Why is death called our enemy when we mourn our loved ones?
Death is called our enemy because it brings grief, separation from loved ones, and corruption and dishonor to the body. Even believers who mourn still hate death. Faith in the eternal future assures believers they will see, know, and recognize their loved ones again.
Les explains that in I Corinthians 15 the body is sown in corruption and dishonor. As much as we love our loved ones and mourn as they lie in the casket, death remains our enemy; he says we all hate death, even the death of an animal. The difference for the believer is the eternal future: without faith in that future, unbelievers will never see their loved ones again, but believers will see them, know them, and recognize them. Les points to the Mount of Transfiguration as proof of recognition, where Peter, James, and John knew Moses and Elijah without asking who they were, even though Moses and Elijah had lived about two thousand years earlier.
It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: