Read: 1 Peter 3:18
As a child I had, thanatophobia, an extreme fear of death, probably due to the trauma of my father’s passing when I was five. Anything connected to death absolutely terrified me – cemeteries, crosses, coffins, and even the colors white and purple, because those were the colors of crepe papers people used to make wreaths for wakes and funerals. That is why I strongly disliked the color purple until my daughter was born, because, you know, her name is close to violet, another word for purple.
Then one bright sunny day sometime in 2004, I found myself standing at the edge of an open, fresh, bare burial. One of my members in Daly City had asked me to go to her friend’s funeral with her, and as befitting good pastoral care, I did. I calmly stood by her as the coffin slowly descended. It didn’t hit me right away but when it did, I was completely floored! I was not terrified! I was not scared! I was calm and collected and completely at peace!
That moment never left me to this day. It is of extreme importance to me, because at that very moment, I was just simply exhibiting what I’ve had all along since I got saved – the grace and power I received from God through the death of His Son, liberating me from fear of death. Believing, teaching, and preaching about it is one thing, but it is another to truly feel and experience it for myself.
Bruce L. Shelley, in his book, Church History in Plain Language, says, “Christianity is the only major religion to have as its central event the humiliation of its God.” It’s true, but it’s a disgrace that paved the way for freedom for those who would embrace and embody the Humiliated.
In truth, Christ’s death was beyond humiliating. The English word excruciating, which means ‘intensely painful,’ comes from the Latin word excruciare, which was used by the Romans to mean, ‘as painful as the crucifixion.’
Crucifixion is a means of capital punishment invented by the Persians but was perfected by the Romans. It is a slow, extremely painful way to die, meant to inflict maximum pain on the victim. Some crucified victims could stay agonizingly alive on the cross for days, taunted by onlookers and helplessly pestered by insects.
It was in that manner that Christ suffered and died for you and I. He endured unimaginable physical pain, the insults of a jeering crowd and passersby, and, undoubtedly the hardest of all, the abandonment of His Father, that we may have power over death.
Because of His death, humanity now has a way to be freed from the deep clutches of death. Even now, we can be freed from fear of death, for He promised that “He who believes in me will live, even though he dies,” (John 11:25). Because of Him death could now be a beautiful thing, something we don’t need to be afraid of. We may die, yes, if rapture does not happen first, but because of Christ’s death, as we have been made alive in the spirit, we don’t really die. Our saved souls live on. So death for us who are in Christ does not mean condemnation, but a passage to be with God.
So today I want to remind you of the freedom and power you have in Christ. Live out that freedom in your daily life, and praise God for His great love for us!
Reflect:
What does it mean for you in practical terms to be freed from fear of death?
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