The greatest enemy to us is death because it robs us of life. The last enemy to be destroyed is death, but with the weight of heaven backing these verses, every Christian can proclaim:
O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1Co 15:55-57 NKJ)
Death does not have power over a believer! Death will come to a body, but for a Christian, death is a gateway into the overwhelming eternal presence of God. Jesus is better than death, stronger than death. The cross means we can have life and not death!
There once was a time when if a person could not or would not clear their debt, whoever they owed the money to would write details in large print and nail them on the debtor’s door for passers to read. It could say, for example, Mr XYZ owes me £500 for the furniture in his house, signed Mr Paymenow!
When the notice was firmly nailed over the door of the embarrassed debtor for everyone to see, he was not allowed to remove it by law until the payment had been made. When it was paid, ‘debt cancelled’ or ‘debt fully paid’ was written over it.
Similarly, sin attached to our lives is like walking around with a large sign with all the details of what we have done wrong, nailed to the door of our hearts.
Now, it’s not for you or me to condemn people about sin; it’s up to us to point people to Jesus because He is the only One who can set us free!
This is why the cross is so incredible—when it seemed that we had no way out and were caught red-handed, with details of our sin nailed to us: CHRIST WENT TO THE CROSS. He paid the debt! He paid the fine! He bore the penalty. He has paid in full the price for our sin!
There is an incredible hymn…
My sin oh the bliss of this glorious thought,
My sin not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more, Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, oh my soul
Look at what Jesus has done; He has paid all our debt!
Having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross (Colossians 2:14).
Christian, He has taken our wrongs, our sins, our debts and wiped them out—paid in full—by the precious blood of Jesus.
Heavenly Father, thank You, thank You, thank You! I can rest in peace knowing You have forgiven me for all my sins forever. You can never be praised enough. Thank You God. Amen.