THERE are three very good reasons why the believer in our Lord Jesus Christ should have no fear of death First, because we read that our Lord took part in flesh and blood in order 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” (Heb. 2:14, 1514Forasmuch 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; 15And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. (Hebrews 2:14‑15)). That deliverance from the fear of death was one special object of His death.
Second, because, by His resurrection, God has been enabled to give us the victory, and that in a way so triumphant that we can say, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” (1 Cor. 15:5757But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:57)). Sin, the awful sting of death, is gone for the believer—atoned for in the blood of Christ, and the grave has been shorn of her victory by His glorious resurrection. The victory is now on the side of the vanquished. And, third, because the gospel assures is that “He hath abolished [annulled] death, and hath brought life and immortality [incorruptibility] to light” (2 Tim. 1:1010But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel: (2 Timothy 1:10)).
Thank God for such a revelation! Instead of death hanging, like the sword of Damocles, over the head of the Christian, the gospel bids him open his eyes to the life-giving results of the resurrection of Christ and enter into the full enjoyment of the annulling of death, and the bringing to light (as hitherto concealed) of life and the incorruptibility that attaches to it. This is for the deep enjoyment of faith. Hence the death and resurrection of Christ, and the gospel which unfolds them, all bear witness to the fact that the fear of death is wholly wrong in the Christian. The knowledge of God’s perfect love casteth out fear.
Of course, death may be viewed in two lights: first, as the dread penalty, in time, due to sin; and, second, as the dissolution of the body.
I refer to the first. Death has no claim on him for whom the blessed Lord passed through its deepest waters, bearing the penalty in richest grace, and undergoing the judgment to its entire exhaustion. That death is, for him, annulled.
Christ is risen!—mark the truth—and He “is the firstfruits of them that slept.” The grave has lost its hold. We stand victorious.
To all this the gospel bears clear and welcome witness. It speaks of life instead of death, and of incorruptibility instead of the horrors of the tomb. It sets the mind free from the terrible bondage of fear and dread which enthralled those who lived before the death of Christ. We are in the liberty of life, and are “passed from death unto life” (John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24)).
“Set the bells a-ringing,” said a young Christian, when he learned that he was about to depart and be with Christ.
And, whilst allowing for the tears and sorrow of nature, yet the funeral of a Christian should be a triumphal procession. The flag of victory should be kept flying, and the grave should be regarded as nothing more than the temporary receptacle of the dust which rests under the care of Christ. Sown in weakness, it will be raised in power.
The emancipated spirit soars away to be with the Lord, while the cumbrous clay awaits the archangelic shout and the trump of God that shall call every saint, dead or living, to meet the Lord in the air, and to be forever with Him.
Ah, my beloved fellow-Christian, you have no cause to live in bondage through the fear of death, none whatever. Rejoice in your divinely effected liberation and in the knowledge of eternal life as revealed in the Son. He who should fear death is the sinner. He must meet it as the penalty of the fall, as the consequence of his own guilt, and as the dark passage into the eternal judgment that lies beyond. He has every cause to fear.
Look, dear friend, at the cross and the empty grave of Christ, and, as you look, learn the wondrous meaning of His death for us. He died that we might live.
J. W. S.