THE LAST ENEMY

Fear of death is one of the most common of human fears.

While some try to argue that death is just a natural part of life, there is something in us that innately recoils from death. When it takes our loved ones from us, when it threatens us in some way, death is again revealed as unnatural, something that should not be part of our human experience. Here is the Bible’s understanding of death.

Death is evil in itself, as well as being the result of evil.

It is an enemy to be resisted. But it is also already an enemy that has been defeated. Paul’s extended reflection on death was introduced by the assurance of its defeat. Because Jesus was raised from the dead, death would no longer be all-powerful.

As fearsome as it remained, it was no longer a reality to be surrendered to with a “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” attitude (1 Corinthians 15:32).

Nor was it be feared in quite the same way it might have been in the past. Of course, death still hurts terribly when it strikes those close to us.

And the prospect of our own death is daunting.

But by faith and with courage, we are able to look forward to when Jesus’ victory over death will be made complete, and we can truly sing, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55). Death is the source of so much of our human fears and frailty, but Jesus’ defeat of death transforms our attitude to life and the choices we live by. We need not be afraid for our lives because we can trust Him with them, even beyond the tragic but temporary reality of death. When death can be undone, its power, and its power to make us afraid, are already diminished and doomed to final defeat.