I. Introduction
A. 1 Corinthians 15:55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”.
II. Explanation
A. Paul is taunting death, loosely using the language of Hosea 13:14.
1. You know what taunting is:
a. Where is all your confidence now?
2. Where is the great victory you boasted about? Where is this power you claimed to have?
3. This is remarkable! Who taunts death?
B. To taunt death you have to have power over death.
1. Who has power over death?
2. Who has even claimed power over death? Only a handful. And they were either conmen or insane. The people in history who claimed power over death are now dead, except One.
3. This is why the resurrection of Christ is so important. If He was raised from the dead as the Bible claims, if Jesus is still alive today – in the flesh, then Jesus does indeed have power over death.
4. The Bible claims Jesus brought about the death of death. That’s why Paul can taunt death. It’s lost its power.
a. Movies: someone is amazingly courageous in the face of a gun pointed at him. Then you found out that he knows the gun is not loaded, or is loaded with blanks.
b. That’s Paul’s courage in the face of death. And that’s our courage. The sting is gone!
5. Death has been defanged, its stinger and its poison have been removed.
6. Death is doomed! And its doom is sealed in the resurrection of Christ.
C. Now I want to clarify. I’m not saying that we don’t die. You see, the Bible talks about two deaths.
1. There is the first death, which is when your body dies and is buried or cremated.
2. But then there is the second death. The second death is being sent to hell.
a. Revelation 20:14 This is the second death, the lake of fire.
b. Revelation 21:8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” (Cf. Revelation 2:11; 20:6)
3. The second death is the real problem. And that’s what Christ conquered on the cross, but taking the penalty of sin upon Himself in our place.
4. He also undoes the first death, by promising to raise us up on the last day in new bodies.
III. The world can scorn this. They can mock the idea that death can be conquered. They can say it’s too good to be true. But they certainly can’t offer something better. They can’t even pretend to match it.
A. If we weren’t meant to live forever, why do we all desire to live forever? Every desire we have is there for a reason. Why would a creature evolve to desire something which he can never possess?
B. The world doesn’t want to talk about death, because the world doesn’t have an answer for death, the world doesn’t have a way to deal with death.
C. The world doesn’t like to talk about sin because the world doesn’t have a way to deal with sin.
D. And the same thing is true about death.
E. They prefer their miserable hopelessness to the One who can give them life.
F. The human capacity to ignore things is uncanny!
1. We have the expression, “ignoring the elephant in the room” to refer to this!
2. When we don’t know how to deal with something, we just don’t. We just ignore it. We just pretend it’s not there.
IV. Christians are the ones who have no reason to avoid the subject of death, though sometimes we do.
A. One day each of us will be dying. We’ll be forced to face death.
B. Our bodies: look where they’re heading!
1. Go visit a nursing home. Visit a cemetery. You’re visiting your future.
2. We’re all on a conveyor belt. When I was born, my dad was my son Nathanael’s age, over a year younger than Jacob. And I watched him go through his 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's 70's, 80's & early 90's.
3. And now I’m 64. One of my best pastor friends died a few weeks ago. He was a few months younger than me. Maybe I have 30 years to live, maybe I have 30 minutes to live. I don’t know. But there’s no way I have 40 years. I’m going to die. You’re going to die. All God’s children are going to die — except the ones who are still alive when Christ returns.
C. You’re going to die! It is no solution to refuse to think about it.
1. Make a will. Plan your funeral.
2. Your life on this earth will come to an end, and you will eventually be forgotten – on earth.
V. But if you belong to Christ, you don’t have to be afraid of death!
A. You will be welcomed into His presence in paradise, and not only will you not be forgotten, but you will dwell in the light of our Father’s love forever, and everything you did for Him in this life will be remembered and celebrated.
B. I want to be able to taunt death. When the time comes, I want to be able to look death in the eye and say, “Come on, make my day! Send me to see Jesus!”
1. I don’t mean that we should want to die before it’s time.
2. But it should be love that keeps us wanting to live here, not fear, not enjoyment of this life.
C. I would like to speak to those who find themselves wanting to keep living primarily because of fear.
1. Facing death is so often ruined by the fear of pain, or the fear of the unknown.
2. Has He not proven Himself to you?
3. Is His sacrifice not adequate to cover your sins?
4. Do you really think your sins are bigger than His grace?
5. Does the one who instituted death in the first place as a result of human sin not have the power to undo it!
6. Can’t the one who spoke life into being with the words of His mouth, also bring death to death?
7. Hasn’t He come through for you in the past? All those times you were afraid, all those times things looked like they were crashing in around you: Didn’t He come through for you? Wasn’t He there for you? Why would you think He’s not going to be there for you in the day you die?
8. Or maybe you’re not sure of Him. Maybe you’re not sure you have ever truly repented and given your heart to Him. Maybe you haven’t.
a. Peter says, “Make your election sure!” 2Peter 1:10
b. Repent now! Give your life to Him now! Put your trust in Him now!
D. And now I would like to speak to those who want to keep living primarily because of enjoyment.
1. Last week: I talked about how preferring this world to the next is like preferring dumpster diving for your food to eating at a fine restaurant.
2. But this week Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris burned. And everyone was talking about what a great catastrophe it was. And so this week I haven’t a different analogy:
a. Notre Dame made me think about the magnificent temple in Jerusalem in the days of Jesus.
(1) I thought about John 4:21-24 – The temple no longer is no longer where it’s at.
(2) One day as Jesus and His disciples came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” 2 And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” – Mark 13:1–2.
(3) And less than 40 years later, in 70AD, the glorious temple was completely destroyed.
(4) One day, it’s ALL going to burn! This world: it’s days are numbered!
(a) “The day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. 11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” – 2Peter 3:10–13
b. Notre Dame is a nice building, but it’s nothing compared to the place where believers are going.
(1) Ours is “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for {us}, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” – 1Peter 1:4-5
(2) There is only one building which matters. It’s the one Jesus spoke of in John 14:2–3 “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
VI. Conclusion
A. If you think Christianity is about making the world a better place, you’ve got it al wrong.
B. “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.” – 1Cor.15:19
C. If we can face death, we can face anything! The worst of problems can’t overcome us because we know that Christ is with us and that He is bigger than all our problems.
D. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” – Romans 8:31
E. People who are afraid of death lead the church into compromise with the world.
1. If we’re afraid of death, we’re afraid of persecution.
2. And if we’re afraid of persecution, we’re afraid of standing up for the truth, no matter the cost.
3. God has not given us a spirit of fear!
4. Jesus said, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” – Matthew 10:28
5. Jesus did not say this because He wants people to be afraid of going to hell. Rather, in saying this He is called people to come to Him that they might escape from hell.
F. Dying isn’t so bad because His lovingkindness is better than life! (Ps.63:3)
G. Do you believe this? Will you believe this?
A. 1 Corinthians 15:55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”.
II. Explanation
A. Paul is taunting death, loosely using the language of Hosea 13:14.
1. You know what taunting is:
a. Where is all your confidence now?
2. Where is the great victory you boasted about? Where is this power you claimed to have?
3. This is remarkable! Who taunts death?
B. To taunt death you have to have power over death.
1. Who has power over death?
2. Who has even claimed power over death? Only a handful. And they were either conmen or insane. The people in history who claimed power over death are now dead, except One.
3. This is why the resurrection of Christ is so important. If He was raised from the dead as the Bible claims, if Jesus is still alive today – in the flesh, then Jesus does indeed have power over death.
4. The Bible claims Jesus brought about the death of death. That’s why Paul can taunt death. It’s lost its power.
a. Movies: someone is amazingly courageous in the face of a gun pointed at him. Then you found out that he knows the gun is not loaded, or is loaded with blanks.
b. That’s Paul’s courage in the face of death. And that’s our courage. The sting is gone!
5. Death has been defanged, its stinger and its poison have been removed.
6. Death is doomed! And its doom is sealed in the resurrection of Christ.
C. Now I want to clarify. I’m not saying that we don’t die. You see, the Bible talks about two deaths.
1. There is the first death, which is when your body dies and is buried or cremated.
2. But then there is the second death. The second death is being sent to hell.
a. Revelation 20:14 This is the second death, the lake of fire.
b. Revelation 21:8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” (Cf. Revelation 2:11; 20:6)
3. The second death is the real problem. And that’s what Christ conquered on the cross, but taking the penalty of sin upon Himself in our place.
4. He also undoes the first death, by promising to raise us up on the last day in new bodies.
III. The world can scorn this. They can mock the idea that death can be conquered. They can say it’s too good to be true. But they certainly can’t offer something better. They can’t even pretend to match it.
A. If we weren’t meant to live forever, why do we all desire to live forever? Every desire we have is there for a reason. Why would a creature evolve to desire something which he can never possess?
B. The world doesn’t want to talk about death, because the world doesn’t have an answer for death, the world doesn’t have a way to deal with death.
C. The world doesn’t like to talk about sin because the world doesn’t have a way to deal with sin.
D. And the same thing is true about death.
E. They prefer their miserable hopelessness to the One who can give them life.
F. The human capacity to ignore things is uncanny!
1. We have the expression, “ignoring the elephant in the room” to refer to this!
2. When we don’t know how to deal with something, we just don’t. We just ignore it. We just pretend it’s not there.
IV. Christians are the ones who have no reason to avoid the subject of death, though sometimes we do.
A. One day each of us will be dying. We’ll be forced to face death.
B. Our bodies: look where they’re heading!
1. Go visit a nursing home. Visit a cemetery. You’re visiting your future.
2. We’re all on a conveyor belt. When I was born, my dad was my son Nathanael’s age, over a year younger than Jacob. And I watched him go through his 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's 70's, 80's & early 90's.
3. And now I’m 64. One of my best pastor friends died a few weeks ago. He was a few months younger than me. Maybe I have 30 years to live, maybe I have 30 minutes to live. I don’t know. But there’s no way I have 40 years. I’m going to die. You’re going to die. All God’s children are going to die — except the ones who are still alive when Christ returns.
C. You’re going to die! It is no solution to refuse to think about it.
1. Make a will. Plan your funeral.
2. Your life on this earth will come to an end, and you will eventually be forgotten – on earth.
V. But if you belong to Christ, you don’t have to be afraid of death!
A. You will be welcomed into His presence in paradise, and not only will you not be forgotten, but you will dwell in the light of our Father’s love forever, and everything you did for Him in this life will be remembered and celebrated.
B. I want to be able to taunt death. When the time comes, I want to be able to look death in the eye and say, “Come on, make my day! Send me to see Jesus!”
1. I don’t mean that we should want to die before it’s time.
2. But it should be love that keeps us wanting to live here, not fear, not enjoyment of this life.
C. I would like to speak to those who find themselves wanting to keep living primarily because of fear.
1. Facing death is so often ruined by the fear of pain, or the fear of the unknown.
2. Has He not proven Himself to you?
3. Is His sacrifice not adequate to cover your sins?
4. Do you really think your sins are bigger than His grace?
5. Does the one who instituted death in the first place as a result of human sin not have the power to undo it!
6. Can’t the one who spoke life into being with the words of His mouth, also bring death to death?
7. Hasn’t He come through for you in the past? All those times you were afraid, all those times things looked like they were crashing in around you: Didn’t He come through for you? Wasn’t He there for you? Why would you think He’s not going to be there for you in the day you die?
8. Or maybe you’re not sure of Him. Maybe you’re not sure you have ever truly repented and given your heart to Him. Maybe you haven’t.
a. Peter says, “Make your election sure!” 2Peter 1:10
b. Repent now! Give your life to Him now! Put your trust in Him now!
D. And now I would like to speak to those who want to keep living primarily because of enjoyment.
1. Last week: I talked about how preferring this world to the next is like preferring dumpster diving for your food to eating at a fine restaurant.
2. But this week Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris burned. And everyone was talking about what a great catastrophe it was. And so this week I haven’t a different analogy:
a. Notre Dame made me think about the magnificent temple in Jerusalem in the days of Jesus.
(1) I thought about John 4:21-24 – The temple no longer is no longer where it’s at.
(2) One day as Jesus and His disciples came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” 2 And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” – Mark 13:1–2.
(3) And less than 40 years later, in 70AD, the glorious temple was completely destroyed.
(4) One day, it’s ALL going to burn! This world: it’s days are numbered!
(a) “The day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. 11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” – 2Peter 3:10–13
b. Notre Dame is a nice building, but it’s nothing compared to the place where believers are going.
(1) Ours is “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for {us}, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” – 1Peter 1:4-5
(2) There is only one building which matters. It’s the one Jesus spoke of in John 14:2–3 “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
VI. Conclusion
A. If you think Christianity is about making the world a better place, you’ve got it al wrong.
B. “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.” – 1Cor.15:19
C. If we can face death, we can face anything! The worst of problems can’t overcome us because we know that Christ is with us and that He is bigger than all our problems.
D. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” – Romans 8:31
E. People who are afraid of death lead the church into compromise with the world.
1. If we’re afraid of death, we’re afraid of persecution.
2. And if we’re afraid of persecution, we’re afraid of standing up for the truth, no matter the cost.
3. God has not given us a spirit of fear!
4. Jesus said, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” – Matthew 10:28
5. Jesus did not say this because He wants people to be afraid of going to hell. Rather, in saying this He is called people to come to Him that they might escape from hell.
F. Dying isn’t so bad because His lovingkindness is better than life! (Ps.63:3)
G. Do you believe this? Will you believe this?