◄ What Does 1 Corinthians 15:26 Mean? ►

Sin came into the world through one man, and death resulted from sin, causing both physical death and spiritual death to spread to all men. Although born dead in sin, at salvation we are made spiritually alive, but without the resurrection of the body our salvation would be incomplete. Without the resurrection of a body of flesh and bone, the last enemy which is death, would retain its prey.

Without the resurrection of the body, Christ's sacrificial work on the Cross would be incomplete. But the Lord Jesus DID rise from the dead. He is the First-fruit from the dead and this is the thrilling truth: the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Kinsman-Redeemer, guarantees the resurrection to life of all believers. Because He rose with a physical body of flesh and bone, we too will rise to life immortal with a physical body of flesh and bone, and this truth is systematically laid out in 1 Corinthians 15 where we read: "And the last enemy that will be abolished is death."

Christ, as a sinless Man, experienced physical death when He shed His lifeblood as the ransom price for the sin of the world. Having paid the penalty for man's sin, He commended His spirit into the hand of the Father and breathed His last breath. No one 'took' His life. Jesus gave His own life willingly: "I give my life for the sheep," He said. But death could not hold this sinless Man. Death could not contain the eternal Son. Death could not keep the deathless, everlasting Son of Man in the place of the dead, for in Him is life because He is the fountain of all life, and all who are in Him by grace through faith will rise to life immortal.

Adam was the first man in the 'old' creation. His sin brought physical death upon all men, and all Adam's descendents die physically. Christ is the first Man in God's 'New Creation' and His life gives eternal life to all who believe on Him. He shed His lifeblood to pay for our sin and He rose physically from the grave in a body of flesh and bone so that His spiritual seed (all who believe on Him) would also be raised from the dead in a body of flesh and bone.

Christ's Resurrection was a trigger point in the history of mankind that set in motion the full and final defeat of all God's enemies. A day is coming when every enemy of God will be placed under Christ's feet, and the very last enemy to be put down and thrown into the eternal lake of fire is death.

Christ's sacrificial death was the greatest victory over sin, Satan, death, and hell, for it paid the full price for the sin of the world. The Resurrection of Christ ignited a fuse that will bring every prophecy connected with His Second Coming and 1000-year rule on earth to pass. It set in motion God's 'stopwatch' which will bring us to the end of this present heaven and earth, the judgement of all evil, and the abolition of every principality and power, every evil authority and ungodly potentate. And the LAST enemy that will be abolished is DEATH.

Although Christ defeated sin and death at the Cross, it is not until the end of His millennial rule on earth, when Christ fights His final battle against Satan's evil forces, that death will be defeated. It is only after the final battle of Gog, when ALL 'rule', 'authority', 'principalities' and 'powers' are abolished, that Jesus will be ready to hand the kingdom back to His Heavenly Father. On that day the last enemy that will be abolished is death, and death will be swallowed up in victory.

Heavenly Father, thank You for the glorious truth of Christ’s Resurrection from the dead and that because He lives, I too will rise to life immortal. Death has always hung over the human race as the one inevitable end to all our lives. What an amazing truth that death itself will be destroyed. No mind can imagine what it cost You to send Your beloved Son into the world to be the sacrifice for sin and what it cost Christ to lay aside His glory and come to earth as a perfect man, live a sinless life, be rejected by those He came to save and crucified as a criminal, but rise again and became the First-fruit from the grave, conquering sin, Satan, and death itself. Thank You that Jesus is established as the federal Head of Your New Creation and Head of the Church. All honour, and glory, and might, and majesty belongs to You, for Your goodness and grace. Praise Your holy name, AMEN.