DESTROYING DEATH
(week 17/11)
OLUBI JOHNSON
Hebrews 2:14 AMP: Since, therefore, [these His] children share in flesh and blood [in the physical nature of human beings], He [Himself] in a similar manner partook of the same [nature], that by [going through] death He might bring to nought and make of no effect him who had the power of death–that is, the devil–
Here, we see that the Lord Jesus destroyed Satan’s authority to enforce death on humanity by His suffering of death on our behalf; in other words, because the Lord Jesus suffered spiritual death on our behalf, we do not have to suffer it anymore and we can then use the resurrection power of the Lord Jesus to overcome death.
1Corinthians 15:25-26 KJV: For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. (26) The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
Here, the scripture tells us that death will be destroyed under the feet of the Lord Jesus: under the feet of the body of Christ. This means that members of the body of Christ will learn how to experientially overcome and dominate death.
So, as we celebrate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ this Easter, it is instructive for us to learn how the power of the resurrection enables us destroy death: hence this message.
What is death?
Death is both spiritual and physical; physical death is the exit of the human spirit from the physical body:
James 2:26 KJV: For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
Spiritual death is separation from God and so from the power of His life which causes a distortion or corruption of what God originally created and made.
When Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, he died firstly, spiritually before he later died physically (Gen. 2:17; 5:5).
When he died spiritually and was separated from God’s life; faith became distorted to fear:
Genesis 3:9-13 KJV: And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? (10) And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. (11) And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? (12) And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. (13) And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
Light (wisdom) became distorted to darkness (foolishness and ignorance); righteousness became distorted to sin; health to sickness; prosperity to poverty. Because the life force to maintain what God had originally created to be good was no longer in force because of man’s separation from God.
Genesis 3:17-18 MKJV: And to Adam He said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it! The ground is cursed for your sake. In pain shall you eat of it all the days of your life. (18) It shall also bring forth thorns and thistles to you, and you shall eat the herb of the field.
Ultimately, this distortion in the physical body caused it gradually grow older and weaker to the point where it could no longer be suitable for the human spirit to inhabit and then man died physically when the human spirit left the human body.
Now, by the power of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, man’s link with God is restored when we get born-again and by the inflow of the divine life into our spirits, souls (wills, minds and emotions) and bodies, we can reverse the distortions that have been caused by spiritual death: separation from God.
1Peter 1:3 KJV: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
Romans 8:11 AMP: And if the Spirit of Him Who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, [then] He Who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also restore to life your mortal (short-lived, perishable) bodies through His Spirit Who dwells in you.
This reversal of spiritual death and its debilitating effects is what is called the destruction of death!
It is the will of God that we destroy death: spiritual and physical in our souls and bodies by the power of Holy Spirit in our spirits and so manifest and demonstrate the reality of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ to men in the earth:
2Corinthians 4:10-11 KJV: Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. (11) For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
2Corinthians 5:4 NKJV: For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.
Now, this does not mean we will not die physically, but it means that we, in cooperation with God, will determine when, where and how we will die and we will not have to die from sickness.
As this happens, the power of God manifest in our physical bodies will cause men to be healed, delivered and raised from the dead and so give great witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ like Peter, Paul and others did in the Acts of the Apostles:
Acts 4:33 NKJV: And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.
Acts 5:12-16 NKJV: And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Porch. (13) Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly. (14) And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, (15) so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. (16) Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.
Acts 19:11-12 AMP: And God did unusual and extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, (12) So that handkerchiefs or towels or aprons which had touched his skin were carried away and put upon the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.
Acts 20:9-12 MKJV: And a certain young man named Eutychus was sitting on the window sill, Paul reasoning for a longer time, being overborne by sleep, he fell down from the third floor, and was taken up dead. (10) And Paul went down and fell on him, and embracing him said, Do not be terrified, for his soul is in him. (11) And going up, and breaking bread, and tasting, and conversing over a long time, until daybreak, he went out thus. (12) And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted.
It is the will of God that we destroy this last enemy called death by putting it under the feet of the body of Christ before the Lord Jesus returns to close this age.
Psalms 110:1-2 MKJV: A Psalm of David.Jehovah said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand until I place Your enemies as Your footstool. (2) Jehovah shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion; rule in the midst of Your enemies.
