You destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. (2 Timothy 1:10)
My father got the giggles at his grandfather’s funeral when he was a boy. It wasn’t his fault, really. He was sad for the loss of his grandfather, just like everyone else. But the preacher opened the funeral service with these words: “Our dear brother has died . . . praise God.”
This was enough to give my father the giggles, because it sounded to him as if the preacher was praising God for the death of this man. Of course, no one else got the joke. But my father got it, and that was enough to bring him a few moments of joy in the midst of a time of grief and mourning.
My father’s laughter at the funeral of his grandfather is a good picture of the way we should posture ourselves in the face of death. Death has been beaten, and this truth should bring us great joy even as we face it.
Through the cross, Jesus put death to death, took captivity captive, and buried the grave. Death died when he breathed his last and said, “It is finished.” And he brought life and immortality to light; he caused the promise of eternal life to be revealed and seen.
And it is his resurrection that spells his final victory over death. He has beaten death by coming back from it, by being alive, and by ever living to make intercession for the saints. With every moment of his eternal life, he laughs in the face of death. Death died when Jesus rose again, and this victory spelled the end of sin, sickness, and the curse. O Happy Day!
But then, why must we continue to face death, if Jesus defeated it? Why not eradicate it once and for all?
Our lives transpire between two rival truths: Jesus has defeated death, and the last enemy that will be defeated is death. We live, as Oscar Cullman puts it, between D Day and V Day. The war has been decided, but the enemy has not yet surrendered. The death and resurrection of Christ spelled the end of the power of death, but death – though defeated – has determined to go out in a blaze of glory.
So then, how do we cope with the reality of death in the present age as we await the coming of the Lord? We remember D Day, death’s historic defeat. And we sing O Happy Day. We remember this greatest day in history when death was beaten and we were ransomed, and we sing O Happy Day.
The news of death’s death should give us the giggles from time to time, even as we continue to face it. Death has died . . . praise God!
Share your thoughts:
How has the victory of Christ over death helped you to cope with the loss of a loved one?
