Columbia rejoices as peace comes to the country this month. Unbeknownst to the majority of us, the government of Columbia and the Marxist-Leninist group known as FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia) have been in conflict for 52 years. During that time, an estimated 260,000 people have died as a result of bombings, land mines and attacks. This past week, after two years of secret communication and 4 years of open negotiations, the two parties reached a “full, final and definitive accord.” A BBC reporter quoted FARC negotiator Rodrigo Granda, “There is no room for winners or losers when you achieve peace through negotiations… Colombia wins, death loses.”
Death lost an even greater battle thousands of years ago in a place called Golgotha. This strategic win by our Lord made all other wars pale in comparison to the amount of lives that were and are touched by this war. Paul wrote it this way, “‘O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:55-57). We were doomed to a death that we had no power over, an end that was beyond our control to do anything about. Death was our victor. This point is addressed again in the contrast between Adam and Christ, “For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men” (Rom. 5:17-18).
All have the opportunity of victory over sin and a right relationship with God through the sacrifice of Christ and being buried in the likeness of His sacrifice. “If we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God” (Rom. 6:8-13).
In the peace that was attained by the love of God and the death of His Son, we have something that we would have never been able to attain on our own—victory over the death we deserved. We, the obedient, win and death loses.