II Corinthians 5:21 NKJV “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
Galatians 3:13 NKJV “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”),”
The strength of sin is the law and its curse is such that no man can ever fulfil the entire law. We stand condemned when we try to use self righteousness to justify ourselves before God. It is an impossible task. Only the work of Christ satisfied the law as claimed. While the wrath of God towards sin was upon Christ, his righteousness was imputed to us and are we are no longer condemned but forgiven. The bible says “there is no condemnation on them who are in Christ.” God has removed sin from us, forgotten it, buried it in the seas and removed it as far as the east is from the west. He has wiped us clean, we are accepted, seen as holy and righteous in Christ. Even if our bodies are aging by the day, we are growing stronger each day that we are in the Lord.
Thus death has lost it sting for the Christian because we will not be separated from God but have life in eternity with our Maker. Life doesn’t stop at death but we continue to live in the eternal life that God has prepared for us. So there is absolutely nothing to fear in this life if we have conquered the fear of death because Jesus took the sting of death on our behalf.
Sermon Series: Fear Does Not Belong to You
死的毒钩已消失
哥林多前书 15:55-57死啊！你得胜的权势在哪里？死啊！你的毒钩在哪里？死的毒钩就是罪，罪的权势就是律法。 感谢 神，使我们藉着我们的主耶稣基督得胜。
在这段经文中，“死的毒钩就是罪”是指灵里的死亡和因罪而与神隔绝。好消息是，耶稣已解决了因罪带来的问题，它不但使我们与神隔绝，并注定使我们入地狱和接受审判。人类的罪由耶稣基督担当，祂因我们的罪受审判。耶稣流出祂的宝血做为我们赦罪的赎价。祂的救赎使我们在神面前称义。
哥林多后书 5:21 神使那无罪（无罪：原文是不知罪）的，替我们成为罪，好叫我们在他里面成为 神的义。
加拉太书 3:13基督既为我们受（原文是成）了咒诅，就赎出我们脱离律法的咒诅；因为经上记着：“凡挂在木头上都是被咒诅的。”
罪的权势是律法，它的咒诅就是无人能完全遵守律法。当我们试图以自以为义在神面前申辩时，我们就被定罪了。这是一项不可能完成的任务。唯有基督所成就的工作能满足律法所宣称的。当神对罪的忿怒临到基督的时候，祂的公义就归到我们身上，我们不但不再被定罪，反而被赦免了。圣经说，“那些在基督耶稣里的就不定罪了”。神已经把罪从我们中间除去，遗忘了它、把它埋在海里，并除灭它，让我们远离它像东离西一样远。祂使我们得洁净，我们就蒙悦纳，在基督里被视为圣洁公义的。虽然我们的肉体日渐衰残，却在主里日益刚强。
因此，死亡对基督徒而言已失去了它的毒钩，因为我们不但不会与神分离，反而能与我们的造物主一起享有永生。我们的生命不会因死亡而停止，但会继续活在神为我们预备的永生中。所以，如果我们战胜了对死亡的恐惧，今生就绝对没有什么可害怕的，因耶稣已替我们承受了死的毒钩。
讲章系列：恐惧不属于你