Most people don’t want to talk about death. However, on Halloween, that is actually the subject matter as death is brought to mind through many reminders of what must eventually come to every single person who has ever lived. However, we must make one huge exception and that is Jesus Christ. He conquered death and made it possible for all who would believe in Him to overcome the termination of life. Since sin entered the world, death has been the consequence that has overtaken the human race. What bigger problem do we have? We need to see the death problem resolved and God has graciously made a Way for that to happen.
John 3:16 is that faithful Promise inviting all who believe to cross over from death to life.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Will we perish? Shall we see death as the end? Do we try to somehow face death with fantasies like Halloween? No, we have a choice. We will either overcome death by faith in Christ or suffer death without Him. Christ’s own words tell us that in John 3:36.
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
God does not want anyone to die in their sins. He sent Christ to die in our place. He died for us so that we could be found innocent or not guilty and therefore not subject to death. As Hebrews 2:14-15 put it, Christ put death to death so that we would not fear death. Death for all who are in Christ by faith has no power over us! This is why the Gospel is Good News. Our greatest problem has been solved. We are promised by God to live forever in heaven if we trust in Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. Halloween is not the end of the story. For those who trust in Christ, death no longer poses a threat!
I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord.
Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:50-57
Want to learn more about how Christ has conquered death on your behalf? Listen to this message delivered by Jack Hibbs.
