Death

Most of us feel a little panicky when confronted by a wasp or a hornet, especially those of us who have been unfortunate enough to have felt its sting. Even the honeybee is usually given a fair amount of respect. In the Old Testament God used hornets to defeat the enemies of His people Israel. I wonder if that's where they got the old idiom of a "stinging defeat."
In addition to his sting, God has given these insects some fantastic skills as nest builders. Most of us have seen the nearly circular hornet's nest or the mud dauber's cone-like nest. We have all seen beehives sitting in the farmer's field along the country lane. The nests of wasps can be found on the overhangs of many houses in practically everyone's neighborhood.
These wasps-honeybees are also master builders of hexagon nests. Why did God give them the ability to use the hexagon construction? The hexagon shape enables these insects to eliminate any wasted space. It provides maximum storage space, using the least amount of material. This shape also produces an amazingly strong construction because each cell is reinforced by the three cells behind it. And the world wants you to believe that all this happened by chance. Yeah, sure.
Paul portrays mankind's greatest enemy as a sting carrier. "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is they victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." Isn't it marvelous to know that death and sin are powerless to harm the Christian? Death is like a wasp without its stinger--a little bug making a lot of noise. The little wasp defending its nest, a construction any architect would be proud to have designed, is actually more to be feared than death itself.

 "Our salvation depends not on the question--What are my sins and my backsliding? But on the question--What are Christ's merits, and the Father's promises."
(Hewitson)