Death: To Fear or Not to Fear
“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Hebrews 2:14-15
Up until this point, the writer of Hebrews had been making the case that Jesus was a full-fledged human being made, like the writer’s audience and us, a little lower than the angels, and who came to earth to suffer and die so that man could be redeemed and reconciled back to the Father. But why this way? Why not some other less extreme, more palatable method for bringing man back into the fold of God’s kingdom? The law was never designed to furnish pardon for man’s sin. It was only to show man his sin and make him know that he could never meet God’s standard on his own. Since sin is so grievous and Satan is a very powerful foe, to defeat them both required One who was greater and more powerful.
Because God can do anything but fail, He could have swiped His hand across the universe and banished Satan and his minions forever to hell, which He will do eventually (Revelation 20:10), but sin in the hearts of people would have remained. The power of sin had to be broken. Sin results in death (Romans 6:23). People fear death because it is the “great unknown”. On the news, we have seen how insistent that some people are about mandating the vaccine for COVID and wearing a mask everywhere folks go. It comes to my mind that the reason they are so adamant about these measures, which neither one has been shown to eliminate the chance of catching the virus (I wore a mask consistently but still contracted COVID) is that they fear death. I would venture to say that most of those who criticize others for not following their protocol are not Christians. They do not want to consider the fact that death is stalking their trail as it stalks everyone’s trail (one out of one dies). While they ignore the gospel of Jesus Christ, they are not really sure about what happens after one passes away. The One that they ignore has the answer. What better way to defeat death than to die and come back more alive than ever? That’s exactly what Jesus did.
Jesus was the only One who could satisfy God’s penalty for sin. Those who study God’s word know that in ancient Israel, God instituted the law and required sacrifices using the blood of bulls and goats, but this was only a temporary measure to hold back God’s wrath against man’s sin until such time as Jesus would come and make the one final sacrifice. The reason that the blood of bulls and goats could never cleanse a person’s heart from sin is because it had to be human blood to cover the sins of humans. Sometimes parts of an animal’s internal organs can be used in the human body, for instance, a pig’s valve to replace a person’s heart valve, but a pig’s heart can never be used to replace a human heart. The pig’s heart was designed for pigs, not humans. The blood of Christ in paying man’s penalty for sin opened the door to man’s opportunity for forgiveness of sin and reconciliation with his Creator, thus breaking sin’s hold over mankind. Sin did not die, though, but man, because of Christ’s sacrifice, doesn’t have to live under sin’s dominion.
To show His approval of His Son’s sacrifice in satisfying God’s penalty for sin, God raised Jesus from the grave never to die again. All who repent from sin and place all faith and trust in Christ will live with Him for all eternity. We will lay these bodies of flesh down and take on a new and eternal body that will never suffer again. Thus, in order to accomplish God’s plan of redemption, a human body which also possessed divine attributes, sinless and perfect, was necessary to experience the full impact of God’s wrath, paying the sin price, then rising to new life. Because we are flesh and blood, the Sacrifice to cover our sins also had to be flesh and blood.
Satan still holds the power of death over people, not the power to bring their death, but the power of the fear of death over them. Folks do whatever is necessary to preserve life (unless they support abortion). Satan is limited as to what he can do to people. He can’t take their physical life, make them sin, regardless of Flip Wilson’s exclamation, “The devil made me do it,” or hand down a sentence of eternal punishment upon those who belong to Christ. However, those who are not part of Christ’s family are subject to the bondage of sin. Without the Holy Spirit, they have no real defense against Satan’s deception. Unbelievers are like “sheep” headed “for the slaughter” (Psalm 44:22; Romans 8:26). Thus, the answer to the question in the title: If we belong to Christ, we have nothing to fear about death, but if we have rejected Him and the gospel, we should be very afraid.