It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three—sin, guilt, death—are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God!
1 Corinthians 15: 56, The Message
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.(1 Corinthians 15:56, NRSV)
Perhaps some of you are old enough to remember the 7 Academy Award winning movie, “The Sting,” released in 1973. Robert Redford and Paul Newman were two confidence men working together to deceive gang members in September 1936. Who dun it to whom is not clear til the very end of the movie. A more recent version, I think, was the Oceans 11 series, staring George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon. Julia Robert’s was the female star. This one is set in a Las Vegas slight of hand plot. In both pictures the interplay of characters keep you guessing who the bad guys are and who exactly was going to win and how.
Apostle Paul, centuries earlier at the end of the first letter to the Corinthians , compares the interplay between sin, death, and law in a similar drama involving us and leaving us feeling guilty. Humans were sentenced to death after the “garden of Eden” event. The “law” explained how this all worked. Our inability to love God and neighbor with our whole heart left us guilty no matter how hard we tried. We are separated from God in this mortal life. Only death, in a surprise twist, frees us from our mortality and allows us to enter eternity with God. Jesus Christ, not George Clooney, is the lead character and Paul says that this twist is in understanding death as a gift from God. Satan tried to con us and convince us that we are lost but through faith in Christ we can be given eternal life. Thank you, Lord, the good guys win and live “happily ever after.” Praise God!
On the Way to Wonder 