Death Is The End

Ask the majority of scientists, scholars, and doctors and you will receive a resounding affirmation that death is the end and resurrection is impossible.  Human beings unfortunately have not changed much in 2,000 years.  Apparently this same false teaching was spreading through some in the Corinthian church.  The Apostle Paul devotes the entirety of 1 Corinthians 15 to this topic. 

He reminds his readers of the gospel that he had preached to them (and that we in the 21st century have heard as well).  It is by this gospel that we are being saved, and it is to this gospel that we are to stay true (v. 2).  The next argument employed appeals to human reason:

1.     If there is no such thing as resurrection of the dead, then Jesus Christ can’t have been raised (v. 13)

2.     If Jesus Christ hasn’t been raised, we are all (past, present, and future) wasting our time (v. 14)

3.     If Jesus Christ hasn’t been raised, we are all still just as dead in sin as before his crucifixion (v. 17)

4.     If Jesus Christ hasn’t been raised, then once you’re dead you’re dead, and we are to be pitied even more than the rest of mankind (vv. 18-19)

Fortunately, Christ has conquered the grave!  We’ve all lost loved ones in our lives.  I recently lost my grandmother.  Death takes us all for a time.  Think about that: you, your mother, your father, your siblings, your friends, everyone that you have ever known, will know or come into contact with at any point in your life will die at some point.  If Christ had not been resurrected, this would be a great cause of mourning. 

Paul reminds us that Christ indeed has been resurrected.  One of my favorite verses in all of scripture is when he loosely quotes Hosea 13:14 and personifies death:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.  O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:54-55, ESV)

Death may take us for a time, but thanks to the resurrection of Christ, one day all who are in Christ will rise up in victory.  Death has no power, no weapon against those in Christ.  If you are not in Christ, what are you waiting for?