Death has lost its sting.
It’s a well-known sentence, drawn from the Bible. (1 Corinthians 15:54-57)
But that does not mean that death is no longer a reality in our lives. We all know that. At the very least, we all still have to die physically.
Sometimes, though, I am not sure if we think that the fact that death has lost its sting means that we no longer have to die in other ways, and that death and pain should no longer be a part of our lives.
I’m sure you’re thinking right now: Duh, of course not. And yes, maybe it’s clear.
But sometimes, it seems that some of teaching and the way we respond to painful things, sickness, adversities, or even serving and other things, insinuates exactly that – that hard things don’t come from the Lord. (And in some ways, I believe that’s true, and it would fill a book to write a complete theological exposition on this, which probably still wouldn’t do the topic full justice.)
Lately, I’ve been reflecting on this though: If we are a disciple of Jesus, people who want to follow in His footsteps and become more like Him, isn’t that literally asking us to die?
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think He’s asking any of us to die on a cross like He did. We are not Jesus. We can’t do what He did, and we shouldn’t let ourselves be killed on behalf of others because we can’t save them.
And yet, in many ways, we are still called to lay down our lives and love and serve others, walk away from comfort to help someone in need, and let go of things we may hold on too tightly. Sometimes, we are persecuted, and are lead through the valley of the shadow of death.
In many ways, we are called to die a thousand deaths. The death of ourselves, our comfort, our fears, our mini-gods, sometimes even our will, our hopes and dreams, or ways in exchange for His.
So, living our lives with Jesus doesn’t mean we don’t need to die anymore. It doesn’t mean death is no longer reality in our lives.
But it means that death isn’t final.
Death no longer has the last word.
Instead, it is now a means to an end. Because of Jesus, and because He has the victory over death, it now leads to something greater.
Death now leads to life. And that’s why it has lost its sting.
Because even though death is still a reality in our lives, if we allow God to do His work, our death will always bring about something greater.
Dying to ourselves somehow becomes a special gift. Dying to our comfort brings life in unimagined ways. Letting the things we hold on too tightly die means that we invite more of the Way of life into our lives.
And our physical death leads to the ultimate life: eternal life.
Following Jesus doesn’t mean we don’t need to die anymore.
Following Jesus means He might ask us to die to ourselves, which potentially leads to more deaths than this world might ever ask of us.
But this world is deceptive, and the truth is found only in Jesus.
Because in this world, what sometimes looks like life is actually death. And what will lead to a greater life often looks like death.
For the truth is this: In Jesus, any death will always lead to an even greater life.
And so our deaths are never where we will end up, but we will always end up in something greater and with Life Himself.
Death has truly lost its sting, not because death can’t hurt us anymore. It might still hurt. The enemy at this point is still allowed some freedom.
But it has lost its sting because it can’t sting us indefinitely, and its effect won’t last.
Because somehow, by the great miracle work of Jesus, our deaths will lead to an even greater life.
