Relief from the Fear of Death

Written by Scott Christensen

The coronavirus pandemic has had a way of exposing one of the great fears of humanity, perhaps its greatest fear—the fear of death. Even the Christian is not immune from this fear since it speaks of the Edenic curse brought about by the sin of our first parents Adam and Eve (see Genesis 3:14-19). Satan uses the threat of death to cripple us with panic and fear, but for the Christian this should never undo us because we are held securely by the One who defeated sin, Satan, death, and all manner of earthly corruptions like worldwide pandemics.

The writer of Hebrews understood this well when he wrote:

Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, [Jesus] 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)

However, The Christian’s hope of Christ’s defeat over fear, sin, death, the devil, and cosmic corruption is a complete fiction if the bloody figure of Christ’s crucified body had remained on the cross. The hope-giving gospel of Jesus Christ is represented by an empty cross accompanied by an empty tomb. The resurrection of Christ is a guarantee of the believer’s future escape from death. This present miserable darkness is not the believer’s destiny. Because Christ, the “firstfruits” of the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:20), conquered death, we look forward to our final victory and habitation in our real home in our real bodies.
 
In 1 Corinthians 15:42-44 Paul teaches that our present body is “perishable”, that is, mortal. But our new body in the eternal kingdom of Christ will be “imperishable”, never subject to the Edenic curse ever again (vs. 42). Our present body is marked by “dishonor” and “weakness”, the new body “is raised in glory” and “power” (vs. 43). Our present body is “natural”, meaning that which is common to our present corrupted world. Our new body “is raised up a spiritual body” (vs. 44). In other words, it will be animated by the power of the Holy Spirit enabling it to be adapted for life in the future perfect kingdom of our Lord. Our wonderful future bodies will no longer be subject to pain, weakness, sickness, disease, viruses, and all other manner of corruptions in this present cursed world.
 
Joni Eareckson Tada, a quadriplegic bound to a wheelchair most of her life knows all too well the hope that our future bodily resurrection brings:

I can scarcely believe it. I with shriveled, bent fingers, atrophied muscles, gnarled knees, and no feeling from the shoulders down, will one day have a new body, light, bright, and clothed in righteousness—powerful and dazzling. Can you imagine the hope this gives someone spinal cord-injured like me? Or someone who is cerebral palsied, brain-injured, or who has multiple sclerosis?... No other religion, no other philosophy promises new bodies, hearts and minds. Only in the Gospel of Christ do hurting people find such incredible hope. [1]

You don’t know when or how you will die. It may be from COVID-19. It may be that you live to be one hundred and go peaceful in your sleep. But one thing every Christian needs to know is this is not our home. “Our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself” (Philippians 3:20-21).
 
This is our glorious hope that relieves us of all fears, especially the ultimate fear of death!
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[1] Joni Eareckson Tada, Heaven: Your Real Home (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995), 53.