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1 Corinthians 15: 54-57
A vacationing family drives long in their car, windows rolled down, enjoying the warm breeze of a sunny day. All of a sudden, a big black bee darts in through the open window and starts buzzing around inside the car. A little girl, highly allergic to bee stings, cringes in the backseat. If she is stung, she could die within an hour.
“Oh Daddy” she squeals in terror. “It’s a bee! It’s going to sting me!” The father pulls the car over to the side of the road and stops. He reaches back to try and catch the bee. Buzzing toward him, the bee bumps against the front windshield where the father traps it in his fist.
Holding the bee in his closed hand, the father waits for the inevitable sting. The bee stings the father’s hand and in pain, the father lets go of the bee. The bee is loose in the car again. The little girl again panics, “Daddy, it’s going to sting!” The father gently says, “No honey, he’s not going to sting you now. Look at my hand.” The bee’s stinger is there in his hand.
The Apostle Paul was trying to convey a message to the Corinthian believers that showed exactly what this story of the bee illustrates and that is that we do not have to fear death for the stinger is in the hands of the Lord. 1 Corinthians 15:55 says “Where O death is your victory where O death is your sting?” Jesus tells us to look at his hands. He has Satan’s sting, the sting of death, the sting of sin, the sing of deceit, and the sting of feeling worthless. Jesus took upon himself all the stingers when he died on the cross, when the nails were driven in his hands.
When you find yourself paralyzed by the fear that Satan tries to get us to believe about his power remember the nail-scarred hands of Jesus who took the sting away from Satan. Jesus took all the pain Satan could throw at him so that you and I would not fear life or death as we follow Christ. He reduced Satan to nothing more than a big black bee that without a stinger can only buzz around and make noise.
This is the victory and assurance that Jesus won for those who will follow him. 1 Peter 5:7-8 tells us that Satan roams or prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. How do you hunt something? Does a lion roar before or after he has bagged his prey? Satan counts on the lack of knowledge among believers to have a successful hunt.
If you today are being stalked by that enemy lion know that he has been de-clawed and teeth pulled by the Savior who resides in you Smack him on the nose and watch him flee. James 4:7 gives us scriptural insight about this and reiterates what Paul says about the authority we have in Christ from Romans 8:37 “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us”. Fear not, the sting of death or the roar of the lion, or the railings of men against you. Live in the victory provided for you at Calvary!