WEDNESDAY February 28th
1 Corinthians 15:54-57
‘When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’
Well, as we come to the final devotions on this chapter, and have considered the resurrection and the rapture of the saints, Paul reminds us that once all of what he has spoken about has taken place it will be the fulfilment of what had already been written in Isaiah 25:8 ‘He will swallow up death forever’ and from Hosea 13:14 ‘O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your sting?’
This chapter if I can put it this way has taken us from the Garden of Eden, where through Adam sin entered the world, thus bringing death to all men, to the Gospel of Jesus which brings us deliverance from sin and resurrection from the dead to the Grandeur of Heaven where we will be found, clothed in His glory.
Anyone who has suffered an anaphylactic reaction, (I have a few times) knows what it is like to suddenly feel your throat tightening, and your face swelling and your breathing getting more difficult—you need assistance as quickly as possible—usually a shot of Epinephrine via an epi-pen. Now, I do not know of anyone who while undergoing such a shock that has refused the shot! We know it is what was needed to save our life.
The wages of sin is death. And sin has gotten hold of every single person that has ever been born, and sin takes hold of an individual and will hold you in its grip, but God has provided a remedy that will take away the sting of sin that leads to death and it is through a person, not an epi-pen, it is through his shed blood and not via epinephrine, once the blood of Jesus has been applied, the sting of sin will be taken away and new, eternal life is given.
YET even though Christ has provided the antidote for sin and for death, many refuse to come and accept him, they prefer to continue in sin and to reject the offer of life and hope that the good news of the gospel brings.
And Paul says, ‘But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’ I know that when I have been given a shot from the epi-pen the first thing I have done is to say thank you! And as I read this chapter and rejoice in what the gospel has come to mean to me and with all that it has provided for me, I cannot but say ‘thank you’ ‘Thank you Lord for saving my soul, thank you Lord for making me whole, thank you Lord for giving to me, thy great salvation so full and free. Can you wonder, can you wonder, can you wonder why it is I love him so, when I think of all he’s done, and for me the guilty one, can you wonder why it is I love him so!