Victory over Death

"I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: ..." (Hosea 13:14)

Man on account of sin has become subject to all kinds of infirmities. In addition to this there is death and the grave. Man would like to be free from death and the fear of the grave. As long as sin reigns in him, death has power over him. "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law" (I Corinthians 15:55,56). The sting of death is sin. Christ has come to achieve a great thing for humanity. His great plan is to eliminate death altogether. As long as the principle of sin is operating, the principle of death will be operating. God's great plan we cannot completely see within our limited existence. If God is love, Love's achievements must be of the greatest perfection. "O death I will be thy plagues, O grave I will be thy destruction." There is in God's plan a complete elimination of death and sin. There will come a day when man will be surprised by God's great plans. God wants to eliminate sickness also. But God's conditions must be fulfilled. A doctor is a doctor because he follows certain principles. Behind his method there is a fund of knowledge which guides him. A doctor will not do things as fast as we would like him to do. He says, "No! This first! This first! This is the way it is done." Behind God's laws is God's infinite knowledge.

We do not trust and obey the loving God who calls us out of our suffering. Jesus says, "Come unto me all ye that labour and I will give you rest." After we have served God for a long time, and get victory over sin, we like to go home to be with the Lord forever. We love to be with the Lord. In a way that is a victory over death. The sting of death is gone. "Where is thy sting, O death? Where is thy victory, O grave?" God's original plan was not death. Man's sin brought it into our life. As we believe in the resurrection, the principle of sin and death ceases to operate and the principle of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus begins to function in us. Your understanding being enlightened, you will understand the depth, the height and the width of the love of God.