1 Corinthians 15:55 Commentary and Bible Study

Look at this verse – one of the most remarkable verses in the Bible is the application to thinking about the resurrection and the marvels of the resurrection body.Here is the great song. It is based on a passage from the prophet Hosea, but it is borrowed and freely used here by the apostle Paul. It is a great song of triumph over a defeated enemy. ‘O death, where is thy sting [now]?’ Death is disarmed, and so, in the song, it is challenged and scorned: ‘O death, where is thy sting?’ Never to be feared again. We can put our foot on death, as it were, and scorn it. Our attitude towards it is so different, because of Christ. ‘O grave, where is thy victory?’ The victory of the grave – the person is dead and buried, maybe hundreds of years ago. You would think the victory was sealed; but the resurrection will overturn that victory altogether.‘The sting of death is sin.’ Death is like a serpent, and it can bite, and with its bite comes a terrible sting. Death! But what is its bite? Sin. Where did death get its power from? Horrible, remorseless death: making no distinction; making no allowances; sometimes so cruel – where did it get its power from? Our sin, our guilt gave death its power. It was through sin that death came into the world. If there was no sin, there would be no death. Because we came under the condemnation of God, death has a right to hurt us, and we cannot argue against it. We cannot deny our sin, nor can we deny that sin deserves death. As we long to escape death, our sin appears and tells us there is no escape. The only way to draw that sting is by Christ suffering in our place, so that there is no punishment for us to bear.‘And the strength of sin is the law.’ What a profound thought! The law is the strength of sin. If sin is ever challenged – ‘What gives you the right to do what you are doing?’ – it points to the very law of God, smashed and broken by lost sinners, deeply offending Almighty God. But isn’t the law holy, and good? Yes, but Satan uses the law too, and he uses the law against me and against you. What can Satan do against us? He does not possess the power of judgement. Yes, but the strength, even of Satan, is his misuse of the law. He knows what we've done and he takes the law of God, and he says to God, as it were, ‘Look, he's broken your law. Under your law he must die.’ Even for Satan, the strength of sin and of condemnation which he wishes upon you is derived from the holy and the good law. So how can we stand? Even Satan uses the law against us.