“…a servant of Jesus Christ…who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead.”
Romans 1:1-4
The great enemy of mankind is death. The variant strains of humanism (socialism, fascism, communism, populism…) and all the philosophies and religions of the world fall before this foe. What will they do about death? Buddhism, for example, attempts to answer the conundrum of suffering, yet all die eventually. Modern socialism endeavors to ameliorate material poverty and provide free healthcare for all citizens. And still there’s death.
In this way, death, and Christ’s triumph over it, is the proof of Christianity over against any/all competitors. This simple fact celebrated every Easter morning is the power of the faith. It answers the greatest questions of life. Where did we come from? Why are we here? Why is there death? What can we do about it? Does my life have meaning? How can we be certain of it?
The answers flow from this single fact of history.
God created us and everything else. We are here to know God and glorify Him. Death exists as a sign of judgment against man who has refused to know and glorify God. But God, being rich in mercy, has provided the path to life by paying the sin penalty we deserve through Jesus Christ and when we accept this gift of mercy, by faith alone, we are saved from the ultimate death. Oh, and what a mercy it is to know that your individual life, no matter how seemingly insignificant, no matter how low in the world’s eyes, is of such precious worth that Jesus Christ died for you!
And we can rest assured of it all because Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Mohammed is dead. Buddha is dead. Plato too. All of them except Jesus Christ.
In this way, only Christians can say, “oh death, where is your sting?” This isn’t wishful thinking. It’s a clear fact standing atop the systematic of Christian truth. There’s nothing else in all the world that can do this. Everything else crumbles under the combined weight of those previous questions, so we rejoice in Christ and Christ alone.
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