1Co 15:54-56 “So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.”
How glorious it is to consider the morning when it was discovered that the tomb was empty! Just as He said He would, Jesus had laid down His life and had taken it up again (Joh 10:18). This authority was given Him by His Father, and there was no power anywhere that could prevent this from happening. The mortal body of Jesus had put on immortality and incorruption as displayed by the fact that it was no longer bound by the natural law.
Yet, Paul tells us that although Jesus had risen from the dead that all enemies were not yet destroyed (1Co 15:26). Death was overcome in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but it is not yet destroyed because we still die from a natural perspective. If we look at the verses of scripture that precede verse fifty-four, we will see that Paul is now talking to us about our bodily condition. When the day comes that our (this) corruptible body puts on incorruption and our (this) mortal body has put on immortality, then death will be swallowed up (utterly destroyed) in victory!
The sting of death is sin. That is to say that sin is the prick or stinger of death. We know that we are all subject to this because we understand that we are all sinners. The strength of sin is the law of sin and death: if we sin, we die. Praise be to God, the stinger has lost its strength. We are under the jurisdiction of a greater law than the law of sin and death.
The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed me from the law of sin and death. While death itself may not yet be utterly destroyed, the power of death over the child of God is destroyed. This was accomplished by the grace of God because Jesus tasted death for all of us (Heb 2:9). Since the sting of death (sin) has lost its strength (law), there is nothing for us to fear in death.
By the grace of God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Spirit has revealed to us that death no longer has a sting. There is nothing in it to give pain to the child of God. Not only has death lost its sting, but the grave has been robbed of any victory. Jesus has risen from the grave. Just as surely as He represented us in death, He also represented us in the resurrection from the dead. Death’s sting is nullified and the grave has lost its victory by the grace and love of Almighty God.
Praise God, we are made more than conquerors through Jesus Christ our Lord!
