“Death, Shame On You!”

“Death, Shame On You!”(I Cor.15:50-58).
The spate of deaths within our communities are becoming overwhelming and frightening. This is especially so of young people dieing in their prime of life.
Without the hope of the resurrection, the dead of our young ones can push us into melancholic frustration and despair!
Long before Judaism, Zoroastrianism harboured the beliefs of the immortality of the soul after a resurrection. Later day Judaism highlighted this belief through the Pharisees who believed in the resurrection of the dead.
The resurrection belief is also upheld by Islam that has come laterly after Christianity.
However, the Christian hope of immortality after the resurrection is unique because it is rooted in evidence. Jesus Christ is the firstborn of the resurrection(Col.1:18). Lazarus and the others who were raised to life did not authenticate the resurrection hope. They were brought back temporarily; they died again.
A life anchored in Christ is confident that our longest lifespan will be spent in eternity with Christ. Christ has won the victory over death. Death is no longer the frightful scary monster!
Through the resurrection, death, the last but scariest enemy of man is swallowed up in victory! Death no longer has any sting, for the sting of death is sin, and sin derives its power from the law.
Where there is no law, there is no sin; where there is law, sin becomes inescapable. “But thanks be to God! He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” O yes; in Christ, God’s amazing grace makes us whole! Hallelujah!
Dear friend, after attending funerals, it should have dawned on you that this body you are proud of, and this heart and mind that prompts you to do whatever you do are subject to decay when buried.
At the resurrection, when the trumpet will sound, “the dead will be raised imperishable,” while those who are still alive will be transformed from mortality to immortality. Eternity is not for the mortal and perishable – which is what we are. Eternal life in Christ is for the immortal and imperishable!
“There’s a land that is fairer than day. And by faith, we can see it afar…”
Live this life with the fear of the LORD, and strive daily to walk the path he has shown you. By so doing, God’s grace will manifest its sufficiency upon you.
Prayer: Holy Spirit, daily draw me closer to the risen Christ in whom my life here and in the hereafter is anchored. Amen!
Have a blessed day! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.
14/04/2026.