I will ransom them from the power of the grave

Hosea 13:14

I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.

The most wonderful and blessed promise that any of us could ever become the beneficiaries of is the promise that Christ will redeem us from death and from the power of the grave. For the grave seems to have power. It takes our loved ones; it bereaves us of those that meant the most to us. It cruelly snatches from our lives the most beautiful treasures. But Christ has promised that He would redeem us from it, so that those who are in Christ shall be delivered from its clutches. They shall be resurrected first. Christ is the firstfruits of them that slept. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? It has none! Death has been defeated! And this passage in Hosea is a foretelling of the victory we would have in Christ. Jesus says to Martha, “Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” Never die! Because I live, our Lord said, ye shall live also. What a glorious promise for every one who is the Lord’s!

O death, I will be thy plagues, the Lord says! O grave, I will be thy destruction, He said to emphasize this truth. In other words, as Paul said, “Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” We have victory in Christ. He has defeated death, and has destroyed the grave. Rejoice this morning, my brother or sister, for those who have gone before. And in your sorrow, remember the joy in which the beautiful soul is participating. For their death was only a gateway into the glory and peace and joy of their Savior. And one day, my dear one, you shall follow in their footsteps. Physical death is unavoidable and inevitable. But that is not the death of the soul. No! You shall never die! Your body will be buried but you shall live on for eternity with God. Let us in this day thank the Lord anew for this most precious promise.

“Dear Lord, we thank you that through Christ we have victory over death and over the grave. Christ went on before us, winning that victory on our behalf. He is the one who has won, and you promised it many years before through Hosea. How we praise you that the work has now already been done on our behalf, and we shall have kingship one day over the great scourge of death through your triumphant victory! We praise you and we thank you, in Jesus’ name, Amen.”