Daily Scripture Reading: Isaiah 25:8 KJV
Isaiah 25:8 KJV
(8) He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.
Today’s Devotional Is VICTORY OVERDEATH
Isaiah sings a Song of Hope in this amazing chapter as he looks forward to the release of the Hebrew people from captivity and the defeat of their enemies. This thought is echoed by the Apostle Paul in 1 Cor. 15. He demonstrates that death is the punishment for sin and that it is only by the demands made by the law that sin can be sparked to activity. Christ has fulfilled and satisfied the demands of the law and gave power to us by which we can obey it. Therefore, the strength of sin is broken and death’s sting is gone.
The Christian does not need to fear death. He has no doubt about the future. It is not possible to fear what might happen after death. The law has been condemned and carried. These exultant words may make us apostrophize death. The viper is now without its fangs. The prison-house can no longer hold its inmates! Bunyan says that Satan exhorted Captain Sepulchre not to hold Christ. However, the injunction was futile. It would not suffice to have bars, bolts, seals or sentries.
Notice how we are to “Put On” incorruption, immortality (1Co_15.53-54). It’s as if the new body will be placed over the old. As this happens, all elements of the old body are absorbed and swallowed up. When the Holy Spirit has finished his work in our souls there will no more traces of the old rags. We will wear the shining robes that the Holy Spirit will give us as we travel to the Lord’s welcome. The death of those who believe in Christ is only a Home-going. It’s the falling asleep to see the City of God. It’s the lifting of the anchor to allow us to flotilla in the full tide. “There will be no more sorrow, death, or crying; nor will there be more pain.”
PRAYER for Today
O God, when Thy ways in nature and in the soul are difficult to understand, then may our quiet faith, our patient trust, and our loving faith in Thee be great. As children who know that they are loved, taken care of, protected, and kept, so may we always trust the unseen God with a quiet mind. Let us face death with no fear and live life without fear. AMEN.