all, to stand firm.’ [Ephesians 6:12] What is this but the
language of war? And you’re on the front lines. Every day is a battle
against sin. Every day is a wrestling match with Satan. That’s this life.
So, what, then, is death for the Christian? Death for the Christian is Jesus
saying, ‘Okay, you’ve fought the good fight. It’s time for you to be
relieved from active duty. It’s time for you to leave the war and come home.
’ What is death for the Christian? It’s the end of warfare. It’s time to
retire from the battle. It’s time to go to a place where there is no more
war, a place of peace. So, death for the Christian is not longer an enemy to
be feared. Jesus conquered it and redefined it, and you get the benefits. It
will be clear that you’ve really grasped all of this when you can taunt
death like Paul did. ‘Where’s this great victory of yours, Death? Where? You
are nothing and you’ve got nothing. You’re just Jesus’ little lap dog now.’
And as you lie on your deathbed, you can tell yourself, ‘My time on the
front line is just about over. I’m ready to be relived from duty. I’m ready
to go home.’
Now, I’ve heard some Christians say, ‘I’m not afraid of the thought that one
day I’ll be dead. I know that I’ll be with the Lord. It’s just the process
of dying that I’m afraid of.’ Any Christian who thinks like this doesn’t
understand how thoroughly Jesus has redefined death. All of its destructive
venom is gone, completely gone. And so, death is reduced to a trial, a test
of faith. Jesus has made it into something that is just like all the other
trials that you’ve gone through. And here all you have to do is remember the
promises of Scripture about dealing with these tests of faith. ‘No test has
overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not
let you be tested beyond your ability, but with the test he will also
provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.’ [1
Corinthians 10:13] So, what have you done in every other test of faith? You’
ve prayed, ‘Lord, help me deal with this.’ And has He ever failed you? You’
ve gotten through them all, haven’t you? Death is just one more trial with
one very important difference. It’s the last one! Can you imagine that? No
more trials after that. No more wrestling with doubt or sin or temptations.
The last one! So, as you face your own death you can tell yourself, ‘This is
just like the rest. This one has the same question that the others did. "Do
you trust Me now?" Lord, You know that I do.’ All the other trials have
prepared you for this one. Even the process of death is nothing to be afraid
of.
That leaves the last section of our text. Most of you have heard this before
but usually as something separated from the context. ‘Therefore, my beloved
brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,
knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.’ [1 Corinthians 15:58]
It usually functions as an independent encouragement. But it isn’t. What’s
the first word? ‘Therefore.’ Paul is drawing a conclusion from his
discussion about the resurrection. Since Jesus has been raised, since He has
won this decisive victory over death and has redefined it, since He has
blessed us with all the benefits of this great work – since all of this is
true then live! Keep working at faithful living. What you do now is not in
vain. It is not destroyed by death. Death can no longer destroy anything.
Some time ago, I remember thinking, ‘What a shame! We spend a lifetime
gaining knowledge, being blessed with wisdom, developing abilities and
skills, growing as people, and then we die and it all disappears.’ I have
come to see that that is totally wrong. It is exactly what Paul is
encouraging us not to believe. Our lives are not in vain. Who you are
becoming here will be who you will be there – except for sin. You don’t
start over. You start where you left off and go on from there. When you are
resurrected it will be you who is resurrected. It won’t be someone who has
your name and looks like you but isn’t like who you are. It will be you! And
so, the effort you put into becoming more like Jesus here doesn’t go up in
smoke. Becoming wise and knowledgeable and gracious and gentle here is worth
the effort. That’s who you’ll be there, when you are resurrected. What you
do here matters. It’s not in vain. And so, you can see that that saying, ‘He
’s so heavenly minded that he’s no earthly good’ is just another lie. It’s
the people who are the most heavenly minded who do the most earthly good.
My goal for this morning was to give you something solid to stand on when
the day of your death arrives. My desire is that this sermon has
strengthened your hope so that you might live unafraid of death. Remember,
Jesus has conquered it. And you get all the benefits.
