Where, O death, is your victory?

                  When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

“Where, O death, is your victory?
    Where, O death, is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (I Corinthians 15:54-57)

This is A.C., after the cross. We may look around and question. People I knew have died this year. People I know have lost loved ones. Nearly 3,500 Christians were slaughtered for their faith in 2025. The rate is about 13 per day. About 17.77 million people died from contagious diseases in 2025. How can anyone say that death has lost its sting?

As it so often does, the problem involves definitions. We tend to think of dying as part of death. The process of dying requires that one be living. It’s not what this passage is about. This passage says that it’s about the perishable being clothed with the imperishable and the moral with immortality. Perishable and mortal are the  basic characteristics of living. Paul is writing about the imperishable and immortal. Dying naturally changes and ends life. The only thing that can end and change death is living. Death is, by its normal nature, immortal, until or unless something more powerful changes that.

Some think that the death apart from God is eternity in fiery torment. Others think that it is eternal unconsciousness or even nullification of existence. I’m not sure how you’d tell the last two apart, but suffice to say that those are the supposed options. The fiery torment would be a nightmare, but a person might console himself with the egotistical notion that he accomplished something of use in his life. The unconscious and nonexistent possibilities erase even that tiny solace. Yes, there’s no pain, but there’s no pleasure either. Just emptiness. In a sense, one might say they become a spiritual black hole. Which is worse is a matter of opinion, but both sting.

They are not the only options. There is also the possibility of that sting being prevented by a sort of dying that doesn’t lead to either. My purpose in exploring them is not to bribe someone into conversion, since  I suspect most of those who read this have already taken that step. The point is to remind us that death has no more sting because it has been conquered – and the resurrection that we’re celebrating today is the proof of that. Dying may not be pleasant, but what comes after should hold no sting for us or victory over us.