The Sting of Death
by Elin
Henderson
“O death, where is thy sting? O
grave, where is thy victory?”
I Corinthians 15:55 (KJV)
Don’t ask me why, but missionaries
feel like they need to one up each other with creepy bug stories and pictures.
“Oh, you have spiders the size of your hand, well, OURS are as big as dinner
plates!” Although I must say, I recently killed a spider on the wall in my
house and when it fell and hit the floor, it thumped! Spiders shouldn’t thump
when they hit the ground, right?!
At a recent field conference in
Africa, a friend of mine had a video and pictures to beat all. His ten-year-old
son was holding a live scorpion in his hand and allowing it to walk all
over! My first thought was, They are crazy! These people need a home assignment! But
then he told me, “Don’t worry, that scorpion has no stinger. I cut it off!” Not
that I would have wanted that creepy bug to crawl all over me, but without its
sting, the scorpion was just another harmless bug.
That small video really reminded me
of the hope we have in Christ. When He died on the cross, He defeated death, forever
removing its sting! In a sense, He cut the stinger off of the scorpion of
death, so that it needn’t be feared. Then He rose - - victorious over the grave.
We have this hope to hold on to: stingless death and victory over the
grave!
It’s what allowed the Apostle Paul
to proclaim, “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” And the author of Hebrews boldly states, “I
will not fear what man can do to me.” Death became gain, and fear was defeated when
the sting was cut off the scorpion of death that precious day so long ago.
GOING
DEEPER:
1. Sorrow is a very real part of
death for us as humans. How does the reminder of this verse in 1 Corinthians
bring hope in the midst of the sorrow?
2. How does knowing this truth
give us boldness in our faith?
FURTHER
READING:
Oakwood’s missionaries Elin
Henderson (a registered nurse) and her husband Phil serve as church planters
with Ethnos 360 in Mozambique, Africa.
Elin is mother to eighteen-year-old Callie and fifteen-year-old Elias.
