And the last enemy to be destroyed is death. – 1 Cor 15:26
And: The context is talking about the second coming of Christ. He will come, and He will destroy all other powers, and He put all His enemies under His feet, and He will hand the kingdom over to God the Father, but not before that kingdom is complete and all His enemies are defeated.
the: This enemy is a thing, a physical and spiritual reality. A thing that has being and can be unmade. God who is the maker of all things has the power to unmake them. That which is, can be made to not be.
last: There are other enemies before this one that Christ will subjugate. His victory will be total. When He has lined them all up and knocked them all down, when He has finally broken the sinners inside His saints, when He has crushed the unrepentant rebels, captured and bound the demons, crushed the serpent under His foot, and laid waste to hell there will be one thing left to do. He will not leave it undone.
enemy: He has enemies. There are abstract enemies: the curse on creation, the inexorable march of entropy. There are personal enemies: people who have nursed their rebel hearts into open violence against God and His people. Satan and his followers are beings who actively (but futilely) work against the designs of God. There are intimate enemies: My body is a rebel against God’s order as it fails to function as He designed. Even my natural thoughts and desires are His enemies.
to be: This will be done. We have assurance by two things that cannot change, that God has the power to do all He says and that what He says, He will do.
destroyed: Utterly. No mercy, no quarter. In the end death itself will be ended. There will be no remnant of His enemies because all His chosen will be utterly His. The kingdom will be complete and everything outside will be destroyed.
is death: Death infects the world. All is trending toward destruction. It is the fundamental law of the universe. Death rules over mankind. Violence is everywhere. Death rules in my heart. I try to straighten out what sin has bent and it is imperfect at best. Who will deliver me?
We are not brave and stoic soldiers who are making a last desperate stand. We are not terrified into despair and hiding. We are not alone in the void.
We are assured of victory. As we follow Christ we will watch as He cuts down His enemies one by one. At the last the only thing in His way will be death itself and it too will be unable to stand before the one who has overcome the world. Take heart! Oh Victory in Jesus! I can’t wait for Him to give me a new heart! A new body! And for His reign to never end!