Why We Fear Death and How Not To

Death. The very word sounds scary. The topic of death for many, is a subject they prefer not to talk about. We even have a word that people use when they feel uncomfortable when someone gets a little too familiar with death in conversation. We say they are being morbid, and the implication of the adjective is that we don’t wish to hear such talk.

Yet, the world of entertainment is filled with the subject of death. Go to the library and look at the novels. The shelves are filled with books about murders and the mysteries that surround them. Our movies and TV shows are often centered on the deaths that occur in real life. We even have dinner shows called Murder Mystery Dinners, that allow us to participate in the old ‘who done it” theme.

But then again, we spend millions upon millions on medical treatments and research on how to defeat death. We clamor against cancer and other diseases, demanding our government spend more on this quest for immortality.

In truth, death is a huge part of our lives. We even have a saying about it. We like to say that there are only two sure things in life; taxes and death. But that’s a poor statement. You do not have to pay taxes. There are several ways around that. But there is no way around death. It will come. And no one has a clue when. It could occur at any minute to anyone of us. And that scares us.

Why are we afraid of death? For one thing, as I alluded to above, we simply don’t know when it will strike. But the other thing about death is that it brings an end, and that end brings something that we have never experienced personally. That makes the other side of death a place of the unknown. And the unknown is scary.

But Christians who have read their Bibles know what death brings. They know that, while it is the end of life as we know it on earth, it is not the end. The Bible is clear about death. It tells us that though it is an end, it is also a beginning. The Bible tells us that all of us are eternal beings. And it tells us that in death, eternity will bring judgment. And judgment is scary.

The world hates judgment. People say they want justice, but they only really want justice to be served on others, because justice demands judgment and judgment demands punishment. Punishment is scary.

This is why the world hates Christians.

The world hates Christians because the world knows we speak of the truth when we speak of judgment and that we tell them that without Christ as their Lord and Savior, their death will bring judgment. They are afraid of death, because they are afraid of judgment and deep down in the recesses of their hearts and minds, they know they are guilty. They hate it when we quote the Bible. They hate when we quote Romans 3:23 which tells us that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. They hate it when we quote 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 that warns us about the consequences of sin with these words, “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.” They hate this verse because they know all of us are guilty of the sins it speaks of.

They hate it because this verse speaks to the result of those who die without Christ and who will face judgment on the basis of their own merits. This makes death very scary.

Therefore we must preach the entire Gospel, not just tell them that Jesus loves them. Death, without Jesus is scary and the world needs to know this. Without Christ we are slaves to fear and sin. But Christians have been set free from this fear of death. And it was the death of Christ by which we are set free.

Hebrews 2:14-15
Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He 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.

Christians should not fear death. We have been freed from that fear because if our faith is in the work of Christ and not our own, we are free of the judgment that death will bring.

Romans 8:1-2
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

Christians, we are free from the law of sin and death. We no longer should fear death.

The greatest witness to the lost and dying world is to show them this truth by how we live. We must live free of fear and free of the sin that causes us to be afraid.

Let us go forth in freedom.