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Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? –

1 Corinthians 15:55

What makes death so shocking and painful? What makes it sting like a bee? Has not the fear of death become naturally crippling? But why?

One of the reasons for this is because this life is the only one many people know about and cling to. They do not believe in life after death. The soul means nothing to them because they don’t believe in God. Others are so enamored by their accumulated wealth and power that the very thought of death unsettles them. Yet, others lose it for their loved ones they may never see again when they die. But for most people, hell is what terrorizes them to death. Fortunately, the Bible has much to say about death, what makes it so devastating and fearful, and thankfully shows us an escape hatch to freedom in Christ Jesus.

It goes back to the Garden of Eden when God said to Adam: “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die” (Gen. 2:16-17). The devil went to work. Adam and Eve disobeyed God, and the ultimate happened. They died spiritually, just as God had said. They became fearful and hid from God (3:6-13). The separation was entrenched when God drove Adam and Eve from the Garden, and lost access to the tree of life. Since then, Satan has reigned over mankind and held them in slavery with the fear of death (Heb. 2:15).

Sin is the result of human disobedience (1 Cor. 15:56). It has become the sting of death. We were not made to die. The tree of life was available in the Garden for Adam and Eve to delight themselves with it. However, the first couple chose to be like God, and by their rebellion, lost it all. Physical death is the consequence of spiritual death; and that has been the story of humanity since then. For all have sinned and come short of God’s glory (Rm. 3:23), and the wages of sin is death (6:23).

But thank God for Christ Jesus!

 He took on humanity to “break the power of him who holds the power of death – that is the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death (Heb. 2:14-15). Jesus’s resurrection has given us victory over sin and death (1 Cor. 15:57). This victory is for everyone who believes in Jesus and trusts Him with their life (Jn. 3:16; 1:12-13). That is the Good News we bear as believers in Christ.

So, as we Christians look forward to our resurrection in Christ (Jn. 11:25-26; 1 Thess. 4:13-17), we can rejoice and celebrate our victory over death, and shout the fear of it out of our lives. It is only with such joy that we can share this Good News with those who are still held in slavery by their fear of death.