I Have No Fear of Dying!

Do you ever struggle with the fact that one day soon you will die? Do you have a fear of death? Do you fear the hereafter? Maybe you are one who simply doesn’t believe in a hereafter so you give it little or no consideration?

Perhaps the one thought that haunts more people than any other is their fear of death—be it a fear of what is on the other side, a fear of the crossing over, a fear of the possible “aloneness” that must be endured during the transition from here to wherever. I personally have no fear of dying. The simple fact is, I have already died and therefore have no need to fear a death that I will never face again.

Call me crazy, but keep on reading! Paul told the Galatian church: “I have been crucified with Christ; and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (2:19-20 HCSB). Crucifixion always ended in death. No one came off a cross until they were deemed dead. When Jesus died, I died.

Paul told the Romans: “Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him, because we know that Christ, having been raised from the dead, no longer dies. Death no longer rules over Him” (6:8-9). As a child of GOD, a believer in Jesus Christ, I am comforted by the fact that I must never face death because Christ has already died for me.

When I came to the place in my life where I recognized my need for something I could not attain otherwise—eternal life—I fell on my face before my Lord Jesus Christ seeking forgiveness for my past and His free gift of eternal life (Romans 6:23). At that moment, my old man died (Romans 6:6-7), thus my first death, and I was raised to new life, eternal life, in and through my new found faith in the death, burial and resurrection of my Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul told the Corinthian church that for believers to be absent from the body meant they were present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:6-8). Certainly this old fleshly body must one day pass away; but, the real me, the real you, will continue to live on forever. The real me has already died when Jesus died because I put my faith in Him; therefore, I rest assured in total peace that I have no need to fear the crossing over. Paul clarified that experience as simply being gone from here and present there with the Lord.

Humanity was created to be with our Creator. When the relationship was broken in the Garden of Eden by man’s first sin, the earthly body was deemed for destruction—man’s physical body began the process of dying. But Paul tells us GOD has something special in store for us. He wrote: “For we know that if our earthly house, a tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1 HCSB). This body is not our real home. GOD has something more.

Heaven awaits all who have prepared themselves by faith in Jesus Christ. Paul tells us that “we groan in this one (this physical body), longing to put on our house from heaven (our glorified body)” (2 Corinthians 5:2). Our spirit man is groaning to be loosed from the confines of this physical body in order to be free to worship GOD and to enjoy everything He has prepared for us since the very beginning of time.

Paul then exclaims with great excitement: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). I died with Christ so I can inherit the coming kingdom of my Father GOD who loves me and cares for me. Therefore, I have no fear of dying!

Scripture Reading: “Brothers, I tell you this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and corruption cannot inherit incorruption. Listen! I am telling you a mystery: We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. Because this corruptible must be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal must be clothed with immortality. Now when this corruptible is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal is clothed with immortality, then the saying that is written will take place: Death has been swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting? Now 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! Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:50-58 HCSB).

Personal Prayer: Father in heaven, I do not want to fear death any longer. I want to rest assured in Your promises of life—life eternal! I confess my sins and sinful ways and ask You to forgive me. I ask Jesus to become Lord over my life, to take control of my life as I surrender fully unto Him. Thank You, Jesus, for dying for me and rising to new life that I, too, may experience the free gift of eternal salvation. I love You and praise You, O GOD, for making my salvation possible…in Jesus’ name…AMEN!