My memory of Shane :
I had the privilege of knowing Shane from the time he was about fourteen years old. We were neighbors in Jamaica, and from the time I knew him, our relationship was always cordial. He was respectful, helpful, and easy to relate to.
Today, as we grieve together the loss of Shane, I want to share the glorious truth of the gospel: that the great enemy of humanity, death, has been defeated!
1 Corinthians 15:50–58 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55
“O[n] Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
The Death of Death Death is not presented in Scripture as a friend. Death is an enemy. Paul calls death:“The last enemy that shall be destroyed.”
—1 Corinthians 15:26
Death is an intruder. God made everything good
Romans 5:12 says:
“By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men.”
Paul says in our passage:
“The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.”
Death has a sting because humanity is guilty before God.
The law of God reveals our sin. It exposes our condition. It shows us that we have all fallen short of the glory of God. Death is therefore more than the stopping of the heart. Death is more than the body ceasing to function. Death is the great evidence that sin has entered the world.
Death announces that something is wrong. It separates the body from the spirit. It separates loved ones from one another. It brings sorrow into homes.
The Giant No One Could Conquer
Across human history, men and women have defeated many enemies.
Great generals have conquered armies. Great leaders have built empires. Great scientists have discovered cures. Great doctors have prolonged life. Great thinkers have expanded human knowledge. Human beings have crossed oceans, climbed mountains, traveled into space, built cities, and developed powerful technology.
Yet no one could defeat death.
Alexander the Great conquered nations, but death conquered Alexander. Julius Caesar ruled an empire, but death conquered Caesar. Pharaohs built great monuments and placed treasures in their tombs, but death conquered every Pharaoh. Kings sat upon thrones, but death removed them. Generals commanded thousands of soldiers, but they could not command death to retreat.
The strong could defeat other men, but they could not defeat death.
The beautiful grew old.
The powerful became weak.
The famous were eventually remembered only in books.
Generation after generation entered the world, lived for a little while, and then death claimed them.
Death stood over humanity like a giant no one could overcome. It was as though death stood at the end of every road and said: "You may run, but eventually you will come to me. You may become strong, but I will weaken you. You may become rich, but you cannot buy your freedom from me. You may become famous, but your fame cannot save you. You may become powerful, but you cannot command me."
Every great person throughout history eventually bowed before death.
Death appeared undefeated.
Death appeared unconquerable.
Death appeared to have the final word.
Humanity Held in Bondage by Death
The power of death was not felt only at the end of life.
Death held humanity in bondage throughout life.
Hebrews 2:15 speaks of those who:
“Through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”
Human beings did not merely die.They lived under the shadow of death. The fear of death controlled people. Fear of the big C or the big D ?
AI Technology/ Transhumanism: The fear of death drives people to create technology offering long life?
Then Death Met Jesus
For the beginning of time, death had conquered everyone it met.
Then death, met Jesus.
Jesus was not merely another man.
He was the eternal Son of God who became flesh.
He was fully human, yet without sin.
He was tempted, but He never sinned.
He suffered, but He never rebelled against His Father.
He was falsely accused, yet no guilt was found in Him.
He was the only truly righteous man who ever lived.
Death received its power through sin, but Jesus had no sin.
Death had a claim upon guilty humanity, but it had no rightful claim upon Him.
Jesus said: “The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.”
There was nothing in Jesus that belonged to Satan. There was nothing in Jesus that deserved condemnation. There was nothing in Jesus that gave death authority over Him. He was holy. He was innocent. He was righteous. He was the only One worthy and able to defeat death.
“No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down on myself.”
Hebrews 2:14 says:
“Through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.”
Death Could Not Hold Him
On the third day, something happened that had never happened in the same way before.
Jesus Christ rose from the dead.
The stone was rolled away.
The tomb was empty.
The grave clothes were left behind.
Jesus stood alive in resurrection power.
Death met Jesus—and death lost.
The grave tried to hold Him, but the grave was not strong enough.
Death tried to keep Him, but death had no authority over the sinless Son of God.
Acts 2:24 says:
“God raised him up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be held of it.”
It was not possible for death to hold Jesus. Not difficult.Not unlikely.Death could not hold the Author of life.
The grave could not imprison the Lord of glory.
The darkness could not overcome the Light of the world.
The devil could not defeat the Son of God.
Jesus rose.
He stood victorious over sin, victorious over Satan, victorious over judgment, victorious over the grave, victorious over hell, and victorious over death itself. The old hymn declares:
“Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes.”
Humanity’s greatest foe had finally met someone greater.
Death had finally met its conqueror.
Jesus did not merely escape death.
He defeated it.
He did not merely escape death; He defeated it. He did not merely survive the grave; He conquered the grave. He did not rise only to prove that He was powerful. He rose to show that the payment for sin had been accepted, that Satan's accusation had been answered, that condemnation had been removed, and that eternal life was now available.
He Did It for Us
Here is the glorious truth of the gospel:
Jesus did not defeat death only for Himself.
He did it for us.
He did not need salvation.
We did.
He did not need forgiveness, but we did. He was not guilty, but we were.
He was not under condemnation.
We were.
He entered our death so that we could receive His life.
He carried our guilt.
He bore our judgment.
He died in our place.
Isaiah says:
“He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities.”
Jesus did for us what we could never do for ourselves.
We could not defeat sin, so He paid for sin.
We could not silence the law’s condemnation, so He fulfilled the law.
We could not defeat the devil, so He crushed the serpent’s head.
He took our sin and carried our guilt.
He bore our judgment.
He died in