Everywhere one goes he finds the gaping grave swallowing up the dying. Tears of loss, of separation, of final departure stain every face. Every table sooner or later has an empty chair, every fireside its vacant place. Death is the great leveller. Wealth or poverty, fame or oblivion, power or futility, success or failure, race, creed or culture–all our human distinctions mean nothing before the ultimate irresistible sweep of the scythe of death which cuts us all down. The gravesite may be a fabulous Taj Mahal, or a massive pyramid or an unmarked forgotten spot of ragged grass, or the unplotted depths of the sea. Still one fact stands: death reigns.

Apart from the gospel of the Kingdom, death is the mighty conqueror before whom we are all helpless. We can only beat our fists against the tomb without effect. It does not yield; it does not respond. But the Good News is this: death has been defeated; our conqueror has been conquered. God displayed His Kingdom’s power through Christ’s victory over the cross. In the face of God’s Kingdom, death was helpless. It could not hold Him; death has been defeated; life and immortality have been brought to light. An empty tomb in Jerusalem is proof of it. This is the gospel of the Kingdom.

–George Eldon Ladd