January 19
"I will ransom them from the power of the grave,
I
will redeem them from death.
O Death,
I will be your plagues!
O Grave, I
will be your destruction!"
Hosea
13:14
The resurrection of the dead is not just a New Testament
doctrine, even in the Old Testament the Lord shows the resurrection
of the dead.
"For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and
he shall stand at last on the earth;
and
after my skin is destroyed, this I know,
that
IN MY FLESH I shall see God..."
Job
19:25-26
"Your dead shall live;
together
with my dead body they shall arise."
Isaiah
26:19
The day is coming when the graves will open and all will
be resurrected, some to life, some to everlasting torment.
"And
many of those who sleep
in the dust of the earth shall
awake,
some to everlasting life,
some
to shame and everlasting contempt."
Daniel
12:2
Death is the result of the curse that came upon the human
race when Adam rebelled against God and brought sin into the world.
In the record found in Genesis chapter 3, God had clearly told him
and his wife Eve that they were free to eat the fruit of all the
trees except for one, and God warned him that there would be a
terrible consequence should they eat the fruit of that one tree. It
was as though God was saying, "that fruit is poisonous, don't
touch it because if you do you'll die."
But Satan the
deceiver came to Eve and told her that WHAT GOD SAID WAS NOT TRUE
(which is always his approach) and that in fact, that fruit would
make them like God. They believed the lie. And when they ate of the
fruit forbidden to them, death came upon them bringing onto all
creation the death principle. It was so all-inclusive that it
corrupted their DNA; from that day the death principle has brought
death to everyone born after them. From that day DNA began to degrade
and mutate with each new generation until today there are hundreds
and thousands of diseases caused by the continuing degrading of DNA
in its replication. It's the death principle which rules over
all.
"Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the
world,
and death through
sin..."
Romans 5:12
But
the day will come when the Redeemer, as he promised to Adam, will
finally destroy death. Truly, the whole creation awaits the day when
the Redeemer, Jesus Christ, will reverse the curse and bring the
resurrection of the dead.
"For we know that the whole
creation
groans and labors with birth
pangs together until now.
Not only
that, but we also who have the first-fruits of the Spirit,
even
we ourselves groan within ourselves,
eagerly
waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body."
Romans
8:22-23
So the curse of death which subjected us all to death
has a remedy, and that remedy is Jesus Christ who redeems us from the
curse of sin and death. Science is trying to overcome death but they
will never succeed because death is a spiritual issue. They would
have to overcome sin, and science is not about to do that. Jesus
Christ, and he alone, has the power of victory over death and he
alone will destroy the death principle. When he comes he will change
everything. He will establish his Kingdom on earth and will destroy
all enemies. And ...he will destroy death.
"The last
enemy that will be destroyed is death."
1
Corinthians 15:26
MORE:
Who
Is Jesus Christ?