From Darkest Night to Brightest Day

03/24/24 – 03/27/24

Defeating Death Once and for All

By Michael Youssef, Ph D.  03/27/24

Death is our great, inescapable enemy, for we are all destined to die and then face judgment (see Ecclesiastes 7:2; Hebrews 9:27). And we were without hope, that is, until Easter morning.

Read John 11:21-27. Since Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden, men and women have stood helplessly before death, not knowing what to do. We are powerless before it. Death comes. Death takes. We can’t stop it.

Throughout history, different cultures have tried to cope with death in a variety of ways. For example, my ancestors, the ancient Egyptians, tried to preserve their bodies by mummifying them. They placed gold and other prized possessions in their tombs, hoping that one day the soul of the deceased would come back to their body. But the only people who came back were the robbers who stole the gold and sold the artifacts.

Others in Asia came up with a theory called reincarnation. If you live a good life, you can come back as a higher being. But if you don’t live a good life, you come back as a cockroach. It’s a great deterrent, but it’s a hoax.

All of this hocus pocus is mankind’s attempt to deal with death. But their efforts are ineffective and, ultimately, irrelevant. God has already provided a way to overcome death and the grave, and His name is Jesus.

When Jesus healed the sick and the lame, He was giving people a glimpse of His Kingdom, a Kingdom with no brokenness, pain, or suffering. When He raised people from the dead, He was demonstrating His divine authority over all creation, even death. And when He died on the cross and rose again, He ushered in the new covenant of His blood by which we can enter the Most Holy Place as children of God (see Hebrews 10:19-21). It is just as Jesus revealed to Martha before raising Lazarus, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26).

If you trust in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, the Bible says that “you have been raised with Christ” (Colossians 3:1), meaning you have been given new life, here and now. But it also means that, just like Christ, you will rise from the grave, never to die again (see 1 Corinthians 15:20-23).

Prayer: Jesus, thank You for the promise of eternal life in glory with You. Help me to face death with great faith so that I too can say, “Death, where is your sting?” I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

“[W]hoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:26).