Are you afraid of dying? Do you have no fear of dying, just the fear of the process? Many people are afraid of dying. They have a fear of the unknown. They are not sure what happens after death. Or they simply don’t want to leave this world. They are afraid they will miss something.
As Christians, we should have no fear of dying. We should be fully confident of what’s next, where we are going. We may desire to not suffer or experience severe pain as we die but have no fear of dying. None of us desire to experience excruciating pain.
Just as we will only die once, Jesus died once. In His excruciating death on the cross, He bore all our sins. His death is how our sins are forgiven. Why did He die? He died to demonstrate the epitome of God’s amazing grace. Because of God’s desire to save us, to set us free, and to bring us back into a relationship with him, Jesus died a sinner’s death.
Yet, Jesus rose on the third day. After He rose, He appeared to His apostles and many others for forty days, still speaking about the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3). He then ascended to heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father. But He will return to save those who are alive when He returns. At the end of time, this world will be destroyed, and a new earth will be put in its place (Revelation 21:1).
We are mortals who have a limited time in this life. When we are resurrected, we will be given new bodies. We will become like angels (Mark 12:25), meaning we will not live as multiple families but all of us as one family in Christ. Our relationships with one another and with God will be far deeper than we experience in this life. Everything will be perfect. God will provide everything we need. We will live forever in his presence, seeing him face-to-face forever.
I pray we all let go of our fear of death. I pray we are confident of where we will go. I pray each one of us look forward to spending eternity with God while making the most of this life. Have no fear of death. Be confident in God’s promises. Make the most of this life. Look forward to spending eternity with God.
Hebrews 9:27-28 And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
Marty Pressey 