1 Corinthians 15.56 56 The sting of death is sin, and the
power of sin is the law. (NIV)
There you go! That’s it! There’s the answer! The sting of
separation is sin and the power of separation is the law. Thank God the
next verse is there: But thanks be to
God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (V. 57)
Much of what is preached today is sin-centric; sin is the
focus. The focus is do this; don’t do
that, and you’ll find peace with God. You’ll please God if you do or don’t.
The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law: do or don’t. The
more we talk about sin the less we talk about God.
I have a grandson. He’s cute. Every time I look at his
picture I smile; I am so proud of him. He makes the cutest faces and his mom
dresses him up in the cutest stuff. And his smile – well his smile melts my
heart. Everytime. But the bad news is this: he was born separated from God. As cute
as he is, his cuteness won’t get him into heaven. Nor will my smiling over him
get me there.
I want to tell God just how good I’ve been. I want to
tell God I’ve succeeded in life. I want to show God all of the good things I’ve
done and that I love my grandchild and smile over his picture. But none of that
matters in terms of salvation. None of that matters in terms of righteousness.
And I know in my heart of heart – that deep place in me – that I am not good
and I routinely do what is not good. I want to prove to God how good I am at
keeping the rules and His loving reply is this: Paul, the sting of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law.
I’m not a Jew. I don’t know Jewish Law. I don’t live by
their code of conduct. But I’ve been raised to live by another code of conduct.
And it has the same result as every other code: the sting of death is sin; and the power of sin is the code of conduct.
Trying to win God’s love by living according to the code is like trying to
win a spouse’s love just by taking out the trash. It don’t work! And the whole of humanity is cursed by living according
to the code.
So, Paul, what is
left? What do I do if I can’t prove my faith by my works? We love. Like
God. We love Him, and by Him, we love others. We learn what it means to love
the unlovable. We learn what it means to love and get nothing in return. We
learn to love when we’re hurt, cheated, or defamed. We learn to love when it
seems useless. We learn to love by picking up a towel and a basin and wash the
feet of those who would kill us for it. We learn to quit looking for reward. We
learn to be so heavenly focused that the world can’t take it away.
We learn that the Loving:
… were put to death by stoning; they were
sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and
goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of
them… (Hebrews 11.37-38a) We learn, in all this by love, what it means that
death has lost its sting.
Today Lord, I pray that You fill in every low place and
take down every high place in me that refuses to love. Today, may I learn what
the saints of old learned, that the law is useless and that only true love
prevails. May I prevail today in Your love for me is expressed in my love to
others for You. Amen.
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