It’s been said that there are two certainties in life:  Death and Taxes.  You’ve heard that?  We can cheat on our taxes - although I’m not suggesting you do that.  We can cheat on our taxes.  But, we cannot cheat death.

Each of us faces physical death.  We live our lives knowing that death is coming.  The older we get the more certain we become - the more aware we are of what’s coming.  No amount of Rogaine or plastic surgery is ever going to change the reality of death.

Death is a mystery.  Unless we’ve died we really don’t know what happens next - if anything.

There are a lot philosophies out there - different religions - that have all kinds of ideas about what comes next.  What will that be like?  How do we get to a more pleasant place?  We wonder about all that.  But the bottom line is that unless we’ve been there we don’t know.

When I talked with __________ - when any of us talked with __________ about what she’d believed about death and what comes next - there was no question in her mind that she believed she was going through physical death into the presence of God in heaven.  Her belief was based in her trust in Jesus as her Savior.

Even talking with __________ in the hospital - not long before she passed - I asked her - how is your faith?  Are you trusting Jesus?  And she was.  She was strong in her belief - her faith in Jesus - trusting in Him.

People wonder - with good reason - people wonder how a person could have that kind of certainty facing what is an unknown. 

The Apostle Paul wrote a letter to the church of Corinth, Greece.  To a group of Christians there who had a number of questions about life and death  They’d heard the teaching of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and had believed in His resurrection.  But they were separated - as we are - from the events in Jerusalem by time and geography.

Like us they had made one too many trips to the cemetery.  Many of their friends and family were now buried there.  They were beginning to wonder if maybe they’d believed something that was really just religious wishful thinking.  Religious happy thoughts we share to comfort each other in the face of the unknown.

Let me share just a snapshot of what Paul wrote to the Corinthians - starting in 1 Corinthians 15:13:  “If resurrection is an impossibility....”  If this really is religious wishful thinking...  “not even Jesus is resurrected.”  “If Jesus is not resurrected - our faith has no meaning.  And - “We’re actually speaking against God and saying He’s done something He really hasn’t - we’re blaspheming God.

Verse 17:  If Jesus is not raised from death your faith is worthless.  If Jesus is not resurrected -  “The dead are still dead and they’ll never awaken.  And, we are miserable fools to be pitied for believing in such a foolish idea - there is no hope of eternal life.”

That’s pretty hopeless.  Isn’t it?

Paul writes - 1 Corinthians 15 - starting at verse 4:  Jesus was crucified - He died - “He was buried - and He was raised on the third day - just as God said He would be - Jesus’ death and resurrection did not surprise God - God planned it!  “Jesus appeared - bodily - resurrected to Peter - to the twelve Disciples “to more than 500 people at one time - who couldn’t have all been day dreaming about the same thing at the same time - some sort of mass hypnosis.  And Paul says, some of these people are alive today - if you doubt my word, ask them.

“Jesus appeared to James and the apostles.  Last, but not least, Jesus appeared to Paul - the Apostle Paul says “I have seen the bodily resurrected Jesus with my own two eyes and I proclaim His resurrection to you.”

Which is why as Christians we can gather together on a warm Sunday afternoon - and even though there’s a mystery for us about death - there’s a certainty about what comes next.  Because the answers have been given to us by someone Who has actually been there to tell us what in fact does come next.

In chapter 15 - verse 57 - same letter to the Corinthians - Paul writes, “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

What is it that defeats us?  Hunger - loneliness - fear - depression - anxiety - addiction?  Failure in relationships?  At home - at work?  Death is the worst.  An inescapable reality that we cannot cheat - that one day will defeat each one of us.   

But in Jesus what does God give us?  Victory.  On the cross, Jesus died in our place - took the penalty of death for our sin - coming out of the tomb He promises us life.  For those of us who are trusting in Jesus - we know that death cannot defeat us - because Jesus is victorious over death.  Trusting Him - His victory is our victory.

That victory is __________’s today.  Thank God.  And for all of us that share in that hope - can you thank God for the victory He’s given you?

Do you know that victory?  Do you know that your sins - what separates you from God - that your sins are forgiven?  Do you know what it means to live each day with Jesus - to live life by God’s power - by God Spirit - with God’s direction and wisdom?  Do know what it means to live with hope?  Knowing that you’re going to spend eternity with God?  Do you know what it means to live knowing that the worst of this life cannot defeat you?

If you’re facing death - or life - and what comes next is a mystery - you need Jesus.

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Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE ®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation.  Used by permission.