There’s not a whole lot in common between a sugary sweet pre-school teacher who wouldn’t kill a roach and a foul-mouthed thug who commits crimes with no remorse.
One thing they do share, however, is their final enemy.
Ironically, each one’s hope for conquering that enemy does not rest with being sugary sweet and kind or with being macho tough.
Instead, victory will come only by admitting failure and weakness and the need for a Deliverer.
Today’s devotional reading included the brief statement from I Corinthians 15:26 —
“The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”
The larger context of this verse was the Apostle Paul’s teaching about the fact and relevance of Christ’s resurrection.
Paul said that if Christ had not been raised from the dead, then Christians are the ultimate losers who deserve to be pitied more than any other group of people.
But Christ was raised.
Death’s grip on Him in the tomb was broken.
It couldn’t hold Him because of His faith in God’s promises and power.
And it won’t hold us if we believe the same and demonstrate it by confessing as Savior the Firstborn among the dead.
I have faced a number of attacks and enemies during my life and I’m sure that more are in store.
I don’t like that fact but it is part of living in a fallen world as an uplifted person.
I’m eternally grateful that I have a guaranteed victory over the final enemy I’ll face — my physical death.
Because I’ve believed in the fact of Christ’s resurrection and because I’ve obeyed His commands for salvation — verbal and baptismal confession — death to me will be a comma, not a period.
Please, I plead with you, make sure that you have secured the promise of final victory.
The benefits will be out of this world.
As always, I love you
Martin
