O Death, Where Is Thy Sting

Last Sunday was my turn to give a talk in Sacrament Meeting. Preparing to give one of the sermons for Easter Sunday was quite harrowing. But spending the weeks before Easter reading about and pondering the Atonement of Jesus Christ was so wonderful. The Lord even began preparing me before I got the assignment. At the beginning of the month, I substitute taught in our high school students' early morning seminary (New Testament) class. Two of the themes from those lessons factored directly into my talk. So cool. I wanted a record of the talk here.

O Death, Where Is Thy Sting?
31 March 2013 Easter Sacrament Meeting, Anna Dailey, Anoka Ward, Anoka Minnesota Stake

“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Isa. 1:16–18)

The prophet Isaiah’s imagery in this scripture is striking. How can something like bright red silk become as glistening white as fresh snow? How can something as staining as blood become as clean and white as undyed wool? And how on earth, as his first few words indicate, is that fantastic transformation something the Lord thinks is a reasonable or logical outcome?

But, with the Lord, all things are possible. And this seemingly magical transfiguration is completely reasonable and logical because the Atonement of Jesus Christ is a fixed constant in time. We knew it would happen; it did happen; and we know it happened.

The atonement is necessary because of two of the gifts we’ve received as part of the plan of Salvation (and those are our mortal bodies and our agency); these two gifts have side-effects that keep us from returning to Heavenly Father and having the quality of life that He has.

Because we have mortal bodies, they die. Because we have agency, we sin. Physical Death separates our bodies from our souls; Sin separates our souls from God. Sin is lawlessness; and it’s pride. It occurs when we think we know better than God and insist on doing things our way. As such we deliberately separate ourselves from God and turn our noses up at blessings that would rightfully be ours if we obeyed His law.

Samuel, the Lamanite prophet calls this separation from God ‘Spiritual Death’. “…whosoever repenteth not … there cometh upon them again a spiritual death, yea, a second death, for they are cut off again as to things pertaining to righteousness”. (Helaman 14:18)

And the apostle Paul teaches: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”. (Romans 6:23)

Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we are reconciled with God and the eternal consequences of sin are overcome.

In one of my favorite New Testament passages, the apostle Paul waxes poetic about the atonement. He rejoices in the Atonement: “So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15: 54-57)

Because Jesus Christ conquered physical death, the reuniting of our bodies and souls is a gift and therefore the grave has lost its victory. So how does death lose it’s sting?

The night before his crucifixion, the Savior with eleven of His apostles left Jerusalem and sought the quiet privacy of an olive grove we know as the Garden of Gethsemane. While his closest companions and friends slept, Jesus Christ paid the penalty for all of our sins, an experience so difficult and so awful that Father in Heaven sent an Angel to strengthen Him through the ordeal. That ordeal made possible the ability to restore our souls to the presence of God. It gave us the gift of Godly Sorrow which activates the power of repentance in our lives. Because repentance is possible, death has indeed lost its sting and we should rejoice right along with the apostle Paul.

President Ezra Taft Benson calls: “Godly sorrow… a gift of the Spirit. It is a deep realization that our actions have offended our Father and our God. It is the sharp and keen awareness that our behavior caused the Savior, He who knew no sin, even the greatest of all, to endure agony and suffering; [that] our sins caused Him to bleed at every pore.”

And in his book Jesus the Christ, Elder James Talmage explains: “In that hour of anguish Christ met and overcame all the horrors that Satan could inflict. …In some manner, actual and terribly real…, the Savior took upon Himself the burden of the sins of mankind from Adam to the end of the world.”

And in the Doctrine and Covenants, we can hear the Savior, Himself, describe the experience: “For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I; which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men.” (Doctrine & Covenants 19: 16-19)

Because “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) the Atonement is the most awe-inspiring event that has ever or will ever occur throughout time and space.

Elder Bruce R. McConkie calls the Atonement: “the supreme act of goodness and grace that only a god could perform. Through it, all of the terms and conditions of the Father’s eternal plan of salvation became operative. Through it are brought to pass the immortality‍ and eternal life of man. Through it, all men are saved from death, hell, the devil, and endless torment.”

But as personal as the Atonement is and as vital as it is to our relationship with God, it should equally affect our behavior and thoughts towards others.

President Gordon B. Hinckley taught: "The great Atonement was the supreme act of forgiveness. The magnitude of that Atonement is beyond our ability to completely understand. I know only that it happened, and that it was for me and for you. The suffering was so great, the agony so intense, that none of us can comprehend it when the Savior offered Himself as a ransom for the sins of all mankind.

It is through Him that we gain forgiveness. It is through Him that there comes the certain promise that all mankind will be granted the blessings of salvation, with resurrection from the dead. It is through Him and His great overarching sacrifice that we are offered the opportunity through obedience of exaltation and eternal life.”

In securing such forgiveness for ourselves, we should also be eager to extend it to others. Our understanding of the Savior's sacrifice should make us more patient with other’s weaknesses, more understanding of their situations, more forgiving of injury, more willing to let go of grudges and resentment, and much less judgmental of what we think are the failings of others. Gratitude for the Savior’s sacrifice should make us less proud, less insistent on doing things our way.

I am thankful for the gifts of Godly Sorrow and Repentance. I am thankful that my spiritual immaturity doesn’t have to separate me from God eternally. I am thankful for the blessings that repentance and keeping the commandments of God make possible. I am thankful that the Savior thinks I am worth that suffering. I know that each of you are worth it.

I know that Jesus Christ lives. He’s real. I know that there is a life after death; and that living the commandments of God is vital to our happiness both in this life and in the next. Our decisions in this world absolutely affect our life after earth. I say these things In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.