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We were not made for death.  Whether you believe the Bible or not, this fact is apparent–there is no one who naturally desires to die, and given a threatening situation we naturally demonstrate a fight or flight response–both being means to preserve life.  And looking at God’s original design for creation, death was not a part of it.  We were made for life, for intimate relationship with God, for productivity, for care both of creation and one another, and in this God said it was “very good” (Genesis 1:31Genesis 1:31
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
31 God looked at what he had done. All of it was very good! Evening came and then morning—that was the sixth day.

WP-Bible plugin).  Death entered the picture when our sin tainted all of creation, and from that point on God has carefully planned out and enacted the greatest rescue mission ever designed.  And He was successful.  He is successful.  And because of this, we have the hope of eternal life.  Yet death still remains, a felt result of the fall.  Paul looks at the hope that we have, the present reality of death, and our subsequent response to this truth in 1 Corinthians 15:50-581 Corinthians 15:50-58
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
50 My friends, I want you to know that our bodies of flesh and blood will decay. This means that they cannot share in God's kingdom, which lasts forever. ⁵¹ . I will explain a mystery to you. Not every one of us will die, but we will all be changed. ⁵² It will happen suddenly, quicker than the blink of an eye. At the sound of the last trumpet the dead will be raised. We will all be changed, so that we will never die again. ⁵³ Our dead and decaying bodies will be changed into bodies that won't die or decay. ⁵⁴ . The bodies we now have are weak and can die. But they will be changed into bodies that are eternal. Then the Scriptures will come true, “Death has lost the battle! ⁵⁵ . Where is its victory? Where is its sting?” ⁵⁶ Sin is what gives death its sting, and the Law is the power behind sin. ⁵⁷ But thank God for letting our Lord Jesus Christ give us the victory! ⁵⁸ My dear friends, stand firm and don't be shaken. Always keep busy working for the Lord. You know that everything you do for him is worthwhile.

WP-Bible plugin (go ahead, read it!).

a mystery

We have learned to prolong life.  Dog foods are formulated for optimal health, special plant foods grow larger stronger vegetation, surgeries and medications and technology keep us living longer.  But it all eventually ends.  We will perish.  This is part of the curse, the result of sin “…for you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19Genesis 3:19
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
19 You will have to sweat to earn a living; you were made out of soil, and you will once again turn into soil.”

WP-Bible plugin).  And yet, as mentioned before, this was not God’s original intent for creation.  Nor is it part of His redemption plan.  We grow and age, and our bodies slowly cease to work, some more quickly than others.  We are perishable.  It is apparent that these bodies cannot last forever, and Paul confirms this in v. 50.  But this is not the end.  Paul refers to God’s plan as a mystery, and rightly so, for He works backwards.  Paul does not give specific details, only that we will be changed.  Upon Christ’s return, the dead shall be raised–that which is perishable and has perished will be renewed and perfected and imperishable.  The mortal become immortal, and there is movement from the temporary to the eternal (v. 51-54).

imminent victory

The reality of the hope that we have in Christ is victory over death.  Christ has conquered it.  Paul explains that the sting of death is sin, and that the power of sin is the law (v.56).  Both of which have been overcome by Christ on the cross.  Paul later writes to the Corinthians “…he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:212 Corinthians 5:21
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
21 Christ never sinned! But God treated him as a sinner, so that Christ could make us acceptable to God.

WP-Bible plugin).  Christ knew no sin.  Though tempted in every way (Hebrews 4:15Hebrews 4:15
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
15 Jesus understands every weakness of ours, because he was tempted in every way that we are. But he did not sin!

WP-Bible plugin), He remained sinless, spotlessly perfect and holy.  He did this by fulfilling the law.  Note that Christ did not abolish the law (Matthew 5:17Matthew 5:17
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
The Law of Moses ¹⁷ Don't suppose that I came to do away with the Law and the Prophets. u the Law and the Prophets: The Jewish Scriptures, that is, the Old Testament. I did not come to do away with them, but to give them their full meaning.

WP-Bible plugin)–he law still stands.  It is just as sinful today to murder as it was before Christ.  However, we are no longer to look to the law for righteousness (which it could never bring, it only condemned for we all fall short, and therefore it brought death), instead we look to Christ and the righteousness we have through Him.  For he has fulfilled the law, taken our punishment, and declared us righteous before God.  Paul describes this to the Romans:

For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.  And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. (8:3-4)

now what?

Christ lived a sinless life, fulfilling the law and claiming victory over death.  Because of Him, we have hope of an imperishable, immortal, eternal life with Him, though now the reality of death still remains.  What is our right response?

Therefore my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. (v. 58)

I adore the definition of steadfast.  In Greek this word implies “a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and suffering” (though I am rarely steadfast, the Lord’s love is often described by this term!).  So then, because of the hope that we have in Christ, in our eternity, we are to remain steadfast in the midst of the hardest of trials.  We are to be immovable.  We are able to respond in this way because death is very real, but life after is what we live for.  Death is not the end.  We are to abound in the work of the Lord.  Abound implies that this work is of utmost importance in our life, it is pre-eminent.  One who lives as if death is the end will  not live for the work of the Lord.  We however, are to live for eternity, so that in all that we do we work as for the Lord, not for man.  And we are to know that all this is not done in vain.  We are to rest in the hope of eternity.

application

• In what ways are you tempted to live for this life alone?
• How would your life be different were you to solely live for eternity?
• Why is it difficult to live for eternity?  What lies bind you to this life?  What is the biblical truth?