Easter 2026

Easter 2026- Where Is Your Sting?

• I want to read two sections of Scripture to you this morning:
• The first is found in

Hosea 13:14 (CSB)

¹⁴ I will ransom them from the power of Sheol. I will redeem them from death. Death, where are your barbs? Sheol, where is your sting?
Compassion is hidden from my eyes.

• Now look at

1 Corinthians 15:54–57 (CSB)

⁵⁴ When this corruptible body is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body is clothed with immortality, then the saying that is written will take place:

Death has been swallowed up in victory.
⁵⁵ Where, death, is your victory?
Where, death, is your sting?

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

• Here’s the question we’re going to wrestle with this morning
• Where is your sting?”

• Let me ask you something.
• Have you ever felt the sting of death?
• Not just physically…
• But emotionally… spiritually… relationally…
• The phone call you never wanted to get.
• The diagnosis you didn’t expect.
• The moment everything changed.
• Death doesn’t just show up at the end of life
• It shows up in loss…
• In fear…
• In brokenness…
• In things that don’t go the way we thought they would.
• And here’s what our emotions often tell us:
• Death feels final.
• It feels powerful.
• It feels undefeated.

• Because We don’t just fear dying.
• We fear what death represents.
• Loss of control.
• Separation.
• Judgment
• The unknown.
• And if we’re honest…
• Most of us don’t feel like we’re winning against it.
• But here’s what’s wild.
• The Bible doesn’t just comfort us about death.
• It actually talks back to death.
• It doesn’t whisper.
• It doesn’t negotiate.
• It taunts it.

Listen to this again:

1 Corinthians 15:55 says,
Where, death, is your victory? Where, death, is your sting?

• That’s not fear.
• That’s defiance.
• So, the question is
• How can anyone say that?
• How can you look at something
• As real and painful as death…
• And say, “You’ve lost”?
• To understand that…
• We have to go back to where that statement started.
• And Remember that

The Sting of Death Is Real

• Now the words Paul just said in 1 Corinthians…
• Actually, come from an Old Testament book called Hosea.
• And Hosea is a book about a people
• Who had walked away from God.
• They had chased other things…
• Trusted other things…
• And it left them broken.
• Hosea is a picture of spiritual unfaithfulness.
• God’s people had turned from Him
• Not once, but over and over again.
• And instead of giving up on them…
• God speaks into their rebellion.
• So, when God speaks in Hosea
• He’s not speaking to perfect people.
• He’s speaking to people
• Who have made a mess of things.
• And into that mess…
• He says something shocking.

Hosea 13:14 (CSB)

¹⁴ I will ransom them from the power of Sheol (death). I will redeem them from death. Death, where are your barbs? Sheol,(death) where is your sting? Compassion is hidden from my eyes.

• Now that last line matters

“Compassion is hidden from my eyes.”

• That doesn’t mean God has no compassion.
• It means He is not going to overlook sin.
• He is not going to pretend it doesn’t matter.
• Judgment is real.
• And yet…
• This promise is spoken right in the middle of that judgment.
• Which means God is holding two things together:
• Justice for sin…
• And a promise to rescue.
• And that creates a tension
• Because sin always leads somewhere.
• It leads to death.
• And that’s exactly what the New Testament helps us understand.

Listen to what Paul clarifies in 1 Corinthians 15:56:
“The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.”

• That means this:
• Death has a sting… because sin is real.
• Death is not just natural.
• It’s not just part of the cycle of life.
• It’s an enemy.
• That’s why it hurts.
• That’s why it feels wrong.
• That’s why something in us resists it.
• Because it was never supposed to be this way.

• The sting of death is sin.
• And the truth is…
• We all carry that.
• We have all sinned.
• We have all fallen short.

In Romans 3:23 Paul confirms this:

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

• That means that We have all contributed
• To the brokenness of this world.
• Not just generally…
• But personally.
• Your sin.
• My sin.
• So, when we talk about death
• We’re not talking about something “out there.”
• We’re talking about something
• We all deserve…Because of sin
• Death is the just consequence

• That’s heavy.
• But the Bible doesn’t avoid that tension.
• Because we can’t understand Easter…
• Until we understand the weight of the problem.
• And yet he does not stop there
• Instead

God Makes a Promise to Defeat Death

Now listen to the first two lines of Hosea 13:14 again.

“I will ransom them from the power of Sheol. I will redeem them from death…

• Do you hear it?
• “I will.”
• Not “they will.”
• Not “if they try harder.”
• Not “if they clean themselves up.”

God says, “I will.”

• I will ransom.
• I will redeem.
• That means this:
• A price has to be paid.

Romans 6:23 says it this way

²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

• And with the Price
• God says, “I’ll pay it.”
• Someone has to step in.
• And God says, “I’ll step in.”
• Which brings us back to the tension in the last line of Hosea 13:14:

“Compassion is hidden from my eyes.”

• Which means the problem hasn’t gone away.
• Sin still has to be dealt with.
• Justice still has to be satisfied.
• So now we’re left with a question:
• How can God defeat death…
• Without ignoring sin?
• How can He show mercy…
• Without compromising justice?
• That tension sits unresolved in Hosea.
• But what Hosea didn’t know
• What Satan didn’t know
• Was that when Jesus Breathed his last
• And said “It is finished”
• That Sunday was coming…
• Easter was on its way
• You see

Jesus Absorbed the Sting of Death

• This is where everything comes together.
• Because the sting of death is sin…
• And Jesus takes sin on Himself.
• On the cross,
• Jesus doesn’t avoid death.
• He steps into it.
• He takes the full weight of sin.
• The full weight of judgment.
• The full sting of death.

Isaiah says it this way In Isaiah 53:5
“He was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities.”

• The sting that belonged to us…
• Went into Him.

• Jesus became the ransom.
• Jesus became the redeemer.
• He paid the price we could not pay.
• And when death struck Him
• It looked like death had won.
• The cross looked like defeat.
• The grave looked like the end.
• But it wasn’t.
• Because he did not stop at absorbing the sting of death

Jesus Removed Death’s Power

• Because three days later…
• He walked out.
• Jesus didn’t just rise
• He rose as Lord over life and death.

1 Corinthians 15:54–55
“Death has been swallowed up in victory.
Where, death, is your victory?
Where, death, is your sting?”

• Paul is quoting Hosea.
• But now it’s different.
• What was once a promise…
• Is now a reality.
• Death is still present.
• But it is no longer powerful.
• It has been swallowed up.
• That means it has been overtaken… overwhelmed… defeated.

Verse 57 says,
“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!”

Notice that word:

Gives.

• You and I don’t earn this victory.
• You and I don’t fight our way into it.
• We don’t prove ourself worthy of it.
• It is given.
• Through Jesus.

• So here’s the picture.
• Death is like a bee that has already stung.
• Growing up in Kentucky, I got stung more than once.
• And I remember what we used to do—
• We’d run, grab some mud,
• And press it into the sting to try to pull it out.
• Because once that stinger is in…
• You know it.
• It hurts.
• It’s sharp.
• It gets your attention.
• And for me—that hits a little different now.
• Because I’m actually allergic to bee stings.
• I carry an EpiPen because of it.
• So for me, a sting isn’t just painful—
• It can be dangerous.

• And here’s what Paul is saying:
• Death has already used its sting…
• On Jesus.
• On the cross,
• Jesus absorbed the full sting of sin.
• The full weight of judgment.
• The full power of death.
• So now…
• Death still flies.
• It still makes noise.
• It still tries to scare you.
• But it no longer has the power to destroy you.
• Because Jesus took the sting.
• So now the question becomes
• What do we do with this?

1. For Those Far From God 

• If you are here today…
• And you have never trusted Jesus…
• Then death still holds its power over you.
• That’s not to scare you
• That’s to tell you the truth.
• Because the victory is not automatic.
• It is received.
• And today…
• You can receive it.

Scripture says in 2 Corinthians 6:2,
“Today is the day of salvation.”

• Not tomorrow.
• Not someday.
• Today.
• You don’t need to fix yourself first.
• You don’t need to clean yourself up first.
• You just need to surrender.
• Jesus, I believe You died for me.
• I believe You rose again.
• Jesus I trust in you and I confess You as Lord.”

2. For Believers

• Let me ask you
• If death has been defeated…
• Why are we still living like it hasn’t?
• Why are we controlled by fear?
• Why are we hesitant in obedience?
• Why are we holding back in surrender?
• What would change in your life…
• If you actually believed this?
• If death doesn’t win
• Then you can live boldly.
• You can give freely.
• You can forgive quickly.
• You can follow Jesus fully.
• Because the worst thing that could happen…
• Has already been defeated.

3. Corporate Response

At New City, we say our mission is to inspire people to trust in and live like Jesus.

• This is where that begins.
• Trusting that what Jesus did…
• Is enough.
• So here’s what I want us to

• What is something in your life right now…
• That still feels like death is winning?

Fear.
Loss.
Sin.

• A situation that feels final.
• I want you to bring that to Jesus.
• You can stay where you are…
• Or you can come forward.
• But don’t stay silent.

Pray something simple:

“Jesus, I trust You.
You defeated death.
Now be Lord over this.”

And If you’ve never trusted Him before
Let today be the day.

• Death came for Jesus.
• And He gave Himself.
• And three days later
• He walked out of the grave.
• And now Through his resurrection
• He offers that same victory to you
• Paul says it this way in

Romans 8:11

¹¹ And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then he who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through his Spirit who lives in you.

• That means the same power
• That raised Jesus from the grave…
• Can change your life.
• Today, He offers you that power.
• To leave the sting of death behind.
• To step out of fear.
• To walk in freedom.
• Because He has conquered the grave.