Satan’s Strategy for Your Life #40: Fear of Death

“Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil.”—Hebrews 12:14

Satan has the power of death. And he continually uses it to intimidate us into submission. He brings the fear of death to our attention so that we might fear taking risks, fear giving our life to something greater than ourselves, of living a life of sacrifice. The fear of death paralyzes both men and women of all backgrounds and ages because what lies at the other side remains unknown. So, we live on, trying not to think about death, lying to ourselves that our death will always come some far off day, never ordering or planning for that inevitable day.

When we are confronted with the death of a friend or loved one we place them “up there.” We don’t want to deny someone heaven, no matter what their life was like, so rather than face the reality of heaven or hell, we mentally place everyone in heaven in the hope that they will, too, place us there one day when the news of our death falls on their ears. Nevertheless, saying something doesn’t make it so, no more than calling myself a nuclear physicist makes me qualified to work with nuclear reactors. Truth is truth, and though we can spin it and dress it up and make it look and sound palatable, it doesn't change reality.

We all know that we are going to die. We don’t know when exactly, but we do know that one day we will close our eyes and our last breath will leave this body of walking dirt it once called home. The Bible is clear that we must come face to face with our own mortality in order to live and order our life properly, “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom”—Psalm 90:12. We have a set number of days upon this earth, and while we may think that we have an unlimited amount, we don’t. According to Scripture, we have a limit, just like a credit card, but the only problem is we don’t know what that limit is. We never get a statement or are able to check our balance. We can’t refinance or negotiate more. Once we have reached that limit, we die. And then, after that, we face judgment:

“And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes 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”—Hebrews 9:27-28.

Each of us will face judgment—no one is exempt. We will be judged by the highest court in the universe and there law and truth will be in perfect harmony with mercy, grace, love and judgment. There will be no contradiction, no animosity, and there will be no confusion. God, the Judge of the universe, will judge everyone without partiality in full understanding of the heart and intentions of man. The criterion for judgment is simple—did one believe in God’s Son, Jesus Christ, for salvation from sin? If so, then they will enter into God’s blessed joy to be in blissful communion with Him forevermore. If not, then they will go to hell, permanently separated from God’s presence to live in the reality of their own sinful and selfish choices that directed and represented their life on earth.

For those who have trusted Christ there will be joy, because the fear of death has been removed and sin has been paid for. As Paul wrote,  

“The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For ‘God has put all things in subjection under His feet.’"—1 Corinthians 15:26-27.

Jesus has tasted the pain of death, because He is the one who laid down His life for us willingly:

"For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from My Father"—John 10:17-18.

Jesus laid down His life and then took it up again because since “the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law” (1 Corinthians 15:56) and since Jesus was “without sin” (Hebrews 4:15), God had Him go to the cross in our place and became “sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God”—2 Corinthians 5:21. And because sin and death could not hold Him, He was able to take up His life again, truly validating the truth of John 11:25 when He said, “I am the resurrection and the life.” He is the one who has the keys to Death and Hades (Revelation 1:18). He is the one through whom we are conquerors (Romans 8:27) and are participants in God’s salvation through our faith in Him. We no longer will “taste death”(John 8:37) because Christ “tasted death for everyone” (Hebrews 2:9).

Jesus has conquered death and risen again from it, because death could not hold Him. And by our faith in Him and what He has done, we pass through death, not tasting of its awful fury, entering into the presence of Him who is our life so that we might eternally delight in Him. Satan can no longer hold the threat of death over those who can say as Paul did, “to live is Christ, and to die is gain”—Philippians 1:21. Death has been conquered, Satan is soon to be crushed under our feet (Romans 16:20), and all who have trusted in Christ can say with confidence,

"’Death is swallowed up in victory.’ ‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ”—1 Corinthians 15:55-57.

Amen.