Death's Defeat

“O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?”
1 Corinthians 15:55

One day, a mother and her two children were in the park having a fun time. They were enjoying the outdoors until a big bumblebee landed on little brother and then stung him! He began to cry and scream like any child would as the wound on his arm became swollen. The bee was still buzzing around, and his little sister was petrified. The mother comforted her daughter by saying, “Darling, wait a minute.” As she was wiping her brother's tears away, she said, “Look down here on your brother’s arm.” Right in the middle of that swelling was the bumblebee’s stinger. Then mom said, “Do you see that, Sweetheart? That bee can buzz around you, but it can’t hurt you. You see, it can only sting once, and it left the stinger in your brother.”
 
While death is a decided fact for humanity, death is also a defeated foe in Christianity. We are able to laugh in the face of death if we know Jesus. I remind you, death may buzz around you and even frighten you, but Jesus took the sting of death, and He has given us a "living hope" that is steadfast and sure.
 
Jesus told death that he couldn't keep Him. You see, Jesus willingly and vicariously laid down His life. The wages of sin is death, but Jesus was not a sinner and did not have to die. Jesus voluntarily and vicariously laid down His life.
 
Death thought he had the ultimate victory! King Death laid his bony hands on Jesus and shackled Him with the bonds of death while He laid cold and stiff in the tomb. King Death possibly clapped his bony hands, and shouted with demonic determination, “I’ve got Him! He’s mine now.” But after three days, Jesus majestically rose from His resting place. Jesus did more than survive death. He defeated and decimated death in that tomb.
 
He got up from that limestone slab. He turned around and folded the napkin that was covering His face. There was no hurry because He was in complete control of every detail. I love it when the Bible tells us that when disciples entered the tomb, all they found was the folded napkin that was placed over His face.
 
Be sure to get the importance of picture here! There was that cruel king of terror and death, sitting upon the throne. But this time death had a terrified look on his face because no one had done this before. Jesus pulled him from the throne and cast him to the floor. Death cowered in the corner of that tomb that now became his dungeon. Jesus put His heel on the neck of death, reached down and pulled the sting out of death, then He put the crown of life on His own head and walked out of that tomb, right on time, a victorious Savior!
 
God bless you,
 
Pastor Dave

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