Jesus’ Resurrection Dethroned Death   

As a child, did you ever play some version of the game “king of the hill”? I can remember doing so with kids in our neighborhood with the top of an embankment being the prized ground to try to control. Not surprisingly, it was usually the older, bigger kids who reigned as victors in that contest. Many of us who were smaller enjoyed trying to remove the stronger opponent from his lofty perch, but were usually not very successful. As long as it didn’t get too rough and no one got mad, there was some degree of fun in attempting to take down one of these bigger foes who seemed to be unconquerable. It usually took a number of us ganging up on him at one time in order to accomplish that feat.

The Bible indicates that after man’s sin in the Garden of Eden, there’s a sense in which death became the king of the hill in our world. “Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned…by the one man’s offense death reigned” (Romans 5:12, 17). Death wasn’t even in the picture until Adam and Eve chose to disobey the one restriction God had given them. Then this powerful foe not only appeared, but he rose to the top of the hill to reign as king. Everyone was going to have to face this enemy. And he successfully defended his territory against all he encountered. No one could dethrone death. Everyone succumbed to his great power...

  …until Jesus came. Here was the biggest threat death had faced. This was the very Son of God showing up on the scene – God in the flesh. This was a worthy opponent. The same God who pronounced the sentence of death on mankind now entered the world and looked to climb that hill on which death had stood as the perpetual king. He landed a couple of blows by raising individuals from the dead. However, death still had those souls in its grasp and knew he would eventually bring them back to the grave to remain there. In spite of Jesus showing Himself to be the greatest challenger to death’s power he had ever faced, in the end death appeared to still come out on top. Jesus was crucified, committed His spirit to God, and breathed His last. Death was still the king of the hill...

…until an empty tomb revealed that there was a new king on the throne. Jesus was resurrected – not just to live a few years longer before being overcome by death – no, Jesus arose to live forever. He had conquered the unconquerable. He had dethroned death. Not only did He stand victoriously at the top of the hill, but He also made the way for all of us to join Him there. He has given us victory over death as well. This doesn’t mean we won’t have to face that powerful enemy. He is still present in our world. As the preacher at a funeral I attended last weekend reminded us, unless the Lord returns first, one day we’re all going to be in that situation. Death will still strike its blow. However, the difference is that now we know that’s not the end of the story. All will be resurrected. Those who know Jesus as Savior will be raised to a glorious existence with Him for eternity. Not only does Jesus reign as King, but we get to reign with Him.

I like the way one song puts it: “As He stands in victory, sin’s curse (including death) has lost its grip on me.” And it’s all because there’s a new King of the hill – the resurrected Christ!