victory in Christ

50 Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. 55 O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; 57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.

1 Corinthians 15

"I am thirsty"

When Jesus says, "I am thirsty," I don't think he means physical thirst, because in the whole passion account we never once hear Jesus complaining about any of the physical torture and agony into which he is placed. He is blindfolded and beaten with the fists of soldiers. He is scourged with a whip made with bits of metal and glass fragments tied into straps that are laid repeatedly across his back. There is a crown of thorns meanly pressed into his brow until he bleeds. Never once does he complain. Never once does he say, "It hurts." So when he says, "I am thirsty," he is saying, " I am thirsty with a thirst that every sinner deserves to experience forever." He means that he is going to hell, that he is now like the rich man in hell, with no one to bring him water." (Luke 16) ...

Psalm 22 begins this way: "My God, my God why hast Thou forsaken me?" This thirst is primarily physical but comes about because the Son of God has now been put into hell, a hell that he does not deserve. You and I deserve that unquenchable, unremitting, agonizing thirst because we have sought to fill our lives with anything and everything but him.

At the cross, Jesus asks the question, what do you thirst after? Throughout Scripture, thirst is a metaphor for a deep, inward spiritual emptiness and need. Without God we will die, because the Bible says that what we most thirst for and need at the center of our lives is not stuff but God. The question always is, what do I drink to fill that deep and profound thirst within me?

Those of us who grew up on the ocean know that sometimes you get thirsty while sailing or boating. If you run out of water, the last thing you want to do is put your mouth down into the salt water. It will only increase your thirst and accelerate the process of dehydration. Every one of us puts our mouth down into the salt water of whatever we use to meet our deepest needs. Jesus Christ became for you the One who thirsted unto death... It was as if he was placed into the position of eternal separation from God that you and I deserve.

"I am Thirsty" by Joseph Skip Ryan