Death Never Has the Last Word
When we lose a close friend or family member, it's easy to feel like life is out of control and that death has had the final word. But as Christians, this is not the case.
"I don't know what I'd do if anything ever happened to you."
This was a phrase Janan and I would often say to each other during the early years of our marriage. Add a few kids to the mix, and this sentence only expands. Over the past few years, I've experienced some loss, and the truth is that nothing can quite prepare you for death.
Sometimes, we enter phases of life where death feels especially overwhelming. Maybe we lose a close family member or a series of friends. When this happens, we feel the noose of death tightening around us—reminding us of our mortality and those we hold dear. If we’re not careful, death can paralyze us.
When this happens, one of the best things we can do is turn to the Apostle Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4:
1 Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preached to you, which you received, on which you have taken your stand 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.
Our Only Hope
Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 15 to address and refute doubts among the Corinthian believers regarding the resurrection of the dead. Because many in Corinth denied the resurrection of the human body, “Paul feels a need to establish as apostolic the doctrine of the resurrection of Jesus.”[1]
By establishing Christ’s resurrection, he establishes that all who know Christ will never die. The resurrection of Christ is the Christian’s reason for hope. As Timothy Keller writes, the resurrection is “the hinge upon which the story of the world pivots.”[2]
Paul is so convinced of the power of the resurrection that he makes this remark in 1 Corinthians 15:19: “If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.” Through his death and resurrection, Christ assures us that he holds power not only over this life but also over the life to come. He offers us eternal life.
Power Over Fear
Because of the resurrection, Christ offers us power over fear, assuring us that the God who sustains the universe can handle our greatest problems—be they personal, work, housing, or family concerns. As N. T. Wright said in one of his sermons, “The message of the resurrection is that this world matters! That the injustices and pains of this present world must now be addressed with the news that healing, justice, and love have won.”[4]
Because of the resurrection, Paul pointedly quotes Hosea 13:14 in verse 55 and asks, “Where, death, is your victory? Where, death, is your sting?” Because of the resurrection, we can stare death in the face and say, “You shall not prevail.”
Today, if you’re feeling the weight of death, lean into the power that comes from your resurrected Savior and the hope you have of one day spending eternity with him alongside those you love.
Death never has the last word.
*Unless you specify otherwise, comments and questions you ask may be featured in upcoming podcast episodes.
[1]Verlyn D. Verbrugge, “1 Corinthians,” in Romans–Galatians, vol. 11 of The Expositor’s Bible Commentary Revised Edition. eds. Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland; Accordance electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008), 392.
[2] Timothy Keller, King’s Cross (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2012), p. 221.
[3] Gary R. Habermas and Anthony Flew, Did the Resurrection Happen? (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2009), p. 85.
[4] N. T. Wright, For All God’s Worth: True Worship and the Calling of the Church (Eerdmans, 1997), pp. 65– 66.
