Revelation 2:11 – “He who conquers shall not be hurt by the second death.”

The idea of a second death is shocking because we ordinarily think of death as the final event. The fact that there is a possibility of a ‘second death’ indicates that the first death was not total. Death of the flesh, for the saint, is merely a change of garment. We are changed from the mortal to the immortal, and therefore death is swallowed up in victory.

The old Greek adage “Physician, heal thyself,” was a taunt that challenged the physicians of that time to take their own remedies and medicines before giving them to others. This same idea lay behind the taunt hurled at Jesus on the cross. They said: “He saved others. Himself he cannot save.” They did not know how true their words were, for He indeed was deliberately sacrificing Himself, refusing to come down from the cross, in order to save the world. He would not save Himself from death.

Yet, he was able to turn the words around because He and He only could sacrifice Himself, yet save Himself by rising from the dead. In the resurrection, the Great Physician did indeed heal Himself, as well as the entire world. In the resurrection, the whole world was healed of Death. We were healed. Not merely from this or that disease or infirmity, but the very source of all disease and infirmity, the principle of Death itself, working in our bodies because of Adam’s sin.

In the resurrection, Christ reversed the curse of death upon the human race.