What an amazing statement Paul makes here in 1st Corinthians 15:55, maybe you never really thought about what Paul was saying here when he said, “O death, where is your sting, O Hades (Grave) where is your victory?” This should excite every born–again believer. At one time death and the grave had a hold on us, but praise God we have been set free. The mighty grace of God and the power of the blood of Jesus Christ have set us completely free so we don’t have to fear death or the grave.
What was the sting of death? The sting of death was sin! The Bible says, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” We were born in sin and we were enslaved by it and sentenced to live a life separated from God. No matter what we did we were bound for Hell and a miserable life here on earth. In us there was no escape, we were enemies of God.
Do you ever think about your former condition before coming to Christ by faith? I don’t know about you but when I think of the apostle Paul’s confession that he was the chiefest of sinners, I think I was right up there with him and I am so grateful that God loved me enough to draw me to Jesus and convict me of my sins through His Spirit then to forgive me. I repented and I was cleansed through the blood of Jesus and was made a child of God, praise the Lord! It is phenomenal what the Lord did for all who have been forgiven. There are no words to describe what God did through Jesus on our behalf.
The Bible says in Romans 8:1, “There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” Taken from the N.K.J. version Bible. Praise the Lord, before Christ we were condemned, but after we received Jesus we are condemned no longer, this is something to shout about. We as Christians hear these kinds of things so much that we don’t seem to get too excited about them anymore, but we should.
If any of us were dangling over Hell for a few minutes and were pulled back to earth we would never forget what we saw and I am sure we would appreciate what Jesus did for us far more than we do. We might even get so excited about our salvation we would start praising and thanking the Lord for it. I am not saying that Christians don’t thank and praise the Lord but they would do it more and be really excited about it. Don’t ever get to the place where you start thinking God’s grace is something you deserve because what we deserve is God’s judgment and condemnation.
Something to think about, have a super day and don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord for He is worthy. God Bless!
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