God Abolished the Consequences of Death

Scripture

Our verse for today comes from 2 Timothy 1:10, ” But has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. “

Background

When we hear the word ” abolish, ” most of us think of slavery. There are other things throughout the history of our nation that we as a society have wanted to eliminate, but none of them are so closely linked to abolishment as is slavery. We have longed to be rid of poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, life-threatening diseases, and a host of other ills, but when Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, and then the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified in 1865, slavery was abolished forever. However, I do remember learning that everything wasn’t immediately all roses and sunshine for those freed slaves. Sure, they were no longer bound as property to another man and could do as they now chose, but what was there for many of them to go to and choose from? Many slaves, rather, chose the safe and familiar confines of their masters’ estates over the vast unknown that awaited them out in the free world. For them, their slavery had been abolished, but what was going to replace it?

Application

Our relationship with God is not just about abolishment. He hasn’t merely taken away some bad things from our lives. His plan wasn’t to reduce our suffering or minimize our troubles. He didn’t even take away human death so that we would live forever here on earth amongst our friends and family. He sent His Son to abolish death. That is different. We all know that death awaits us at some point. There will be an end to our earthly existence. But the fact that God abolished death means that He has rendered it inactive. He has annulled it. And in its place He has brought life and immortality. Not just life that never ends, but life that is pure and incorrupt, that is of the Son and through the Son. He didn’t just take away death to let us wander endlessly in our dead condition as those freed slaves did who remained on the plantations. He gave us His life, a life to be lived out through His Spirit. Our slavery to death and sin has been abolished, and we should never again walk a step that doesn’t declare our freedom.

Charge

As we seek Him today, celebrate your freedom to live the life that He brought to you. Do not let the life He abolished in you keep you from living in His light.