1. “Death, the last enemy, is being abolished” (1 Cor. 15:26).
Death is allied with the devil. Since the devil is God’s enemy, death is also God’s enemy. Death is the last enemy that God will abolish.
1. “Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:14).
God will deal with death in the same way that He will deal with the devil. The devil’s end is to be cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10). The end result of death is also to be cast into the lake of fire. Death and the devil share the same destiny. This is also the end of Hades, the “co-worker” of death.
2. “A new heaven and a new earth...Death will be no more” (Rev. 21:1, 4)
Death is thrown into the lake of fire at the end of the millennial kingdom. In the new heaven and new earth, there will be no more death. God not only works to help us escape from and overcome death; He also works to drive out death from the realm of His authority. Since God is the God of life and the God of resurrection, He and death cannot exist together. When God destroys death, the new heaven and new earth, the realm where God eternally exercises His authority, will be brought in.
This is the story of death. Now let us look at resurrection.
1. “Jesus said...I am the resurrection” (John 11:25).
Since the Lord is resurrection, He is the source of resurrection. Death is related to the devil, but resurrection is related to the Lord. Since the Lord is the embodiment of God, God is resurrection.
2. “God...who gives life to the dead” (Rom. 4:17).
The God who gives life to the dead is the source of resurrection.
1. “The power of His resurrection” (Phil. 3:10).
Since resurrection comes out of God and is the Lord Himself, it is as powerful as God. The power of resurrection is God Himself. Nothing can resist resurrection, just as nothing can resist the power of God. Although death is strong, it is not stronger than resurrection. Only resurrection can resist death; resurrection looses the pangs of death (Acts 2:24), overcomes death, destroys death, and swallows up death (1 Cor. 15:52-54).
2. “The surpassing greatness of His power...which He caused to operate in Christ in raising Him from the dead...far above all” (Eph. 1:19-21).
The surpassingly great power with which God raised Christ from the dead is the resurrection power. By this power we not only overcome death, but we are also far above all. Nothing can limit this power or hold this power down.
1. “If there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised...Your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished...If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (1 Cor. 15:13, 17-18, 32).
There is death in the universe, but there is also resurrection. Death is of the devil, whereas resurrection is of God. Death is the devil’s torment for man, whereas resurrection is God’s salvation for man. Without resurrection there would be no salvation for men. Without resurrection Christ would not have been raised, and if Christ was not raised, our faith in Him would be futile. Without resurrection we could not be saved, and we would still be in our sins under death; even those who died in Christ would perish eternally. Without resurrection we would have no hope, and we would be under the control of death, waiting for the final coming of death. Without resurrection our life here would have no meaning. The most we could do would be to eat, drink, and play, frittering our lives away in a drunken stupor since we could die tomorrow and enter into eternal nothingness. Without resurrection we would have no salvation today and no hope for the future; we would be of all men most miserable. However, since Christ rose from the dead and resurrection will come, our salvation today is solid and our future hope is reliable.
2. “Concerning the resurrection of the dead...He is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Matt. 22:31-32).
Resurrection is essential not only to us but also to God Himself. God is a God of life; He cannot tolerate death nor be the God of the dead. He can be the God only of the living. Through resurrection God deals with and overcomes the death which was injected into His people by His enemy, the devil. With resurrection He can be our God and come into us as God. If He could not deal with death through resurrection, He could be God only in Himself; He would not be able to come into us. God must resurrect us and eliminate the death in our being through resurrection because He desires to be in us.