{"id":5108,"date":"2014-07-10T02:24:14","date_gmt":"2014-07-10T02:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/?p=5108"},"modified":"2014-08-15T15:37:17","modified_gmt":"2014-08-15T15:37:17","slug":"fear-of-death-conquered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/?p=5108","title":{"rendered":"Fear of death conquered"},"content":{"rendered":"

Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.<\/em> Hebrews 2:14-15<\/p>\n

Death. It\u2019s an uncomfortable topic for most of us, and for many, it\u00a0stirs unspeakable fear. For generations before Christ, death was an unpredictable tyrant lurking menacingly in the background of life, only to pounce, steal, kill, and destroy when least expected.<\/p>\n

Folks have spoken of the \u201cgreat unknown\u201d of death; speculations abound concerning the experience awaiting the\u00a0soul who enters through its gates. And yet the shadowy, mystical quality of death remains a fearful, morbid mystery to a large portion of mankind.<\/p>\n

Many believers in our hour believe that we are in the generation that will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, thereby allowing a whole host of souls to evade death altogether (see 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17). Nevertheless, you and I have flesh and blood bodies which are naturally fragile and will wear out over time. It is what it is.<\/p>\n

For a large portion of history, Satan was captain over death; his fingerprints can still<\/em> be found on the deaths of many as his stealing, killing, and destroying invades lives and families around the globe. But he didn\u2019t count on one thing: that he would be rendered powerless through the death of the One he despised more than all other men. The devil\u00a0never<\/em> imagined that his murderous strategy against the\u00a0Son of God\u00a0would in reality strip him of the power to enslave men and women washed in the very blood he had worked so hard to\u00a0spill. No longer would he be able to control or constrain those whose faith rested firmly in the One he had crucified. For them, the fear of death would\u00a0cease as they entrusted their souls to the One who died for them.<\/p>\n

Because\u00a0the race of man\u00a0lived\u00a0out their lives in fragile flesh and blood, Jesus took on a vulnerable human body as well\u00a0and entered the world to save men and women from its cruel taskmaster, the devil. While\u00a0the Lord walked the earth,\u00a0He faced every temptation and vulnerability that weighs upon\u00a0the rest of us, yet He never sinned\u2014not even once. And at the right time, He offered Himself as a\u00a0spotless sacrifice, dying on the cross in our place, bearing our punishment. In this great, horrible, awesome act, Jesus not only opened the way for you and\u00a0me to receive eternal life through faith in Him, but\u00a0He also rendered the tyrant of death\u2014the devil\u2014absolutely powerless over\u00a0all of us who put our trust in Christ.<\/p>\n

Yes, believers die; nonetheless, even in death they overwhelmingly\u00a0triumph. They simply step out of this life into eternal life; their last breath\u00a0here is quickly followed by their first breath in the presence of God. For the woman\u00a0or man who has walked with Jesus, death is but\u00a0a transition;\u00a0she steps\u00a0out of\u00a0her body\u00a0in the same manner\u00a0that she\u00a0stepped out\u00a0of\u00a0her\u00a0bathrobe or PJs every\u00a0morning to dress for the day; he\u00a0launches out of\u00a0his body the same way he kicked off his\u00a0dirty work clothes after a hard day’s work.\u00a0He doesn’t mourn his\u00a0sweaty pile of\u00a0denim and tees; she doesn’t\u00a0weep over her abandoned robe hanging in the closet; in the same way, the discarded body\u00a0left behind is\u00a0nothing to the child of God but a distant memory when they enter eternal life in the presence of the very One they lived to worship, serve, and adore.<\/p>\n

Certainly death has a sting\u2014but that sting is sin. And because of\u00a0Jesus’ death\u2014the death on the cross\u2014your sins have been washed away. Therefore, you can count on it\u2014for you, death will\u00a0have no sting; for you, death will be swallowed up in victory. Your God, who has loved you with an everlasting love, will continue<\/em> to be your God, never failing, never forsaking you,\u00a0every day of your life.\u00a0And when you step out of your body on that last day of this life, He will be right there with you, loving and guarding you all the way through.<\/p>\n

And then…the real<\/em> adventure begins!<\/p>\n

Dorothy<\/p>\n

But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, \u201cDeath is swallowed up<\/span> in victory. O death, where is your victory<\/span>? O death, where is your sting<\/span>?\u201d <\/span>The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law;<\/span> <\/em>but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.<\/em> 1 Corinthians 15:54-57<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. Hebrews 2:14-15 Death. It\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-death","category-prayerperspective"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5108"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5123,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5108\/revisions\/5123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}