“But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (II Timothy 1:10).

There are many evils in this world that need to be abolished, not only slavery, but also war, crime, disease, pollution, drug abuse, promiscuity, and a host of others. But the greatest enemy of all is death, and it is the most difficult to conquer. Yet, according to our text, this greatest enemy has already been abolished, and life and immortality already established, by Jesus Christ! All other evils are the results of sin, and the wages of sin is death. Therefore, for death to be abolished, sin and all its evil fruits must first be abolished, and this also has been accomplished by Christ, who has “put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” By this “one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified” (Hebrews 9:26; 10:14).

And lest anyone object that sin and death seem still to be present in great abundance, he should recall that even though these are still in the world, we ourselves as redeemed believers are not in the world, for He “hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6).

All of this, of course, is our future prospect, but it is just as sure as if already done, because Christ has indeed put away sin by His death, and abolished death by His resurrection. From the temporal point of view, “the last enemy that shall be destroyed [literally ‘abolished’] is death”(I Corinthians 15:26), but from the vantage point of eternity, where Christ our Creator/Savior wields “all power” (Matthew 28:18), it is already done. When the great victory cry, “It is finished!” echoed out from the cross, it was finished! Death is dead, for Jesus lives. HMM