The Sting of Death

On August 8, 2018 the Canadian Press released the following article...

A 43-year-old New Brunswick man has died after being stung by a wasp — and his family says he had never displayed previous signs of an allergy. Daniel Koch was looking under a table to locate a wasp nest at his property on Friday when a wasp flew out and stung him on the face. His father said Daniel collapsed minutes after the sting and died en route to the hospital after he administered an EpiPen and performed CPR. The coroner told the family Daniel died from a "severe allergic reaction to a sting," causing his air passages to close.

Recently while barn hunting with some friends we discovered some old farm equipment in a field and went out to investigate the rusty object. As we circled around we found a healthy wasp nest with a few workers/guardians on its surface. If we had not been attentive it was quite possible that one of us might have felt a nasty sting that day.

While wasp venom is not generally deadly to humans, the Bible speaks of a sting that leads to death -- sin. Sin is disobedience to God and we ALL have been stung by it. We learned what sin was from the law that God gave the Jewish people thousands of years ago, including the Ten Commandments. No one could perfectly live up to the law, thus it meant a death sentence to humans and separation from a holy God.

Are you perfect? Despite what your mama told you... probably not. In Romans 3:23 we read, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Even our very best attempt at perfection falls short of God's holy standard with just one simple error, indiscretion, misdeed or offense.

BUT... JESUS. Yes, Jesus came to our rescue and through the love and sacrifice demonstrated on Calvary we can have victory over sin and death through faith in Jesus Christ. His grace is the anti-venom for the poison of sin coursing through our veins. He alone has the power to heal you and restore you to a new life.

1 Corinthians 15:55-57
“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

And I would add to that... AMEN!