Where, O Death?

“But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” – 1 Corinthians 15:57 (NIV)

“Lord, I want to go to heaven, but I don’t want to go tonight.”

That line from country artist Joe Diffie’s Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox might make you smile, but it also strikes a chord deep in our spirits. It names the tension most of us live with: we believe in heaven, we long for resurrection, and yet… death feels too close, too final, too frightening.

The Apostle Paul knew that tension too. In 1 Corinthians 15, he doesn’t minimize death—he confronts it. He writes to a church wrestling with doubt and fear, and he anchors them in a promise: “Death has been swallowed up in victory” (v.54). Paul’s confidence isn’t grounded in denial, but in the risen Christ. And in verse 57, he bursts out in gratitude: “But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

This hope isn’t new with Paul. It echoes back to Hosea 13:14, where God, speaking through the prophet, confronts death with a defiant cry: “Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction?” It’s not merely poetic—it’s prophetic. For generations, God’s people have clung to this vision of a day when death would lose its grip. In Christ, that day has dawned.

In another song, this one a contemporary gospel song, Oh Death by MercyMe captures this defiance:

Oh death, I will not be afraid  

In the end, you will lose  

I will dance on your grave with the one who buried you  

You ain’t nothin’ but a stone that my Savior rolled away  

Set you straight and set me free  

Oh death, you are dead to me.

This isn’t simply wishful thinking. It’s a resurrection reality for all those who believe in Jesus Christ. He faced death, conquered it, and flung open the door to eternal life. And because he lives, we can face tomorrow. We can live with courage today.

Risen Savior, thank you for the victory you’ve won—victory over fear, over sin, over death itself. When we feel the weight of grief or the sting of mortality, remind us of your empty tomb and your living promise. Teach us to live with gratitude and holy defiance, knowing death has been defeated. Let hope rise in us today. Amen.

Blessings,

Pastor Tim