In this second study on the topic of death, we will explore how Christ defeated the first death and the hope His victory gives to all who believe in Him.
In the previous study, we learned that the first death is the separation of the spirit from the body, and that through Adam’s sin, death entered the world as humanity’s great enemy. We also saw that death functions as both God’s judgment and His mercy. Finally, we asked where believers go after death and concluded from Scripture that those who die in Christ are present with the Lord in heaven.
People Who Were Raised From the Dead
What does it mean to defeat death? Is it simply to rise again after dying?Scripture records several instances of people who died and were later restored to life:
- The man thrown into Elisha’s grave (2 Ki 13:20)
- The widow’s son in Zarephath (1 Ki 17:17–22)
- The Shunammite’s son (2 Ki 4:18–37)
- Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:41)
- The young man at Nain (Luke 7:14)
- Lazarus (John 11:38–44)
- Tabitha, also called Dorcas (Acts 9:36–42)
- Eutychus (Acts 20:7–12)
Scripture does not say that these individuals defeated death. Each of them eventually died again. Their temporary return to life shows God’s power, but not the final victory over death. What does defeating the first death mean? To understand what it means to truly defeat the first death, we must look to the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Matt 28:1–6).
Jesus is God revealed in human flesh (John 1:1, 14). As a true man, He also experienced death, for “it is appointed for man to die once” (Heb 9:27). He was falsely accused by the apostate Jews, beaten and crucified by the Romans, buried in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb, and on the third day He rose again.
“He is not here, for He has risen, as He said” (Matt 28:6).
Many saw the risen Christ—women at the tomb, the disciples who touched Him, and over 500 believers at once (1 Cor 15:6).
Jesus defeated the first death
Unlike the others who were raised, Jesus rose never to die again. The first death still had power over those who rose before Jesus because they died again. To defeat death is not merely to rise—it is to rise and live forever. Only Jesus has done this.
Paul says in Romans 6:9, ” We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.”
Jesus says of Himself, “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death” (Rev 1:18).
Hope for believers
Jesus is “the firstborn from the dead” (Col 1:18), the first to overcome death permanently. Christ being the firstborn from the dead means there are others to follow. Because He lives, believers will also live even when they die (John 14:19). Our hope is in the risen and living Christ.
the dead Shall Rise
Scripture teaches that all who have died will be raised:
“For the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth…”—(John 5:28).
But to which ressurection will “all” be rised to?
- The resurrection of life — for those who believe in Christ.
- The resurrection of condemnation — for those who reject Him.
“Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:28-29).
Those who “have done good” (John 5:29) refers not to those who perform good deeds, but to those who believe in Christ for forgiveness and salvation.
Christians’ hope of life after the first death is in the risen Christ who defeated the first death
In His response to Martha concerning Lazarus’ death, Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live” (John 11:25). And in 1 Cor 15:20-22, Pauls says, “Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.”
Only those who are “in Christ” will defeat the first death and be raised to eternal life. In Christ alone can anyone achieve this victory.
The rest of the dead who die outside of Christ will resurrect to condemnation.
The resurrected Body
The dead will resurrect either to life or to condemnation, but what will they look like?
After His resurrection, Jesus appeared in a real, physical body. He stood among the disciples in a locked room (John 20:19), allowed Thomas to touch His wounds (John 20:24–29), and ate breakfast with them (John 21:1–14). Yet He also appeared and vanished at will (Luke 24:31). In this glorified body, He ascended into heaven in His disciples’ presence.
At the Parousia, living believers shall have their bodies changed while dead believers shall be raised with new bodies which are described as imperishable and immortal (1 Cor 15:51-53). This is because, “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable” (1 Cor 51:50).
We do not know every detail about the capabilities of resurrected bodies. But while answering the Sadducees’s questions about life after death, Jesus said “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven” (Matt 22:30). We learn from scripture that angels are spirits (Heb 1:14) who can take the form of man (Gen 18, Heb 13:2).
Scripture does not describe the nature of the resurrected bodies of the condemned.
The Final Vanquishing of the First death
First death will finally be conquered when Christains rise from death and put on imperishable bodies.
1 Corinthians 15:54-55
When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
This victory unfolds in order—Christ was the first and will be followed by all who believe in Him at His second coming.
1 Corinthians 15:22-26
For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Here are a few more scriptures that show first death’s defeat:
2 Timothy 1:10
But has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
Isaiah 25:8
He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.
Revelation 21:4
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.
Restored Access to the Tree of Life
Humanity will be given access to the tree of life again.
“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations” (Rev 22:1-3).
“Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates (Rev 22:14).
In Genesis, a Cherubim with a flaming sword was placed at the east of the garden of Eden to deter Adam & Eve from accessing the tree of life after they had sinned but after Christ returns, those “who washed their robes” will have the right to the tree of life—they can enter the city “by the gates”.
The twelve gates to the city where the tree of life is found have no Cherubims guarding them from man. Man has access to the city and the gates will never be shut (Rev 21:25).
Christ has won for His people the right to eternal life.
