The Sting is Gone

My first impression of the city of Jerusalem came from a view across the Kidron Valley. I was standing in the “Cemetery of the Prophets” as we were on our way to the Mount of Olives. 

Death has always been a part of life, but when Jesus entered the scene…everything changed! He raised others from the dead and walked out of the tomb Himself. Now these words from the Apostle Paul come to mind anytime I’m in a cemetery. 

“But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.

Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:

‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’

For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:51-57 NLT)