There is an old expression, “Everyone wants to go to Heaven, but no one wants die.”
How do you feel about dying? Is it the worst thing that can happen to someone? We live as if it were.
We do everything we can to avoid or at least postpone death. The news that there is the possibility we may die soon is not seen as good news.
We do not like it when someone we love is promoted to Heaven. We talk of all the things they will miss on earth in the years to come. And yet at the same time we believe they are enjoying a much better life than they would have had on earth.
So when God moves someone from earth, is He punishing them or rewarding them?
The prophet Isaiah referred to Godly people who we believed died before their time.
He said, “No one seems to understand
that God is protecting them from the evil to come. For those who follow godly paths will rest in peace when they die.”
Isaiah 57:2
Heaven is not a death sentence. It is a Life Achievement Award!
So how did we get to such a fear of death? Remember satan’s goal is to make you believe you can be separated from God.
But his real double whammy is to make you believe if you “meet your Maker,” He will be very angry with you and will first punish you severely and then lock you away in torment apart from Him forever.
Satan adds an extra punch to the story by painting himself as the dungeon master of Hell.
God revealed Himself as Jesus to put an end to our fear of death. Read carefully what Paul said.
Since the children have flesh and blood, He (Jesus) too shared in their humanity so that by His Death He might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
Hebrews 2:14-15
Who brought death? Satan aka the devil
Who broke any power satan thought he had? God Himself revealed as Jesus!
Why did Jesus die? To demonstrate satan could take his best shot at a human body and still not defeat God and His Creations. In fact, all satan did at the cross to bring the message of death only succeeded in opening The Gift of Life God gave.
Part of God’s Awesome Gift was freeing us from the fear of death. He showed us satan does not even have the keys to unlock death or Hell. We can anticipate being alive with God forever!
I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades!
Revelation 1:18
