Fear Not Death

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of 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.

Hebrews 2:14–15

Alister McGrath, in his wonderful little book entitled What was God doing on the Cross?, has this to say about the fear of death and the believer. McGrath says, “Death has been tamed. John Bunyan makes this point forcefully in Pilgrim’s Progress, using a vivid storyline. Christian is walking down a road, when to his horror he notices a ferocious lion barring his path. There is no way that he can avoid the animal. Terrified, he draws closer. Then, to his delight, he notices that the lion is chained to a post. Someone has been that way before him, and tamed this fearsome beast. Although he must walk that same way, an earlier traveller has made the road safe for him. Someone else met the hostile creature before him, and disarmed it. Although the lion remains, the threat it once posed has been removed.”* 

That image of a lion chained to a post that we must all walk pass, perfectly captures what Christ has done to death. Death has been tamed! Yes, every believer must still pass through death (unless we live until Jesus comes back) but it can no longer hurt us! For the Christian, death is nothing more than a doorway we pass through on our way to Heaven.

Because, if you are a Christian, then Death is not final for you! Death will have no victory over you. It will hold your body captive in the grave for a little while…but not your soul. From the moment of your death your soul will be in the presence of your Savior right up until the moment of your resurrection. And on that day, your body will come up out of the grave again, in victory, and it will be made new and glorious and immortal. And you will live in that body for all eternity on the new heavens and the new earth.

What possible reason, then, could a Christian have to fear death? I understand having some fear of the process of dying. Sometimes dying can be painful and unpleasant. But we have been set free from a fear of death. So, when our time comes, let us seal our lives with one final testimony to our great faith in the gospel, and let us face our death with faith... not fear.   

*McGrath, Alister E. What was God doing on the Cross? (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers) 1992, p112