Destroying the last enemy

1 Corinthians 15:20–28 ²⁰But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹For since death came by a man, the resurrection of the dead also is going to come by a man. ²²For as in Adam they all die, so also in Christ they all will be made alive. ²³But each in his own order: Christ as the firstfruits and then Christ’s people, at his coming. ²⁴Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has done away with every other ruler and every other authority and power. ²⁵For he must reign “until he has put all his enemies under his feet.” ²⁶Death is the last enemy to be done away with. ²⁷Certainly, “he has put all things in subjection under his feet.” Now when it says that all things have been put in subjection, obviously that does not include the one who subjected all things to him. ²⁸But when all things have been subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who subjected all things to him, in order that God may be all in all.

Grace to you and peace from him who is, who was, and who is coming, and from the seven spirits that are before his throne,  and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. Amen. (Revelation 1:4-5)

The assignment for my 8^th graders in Catechism class this week was to present to the class how they would talk to a married couple who were experiencing sever trauma in their lives. The students were to work in teams of two or three to minister to a couple who were having difficulty conceiving or who have lost a child through miscarriage or who had a child ripped out of their arms with Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

The students did a good job with a difficult subject. They reminded the parents who had lost a child through miscarriage that they need to grieve. I told them that too often parents suffer a miscarriage in silence. In my counseling with couples, I encourage them to let others know the death they’ve suffered. They lost a child. They’re parents lost a grandchild. If they have other children, they lost a sibling. Let others grieve with them, to comfort them with their presence and their prayers.

The students rightly identified that whenever you lose a child, the parents often blame themselves or they blame God. They can easily lose their faith and trust in God. Rather than having this death drive them away from God, the students counseled the couples to be driven to God and his Word.

They said it is good to mourn and quoted Jesus. “Blessed are those who mourn, because they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:4).

They said it is painful and hearth-wrenching, but God would be with them in their pain. “Do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be overwhelmed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).

They said that the couple may have had plans ready with a nursery and crib, but God had other plans. Rather than trying to make sense out of those plans, simply trust that God knows what he’s doing. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to give you peace, not disaster, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).

I reminded the students that statistically, some of them will experience a miscarriage. Knowing the families of those students, I know their families have already experienced some kind of heart-wrenching death. Because there is sin in the world, there will always be death in our world. Whether that death is from miscarriage in the womb or an accident in childhood or a stroke in middle-age or heart attack in old age – death is going to come.

Our chance of dying is 1 out of 1. There is a 100% fatality rate for all humans. Unless you are Enoch or Elijah, you are going to die.

Death is the great enemy of every person on earth. It wages war on every person from the womb to the hospice care bed.

Death does not discriminate. It affects every nationality, gender and race. It will take parents, spouse or children. It is endlessly innovative and perfectly ruthless.

Death is devastating. One of the hardest things about death is it takes away the people we love – one by one. The longer we live, the worse it gets.

Death is a reality. I have ministered to people who have lost a child through miscarriage and ministered to saints who died at over 100. It doesn’t matter the time frame. Death will come for all of us.

Death is the great human enemy. Death seems to make it certain that the body will never move again, that the heart will never beat nor the lungs breathe again. The mind will never think again nor feel any emotion again. Death seems final. It is Satan’s last laugh.

But then along comes Jesus. Along comes his resurrection from the dead. He defeated death when he walked out of the tomb on Easter morning. However, death still remains. It still claims the people we love. It will still claim us. All of that ends, though, when Jesus returns. Then death itself will die. Death is the last enemy to be destroyed.

In his great resurrection chapter, St. Paul assures us: “Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”

In summer, the first tomatoes from your garden don’t make it into the house. They get eaten right in the garden. Those first tomatoes taste all the sweeter because you know what they mean — that many, many more are on the way, in just a week or two, when the kitchen will be overflowing, and people will be bringing boxes full to church. Those first tomatoes are the firstfruits — the warm, sweet guarantee of the rest of the crop. They are a sign of hope rewarded — the high point in the cycle from early spring faith to mid-summer reality

This is why Jesus is called the firstfruits from the dead. He is the very first Person ever to rise from the dead, never to die again — living forever with the indestructible, joyful life of God's children. He is the first — but he will not be the last. There is a huge crop coming — all the people of God who belong to Jesus. Everyone Jesus died and rose for, everyone who trusts in him, will be part of that crop. We, too, will rise on the Last Day — complete again, body and soul. And we will rejoice.

Right now, to be sure, it's still the planting season. And sometimes it is hard for us to imagine that far-off harvest, when all God's people are alive again — when the cemeteries are empty and the universe rings with rejoicing. But it will happen. We have our firstfruits already to guarantee it — Jesus, our Savior.

Paul continues, “For since death came by a man, the resurrection of the dead also is going to come by a man.” The process of dying entered our world through the first man, Adam. Sin is not just what we do, it is who we are. With that sinful nature we inherited from Adam, we are dying every day. Every one of us is terminal. The reversal of that dying entered our world through the second Adam, Jesus Christ. Adam was created from the dust of the ground and because of his sin, he and all of his descendents will be placed in the ground. Jesus Christ was buried in a tomb in the ground, but when he burst forth from the tomb, all those who believe in him have the promise that their graves will be opened on the Last Day, too.

Jesus became death’s greatest Victim so that he might become the triumphant Victor over death.

Death, along with the fear and sadness it causes is heartbreaking. You can feel the fear of family members when a loved one is dying in the hospital. You can see the sadness when a friend has a serious illness. You can sense the heartache at the cemetery.

But Paul tells us the solution to all this fear, sadness and heartache: “In Christ they all will be made alive.” Jesus Christ has conquered death, and that fact guarantees he will raise us from death to life when he returns at the end of time. Jesus’ resurrection reverses all that death has caused. Oh, it won’t happen right away. We will still suffer the effects of death for a time, but Christ’s resurrection has changed everything. He has offered forgiveness that covers over every sin. He has promised a home in heaven where death will never touch his saints again. He allows us to fall asleep in him so that we wake up in our own room in the God’s heavenly mansion. He has brought life – real life, eternal life that will never end.

A few weeks ago, one of our younger children asked me a very serious question. I think his parents didn’t know the answer, so they told him, “Go ask Pastor.” The little guy asked, “If I die as a kid, do I get to stay a kid in heaven?” I said, “I’ve never been asked that question before.” So I asked him a question, “Would you rather be a kid or an adult in heaven?” He said, “A kid. Adults are boring.”

I was laughing so hard I don’t think I ever did give him an answer.

Here was a child who had no doubts about death. Though he didn’t know the verse, he believed its reality – “so in Christ all will be made alive.”

When Adam sinned, God the Father gave his Son an assignment to redeem Adam’s children from sin and defeat the death that would claim them. Jesus did that when he completed his work by dying on the cross and rising from the tomb. On the Last Day, the Son will hand his completed assignment over to his Father. “Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has done away with every other ruler and every other authority and power.” Like a general retuning from a victorious battle and handing over the keys of a conquered military compound to the king, so Christ will hand over the kingdom to God the Father upon completely rendering powerless every enemy.

“For he must reign ‘until he has put all his enemies under his feet.’ Death is the last enemy to be done away with.” Jesus is not in heaven with his feet up in his easy chair just taking it easy. He is reigning and ruling from heaven above and ruling here below in human hearts with his Word and Sacraments. “Until he has put all his enemies under his feet” is quoting Psalm 8:2. That is a biblical way of describing Jesus completely destroying all of his enemies and opponents. At the end, all of Christ’s enemies will be humbled before the feet of the King of kings and Lord of lords. The Great Dragon (Revelation 12:3), the Great Prostitute (Revelation 17:1), the Beast of the Sea (Revelation 13:1), the Beast of the Earth (Revelation 13:11), the Antichrist (1 John 2:22), the kings of the earth (Revelation 6:15), and all those who pierced him (Revelation 1:7) will be humbled and humiliated. But the last and greatest enemy to be destroyed is death.

When Paul says that the last enemy to be destroyed is death, the Greek word he uses for “destroyed” means “to put out of existence” or “to abolish.” When Jesus returns, death itself will cease to exist. Jesus will abolish it. When death is defeated once and for all, stripped of its power, the only thing left for believers is life – eternity in the presence of the crucified and risen and reigning King.

There is resurrection comfort for God’s people who have suffered a miscarriage and that child in the womb heard God’s Word. There is resurrection comfort for God’s people who have suffered the death of their child after his or her baptism. There is resurrection comfort for all of us as God’s people – whether our Christian loved ones die from a virus, a car accident or old age. We have the confidence that death is death. We will all die. But through faith in Christ, we will all live. Jesus has defeated the last enemy. All things are under his feet. Amen.

He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that in all things he might have the highest rank. Amen. (Colossians 1:18)