Ever since the fall of man in the garden, the fear of death has gripped mankind. By choosing to disobey God and listen to the devil, they lost their innocence and carefree way of life and found themselves separated from God, but not from His love.
All mankind would die and return to the ground from which they came. Because of God’s love, He had a plan for the salvation of man before time even began. About four thousand years later the Savior is born, the promised blessing to all the nations. Jesus' mission on earth was to: seek and save the lost, teach man about God and His love and how to love his fellow man, to live a perfect life according to the law.
"Don’t think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I didn’t come to destroy, but to fulfill." And, to undo the damage that Satan caused, "To this end the Son of God was revealed: that he might destroy the works of the devil."
Jesus shared in our humanity, was tempted in all the ways we are and was without sin, so when He died, death could not hold Him in Hades, He was righteous in the sight of the law and God, so God raised Him by the power of the resurrection and He became the first to rise and live forever. Jesus defeated the one who used to have the power of death, that is, the devil. Jesus removed the fear of death that mankind has had since the fall. He says, "Don’t be afraid. I am the first and the last, the Living one. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever and ever. Amen. I have the keys of Death and of Hades. That is why Paul can write to the Corinthians, "Death is swallowed up in victory. 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."
That, brothers and sisters, is reason to rejoice about! — Jim