Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Nothing exposes our vulnerability like death. Is it any wonder that our culture pushes the experience of death to the margins of society?

We are mere flesh, made from the dust of the earth. From dust we came and to dust we will return. As the prophet Isaiah put it: “All flesh is grass, and its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades” (Isaiah 40:6-7 ESV). It’s inevitable; someday, our loved ones will stand over our grave and weep.

We are what the philosophers call “contingent beings”—we do not have life in and of ourselves. We are dependent for our life on forces that go beyond our control. Said another way, we are mortal, perishable, subject to forces of death and decay.

However, in the face of this fact, the Apostle Paul inserts the amazing reality of the resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus and the hope of our resurrection in Him completely changes the equation, so much so, that Paul invites us to taunt death! In 1 Corinthians 15 (54-55 ESV), he writes:

When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”

Indeed, as Christians, we should draw on this hope all the time, but in times of crisis and loss, it becomes all the more poignant and real

“…[T]hanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57 ESV).

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 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. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“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. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

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 15:50-58 (ESV)

Thank you for listening to and supporting The Kingdom Perspective! The Kingdom Perspective is a ministry of Christ Redeemer Church of Hanover, NH. To hear more episodes you can subscribe on Apple Podcasts. To donate or to find out more about the ministry and resources offered by Christ Redeemer Church visit www.christredeemerchurch.org.