The Fear of Death
O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?
(1 Corinthians 15:55 NLT)
Some say that all fear comes from the fear of death. Whether you are rich or poor, great or small, we all have to deal with the last great enigma, death. Jesus Christ gave us victory once and for all over the fear of death. 2020 has brought the scourge of COVID-19 on the whole Earth. Non-religious people are praying. The fear of death has changed the way that we live. Our mortality, which in normal times we often ignore, now is impossible to escape. We awaken in the morning, thinking it is only a bad dream, and realize that it is not.
The solution to our dilemma is not to deny reality. The Bible says, “it is appointed for men to die once” (Hebrews 9:27 NASB), but that is not the end of the story. The Bible also says that just as Jesus was raised from the dead, so shall we be (1 Corinthians 4:14). This is our great hope, not avoiding death, but victory over it.
I do not consider myself a courageous person. In this life, I have some anxieties, but the fear of death is not one of them. Death is not the enemy for a Christian. Fear that takes away our peace is the enemy. The Apostle Paul told us that neither life nor death could separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:38). The only remedy for our fear is the love of God.
I am seventy-four years old with some underlying health conditions; If I were not a believer in Christ, I would be terrified. If you have placed your trust in Christ for his saving grace, when your head hits the pillow tonight, you might want to say. “O death, where is your victory. O death, where is your sting.”
Ken Barnes worked with Youth With A Mission for seventeen years, primarily involved in discipleship training and evangelism. He is the author of The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places, published in 2011 by YWAM Publishing, and Broken Vessels in 2021 through Kindle Direct Publishing. He holds a Master of Science degree from Virginia Commonwealth University in Curriculum and Instruction. He currently is a freelance writer.
Ken’s Website—https://kenbarnes.us/
Ken’s blogs at https://kenbarnes.us/blog/
Ken’s Gleanings at http://gleanings757.blogspot.com
Have you ever thought about an everlasting life? Most religious creeds teach eternal life as the gift received in heaven, the kingdom of God, after one’s death. But according to Christian Scripture, Christ Jesus himself said, “If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death” (John 8:51), and “The kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). How is one to understand and experience what he meant?
One of the distinctive and prominent points Jesus made in his teaching and healing practice was to always see God as “our Father” (see, for example, the Lord’s Prayer, at Matthew 6:9). The Bible implies that God was a tangible, loving, all-knowing, and all-powerful presence to Jesus. In everything Jesus said and did, he gave credit to his Father. His fundamental understanding of God and of his relationship to this Father was the basis of his healing ministry.
It was and still is radical to understand God as our Parent. And because the Bible describes God as Spirit, this means that God’s children—Spirit’s offspring—are spiritual. The kingdom of heaven within us is realized and eternal life becomes the only life, when we lose consciousness of mortality and instead take in the reality of one all-encompassing Spirit. This reality is not far off; it’s as close as our own hearts as they yearn for God.
Your Friend – His servant,
Isaac Otieno
Yes, every tree loses all the leaves every year but still stands tall. Judgment is a continuous process of spiritual awakening and purification that occurs throughout life and continues after death. Every day is a judgement day.
Isaac otieno