My dad once told a story about a man he led to Christ. Much later when the man was about to die, he called my dad and said, "I know where I am going to. I can see the street of gold. I can see the glory coming from the throne. Hold on to what you have taught me". From those words, I learnt that there is no greater conviction than this - that in death comes life because death has no sting on you and grave has lost his victory over you.
Romans 14:8 and 9 says "If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, , we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.
Seeing Christ as central in my beliefs and their outworking applies to every situation. ‘For none of us lives for himself alone, and none of us dies to himself alone. 8 If (while) we live, we live for the Lord; and if (when) we die, we die for the Lord’ (14:7,8). While we continue to live on earth all parts of believers’ lives (thoughts, actions, ambitions, decisions) are to be engaged in with a view to what pleases God.
When Paul says ‘we die for the Lord’ he likely has in mind the fact that the circumstances of the believer’s death, as of his life, are not determined by his own will or thinking of his interests, but are wholly in the hands of God who sets the time for death by His purposes.
‘So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord’’ (14:8). Not only does the believer ‘live’ and ‘die’ God’s way but in both life and death, he or she belongs to the Lord. Our union with Christ with all its benefits that the believer enjoys in this life will continue after death with an even fuller measure of blessing.
Whether we live or die we ‘belong to the Lord’ because it was for this very reason that Christ ‘died and returned to life, to be Lord of both the dead and the living. Paul is reminding the Roman Christians (us) of a well-known truth: ‘And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again(2 Corinthians 5:15). Christ’s death should stimulate Christians to live for Him and not for themselves. It is Christ’s death and resurrection together that establish His lordship over all people, especially here Christians, whether they are living or dead. Paul’s focus is on the unique exercise of ‘kingdom’ power and rule that were established through (and only through) His death and resurrection, and the appropriation of the benefits of those acts by Christians through faith.
Because Jesus is our Lord, we must live for Him and because Jesus is Lord of every other Christian, we must respect that relationship.
Death lost his sting on the cross and also after when Jesus rose from the dead, He took the keys of hell and death so that no man should die again. Jesus Christ took our place and died so that we may live for him here and hereafter. He gave us the Holy Spirit to guide and comfort us so that we would not fear death, just like Stephen said "I see the son of man on the right hand of God" and also what Paul said "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:6-8). He wasn't scared of death, because he knew after death comes life and life everlasting, he knew that when he dies, he dies for the lord, and also he knew that death has lost his sting on him because Jesus has paid the final sacrifice for us all.
As believers, we see death as the next phase of life, as a path through which we have life everlasting, because we are born again. For the unbeliever and unsaved, the opposite is the case. The clock is ticking and we all are running out of time. It's true that death has lost his sting but then it's only on those who have received Jesus into their lives and whose spirit bears witness with the spirit of God that they are sons of God. But if you are not saved, then listen to that still, gentle voice within you and let Jesus into your life today, and as you do so God will grant you everlasting life, so you can say " o death where is thy sting? o grave where is thy victory?"
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