Sting of death

1 Corinthians 15:55-57 (NLT)

55 “Where, O death, is your victory?

       Where, O death, is your sting?”

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

In these verses the apostle asks the rhetorical questions to death, where is your power and where are your pains? For the apostle knows that God through His infinite love, mercy and grace gave man the power over sin; through the death, burial and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ.

A boy and his father were driving down a country road on a beautiful spring afternoon, when a bumblebee flew in the car window. The little boy, who was allergic to bee stings, was petrified. The father quickly reached out, grabbed the bee, squeezed it in his hand, and then released it. The boy grew frantic as it buzzed by him. Once again the father reached out his hand, but this time he pointed to his palm. There stuck in his skin was the stinger of the bee. "Do you see this?" he asked. "You don't need to be afraid anymore. I've taken the sting for you." We do not need to fear death anymore. Christ has died and risen again. He has taken the sting from death. [Adrian Dieleman, Waupun, Wisconsin. Leadership, Vol. 15, no. 1.]

We have a Father in Heaven who took the sting out of death. For we can know that when our earthly bodies die; we will live an eternal life in heaven.