To carry the news of the Battle of Waterloo to England, a ship signaled to a man on shore, who relayed the word to another on a hill, and so on across Britain. The first word, โWellington,โ was signaled. The next word was โdefeated.โ Then a fog closed in, and the message was interrupted. Across England, people wept over the message: โWellington defeated.โ Then the fog lifted. The communication continued with two additional words: โthe enemy.โ And Englishmen celebrated the victory.
There was great sorrow when the body of Jesus was carried from the cross to the tomb. The signal seemed to say, โJesus Christ defeated.โ But three days later the fog lifted and it was announced, โJesus Christ defeated the enemy!โ Through Christ we have complete victory over our enemies of sin, death, and Satan, and we have new life, a glorious hope, and the certainty of our own resurrection one day.
โLooking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christโ (Titus 2:13).
โThe last enemy that shall be destroyed is deathโ (I Cor. 15:26).