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Advent Devotional - December 12, 2016

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“O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free / Thine own from Satan’s tyranny / From depths of Hell Thy people save / And give them victory o’er the grave”

-O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

Of all the consequences of the Fall that we see around us every day, none of them affect us like death. Adam and Eve believed the serpent’s slippery suggestion that “You will not surely die.” But as they buried their son, Abel, who was killed by his own brother, the lies of Satan would surely ring in their ears as a judgment against their rebellion. Death, which was once an outsider of God’s good creation, now made itself at home and ruled over humanity (Romans 5:17). Its tyranny leaves people oppressed and desperate, crying out with Paul, “Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24)

People have been asking and answering that question for millennia. Whether it’s the fountain of youth, a search for Nirvana, or age-defying eye cream, we all want to find a way out of the curse of death. But all of these are mere cover-ups, Band-Aids put on gaping wounds that ultimately end up with the same result: death.

There is, however, one Man who has an answer for death. Like everyone before him, Jesus tasted death and felt its sting, though He did not have to (Philippians 2:6-8). But unlike everyone before him, Jesus was raised from the dead. Death would not reign over him. Satan’s tyranny, the depths of hell, the grave: these things were all mortally wounded as Jesus walked out of the tomb alive. Death lost its sting (1 Corinthians 15:54-55). What’s more, Jesus’ victory over death is not only for Him, but for His people as well. For those who have trusted in him, He is just the firstfruits, an initial promise of what’s to come (1 Corinthians 15:20). So what is the answer to Romans 7:24, and who delivers us from death? “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).