‘The last enemy to be destroyed is death’ (1 Cor 15:26).
Our culture has a very confused understanding of death. Ask if they’re afraid of death, and some will say they are not. Is this true? This week there was panic in Times Square after a motorbike backfired. Everyone was on edge with the recent shootings, and they were scared to die.
Our culture, without even realising it, fears death. It has been hidden away. While once the body was in the home, now it is removed to the funeral directors. Once it was normal for a casket to be open for people to see the body, but now some provide warnings on the rare occasion an open casket is requested.
And yet, despite this fear, it is a culture of death. Death, and the ability to legally kill, is celebrated. We’ve just seen a bill to decriminalise abortion pass the NSW lower house. We’ve also seen the first person to be legally killed on request in Victoria. Death was seen as better than pain.
Tragically, they have forget that death is an enemy; our great enemy, dragging guilty sinners before the courtroom of God’s justice. There is no escape in death, and we shouldn’t be eager to kill our most vulnerable – the youngest of children and the terminally ill.
But for those in Christ, it’s an entirely different matter! While we should not hasten our death, we can rest assured that death has been dealt a death blow by his resurrection, And that victory will be completed by his return. We can remember that death ‘is far better’ (Phil 1:23), because it brings us to Jesus’ side.
What a joy to be found in Christ and be able to rejoice that the great enemy is and will be defeated.