Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? 1 Cor 15:55 (NIV)
PART 2 – Nothing, not even death!
Go to PART 1
Three days after his death, Jesus was resurrected. He brought other people back to life while he ministered, but the father rose Jesus himself. The life captured inside his body could not be imprisoned by death, and he melted the worlds of life and death together by walking back among the living after dying.
What hope this brings! What meaning and purpose this gives our lives! Death hurts, there is still something completely unnatural and not right about it. But there is hope beyond death. Hope that we can live in NOW. And hope that in Christ we can find peace and grace, and can learn and grow through the pain, rather than being diminished by it.
And ultimately, Christ gives us hope that death does not have the last word. It is not the finale of life, but a gateway to something more. And because of this, the life we have now is overflowing with meaning. What we do here matters. Resurrection is for TODAY. It brings purpose to our living moments. If death was it, then what would be the point? But life matters, people and their stories matter… and to help people live their stories beautifully and fully is the power of resurrection. Death is no longer an unconquered warlord… waiting for us in the shadows and the unknown. We can live boldly knowing that Jesus overcame death, and that hope cannot be be murdered or killed… it cannot die. It lives with Christ in both realms, bringing redemption, renewal and restoration.
The sting of death is fear. But perfect love, which is Jesus personified, has evicted fear from our lives. The fear we feel, is the fear we give permission to stay.
Death still hurts, it creates a hunger and an ache that nothing except maybe the most exquisite poetry can fully describe, but we don’t have to fear it. So live your life fully, boldly and with passion. Don’t waste it trying to ‘do' what you think you should, just BE who you really are, yourself baptised into resurrection life… There is nothing like it.
And if you know someone who has experienced the pain of losing a loved one to the realm beyond this life, don’t use scriptures like this to make death seem less painful. But bring comfort with your love, share hope with your words. Life resides both here and now and in the age to come. Nothing is wasted in the life or the next. Honour the final moments of life as you do the first ones, it's all sacred. There is nothing to fear, and through the pain, there is always hope.
[vcex_image_grid columns=”3″ pagination=”false” thumbnail_link=”custom_link” link_title_tag=”true” custom_links_target=”_blank” overlay_style=”title-category-visible” columns_gap=”5″ img_hover_style=”fade-out” image_ids=”20934,20935,20937″ custom_links=”https://itunes.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1239768002?pt=118656308&ct=blog%20footer&mt=8,https://www.pktfuel.com/dailyemail,https://www.pktfuel.com/support” img_height=”350″]