Complete victory!

. . . knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.

– Romans 6:9-10 (NKJV)

Thanks to Michelle Malkin for reminding me of this passage.

There is much in the surrounding context of these two verses having to do with us, our condition regarding sin, our life in Christ, etc. But I love these verses which focus on Christ’s complete victory, and the line that gets my heart pumping is this: Death no longer has dominion over Him.

Jesus, my Hero. He submitted Himself to death. And, for the joy set before Him, endured the cross and the shame and the torture. He made it through death and out the other side. He became the Dying God. For us!

And Death lost. It no longer has dominion over Him. It cowers, powerless, in the glorious light of the Life of Christ which conquered Death forever.

Of course, we still shrink before the mystery of death this side of Heaven, we still grieve terribly when those we love die. But with our eyes on Jesus we can take courage – He has defeated death, and not just “barely”. He has crushed death and won a victory so complete that it prompted this holy taunt from Paul:

“Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” – (1 Corinthians 15:54-55).

Paul lived at a time when death was common and life was cheap. Yet he knew that the promise spoken through the prophet Hosea hundreds of years earlier had been fulfilled in Christ.

Thanks be to God.

2 thoughts on “Complete victory!

  1. I can’t stand to let something so awesome exist without at least a “THAT ROCKS!”

    So encouraging. There have been low times in my life where these verses had a significant impact (have I been in employee evaluations recently or what?).

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