Freedom from the Fear of Death

 

 Days of Darkness

We are in a unique time of the year. The trees have shed their dead leaves, a shroud of snow covers the hard frozen ground, and festivals of death are celebrated around the world. The pagans called this time Samhain and it is still celebrated by some to this day as an optimal time to commune with the spirit world; in Mexico it is Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Right here in North America, the stores devote the whole month of October to Hallowe'en merchandise. From the devils, skeletons and witches marching our streets, to the fake corpses hanging from trees, thoughts of death, doom and the devil dominate our world with darkness (an appropriately amusing alliteration). Pages and pages have been written about the different origins of these holidays, but one thing is for certain. They are quite a difference from the light, life and joy offered by the Only God! I believe that at the heart of these celebrations, there is that common human fear of death!

 

Out of Our Control

King Solomon, one of the greatest philosophers who ever lived, wrote in Ecclesiastes 8:7-8 ‘Since no man knows the future, who can tell him what is to come? No man has power over the wind to contain it; so no one has power over the day of his death.’ This is one reason for the fear of death! Our lives on this earth are incredibly fragile. None of us knows for certain what will happen in the future, even five minutes from now. We have as much power over the day of our death as we have over the wind! That’s not a very comforting thought if we are afraid of death.

A singer/songwriter named Ethan talked about this fear to God in Psalm 89:47-48 ‘Remember how fleeting is my life. For what futility you have created all men! What man can live and not see death, or save himself from the power of the grave?’ Life is so short and Death impacts us all. We don’t have to live very long before we lose loved ones in our own families or members of our communities. Though some may live like they are immortal, we often receive wake-up calls when even young children and youth that we love are taken from us. Each one of us is born with an expiration date that none of us knows! No one on this planet will be able to design a cure from death. No matter how many intense surgeries we put our bodies through, we will not be able to escape the grave; you could receive a transplant of all your organs one day and the next day be diagnosed with a terminal, incurable virus.  

 The Hope Offered by God

There is a neat prophecy in Hosea 13:14. This is God’s promise of what he would do for His people: “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction?’

The Apostle Paul quotes this verse in 1 Corinthians 15:55-57 ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’  If death was just a long warm sleep, giving us permanent rest at the end of our hard days, we wouldn’t be afraid of it (apart from the pain that might accompany the experience). The real sting of death is sin! The reason that death is a fearful thing is the guilt of the sin that we have committed. ‘But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’ 

Victory Through Christ!

How is the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ? It is through what He has done on our behalf. Hebrews 2:14-15 “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” This of course is speaking of the Lord Jesus. He became fully human and experienced death for us so that he could destroy the devil’s hold on mankind; so that he could set us free from slavery to the fear of death! Through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, much was accomplished. First of all, He proved that there was hope beyond the grave. He had hung bleeding and broken upon the cross, suffering a form of execution that left the body damaged beyond repair. When He died, a soldier thrust a spear into His side to make sure the deed was done. Even in our day of CPR, defibrillators and blood transfusions, He could not have been revived, and yet three days later, He came back to life again! Through this, He conquered death once for all time. He stands mightily as the one who died and yet lives!

Read the words of assurance given by our Lord in John 11:25-26:“Jesus said…  “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” Now that is something worth celebrating.