The Reverend Harold A. Linn, Pastor

Victory Over Death

By Dr. Richard P. Bucher

“our Savior, Christ Jesus . . . has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10)                    For an explanation of the picture, click here

“"Death has been swallowed up in victory." ⁵⁵ "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" ⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Co 15:54-57)

What a time in which we live! Almost daily we witness breakthroughs in science and technology that improve human life and extend it. People are living longer and, most would agree, better and healthier lives. At such a heady time as this, it seems that there is nothing that the inventive and tenacious mind of man can’t create and overcome.

There is, however, one breakthrough that has eluded man’s grasp. One serious problem that is still unsolved. Death. In the midst of life we still die. In fact, from the moment we are born we are dying. Death still claims everyone, on its terms, not ours. It is the most horrific of tsunamis that sweeps away everything and everyone, leaving devastation, pain, and unfulfilled dreams in its wake.

Whence comes death? “The soul who sins shall die,” (Ezek 18:4) answers our Creator. More pointedly, “sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned (Rom 5:12) and “the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23). Death is the end result of our rebellion. It was not a part of God’s good creation.

Death is so ubiquitous that it forces everyone to deal with it, though the methods of dealing with it vary. Given the depressing nature of death, most deal with it by ignoring it. When faced with it, some choose to deny it. Given its sheer influence and power, others choose to glorify it—by presenting suicide as chic, for example. Almost everyone tries to postpone it—through “age-defying” beauty aids, surgery, or reincarnation. Then there are those who legitimize it, by claiming that death is a natural part of the “circle of life.” Increasingly, many deal with death by euphemizing it, a type of self-hypnosis. These people, since they can’t avoid death, attempt to declaw it, by describing everyone who has died as “going to a better place” and “at peace now.”

Death is the human problem that man will never conquer. But the good news of Easter, what Easter is really all about, is that Jesus Christ has done what we could never do. By his resurrection, as the above verses triumphantly proclaim, he has conquered death.

The apostle exults, “since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him” (Rom 6:9). As the risen Savior himself says, “I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades (Rev 1:18). The beautiful Reformation painting above powerfully pictures Christ’s victory over death by showing both death (the skeleton) and the devil under his feet.

But Christ has conquered death not only for himself but also for all who make his resurrection their own. This can only be done through baptism and faith in Jesus. Through baptism we are united to Christ’s resurrection: “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom 6:4). And the one who calls himself the Resurrection and the Life declares, “Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live” (John 11:25). As 1 Co 15:57 says, “God gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” There is none other who vanquished death and who can give us the victory over it. Only Jesus did and can.

Christ’s resurrection inflicted death with a mortal wound. On the Last Day, death itself will die. When Christ sits on his throne of judgment, “Then Death and Hades [will be] thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire” (Rev 20:14). When our bodies are raised up, changed and glorious, then we will taste the fruits of our Lord’s victory over death. “Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed” (1 Co 15:51-52).

In the last chapter of Revelation, John describes heaven as a place utterly devoid of death: 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” (Rev 21:4).

Easter has made this good news possible. Thanks be to Jesus for his victory over death. Amen!

March 2005