Are you afraid to die? Why?

Cowards die many times before their deaths, a valiant never taste of death but once, of all the wonders I yet have heard, it seems to be most strange, that men should fear death; a necessary end, will come when it shall come.

It will be true to say death is a mystery and although death has been a part of the human experience since the inception of sin; human has not gain an understanding of what death is, what happened when one dies? The fear of the unknown seems to transfer death; the absence of life, into a terrifying mystery. Many people are afraid of dying; but is such fear justified? What exactly is death? Is there any reason for anyone to be afraid of dying?

I will take the time to answer these questions. The Bible declared in Genesis 1; that God (Jehovah) created the Heavens and the Earth which includes every living creature, and he (God) saw it was good. It is important to note, after creation, everything functioned in unison; there was no flaw in Jehovah’s creation. In other words, the earth and everything in it was perfect.

When man sinned, there were certain consequences that came with defying Jehovah and his laws. Sin affected the whole earthly creation and it manifests it self in the various degrees and type of illnesses we experience, troubles of all kind, growing old, and two type of deaths.

Romans 6:23 says the waged of sin is death, but the gift of Jehovah is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Let us examine this text carefully, the ultimate punishment of and for sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. Could it be that the wages of sin is also eternal death? In many places in the bible Jesus: God in the flesh, refer to death as a sleep. In Matt 9:22 Jesus when speaking of the little maid who was dead, he said to the moaners present, the little maid is not dead she is asleep.

Also in referring to Lazarus John 11:11 after he die and was in the tomb for four days; Jesus declared, our friend Lazarus sleepeth: but I go that I may awake him from his sleep. In John 11: 14 Jesus declared that Lazarus was dead and later when Jesus shouted Lazarus come forth, Lazarus who was dead awoke from the sleep of death and came forth. Like wise Matthew 27:51-52 speaks of the saints who arose from the dead when Jesus die; there grave give them up and their life were restored unto them.

There are other stories that are recorded in the Bible where the dead were brought back to life. Did Lazarus, the little maid, the un-precise number of people who arose from the dead when Jesus Christ die; did they suffer the wages of sin? If so why did they die again? Are they exempted from the Judgment? The answer to these questions are no.

So it may be safe to say, the sleep that we call “death” for a lack of a better name is not the wages of sin; however, this sleep is one of the consequences of sin. We must also understand that the consequence of sin and the wages of sin are different; in other words, although death the sleep is one of the consiquence of sin, the wages of sin refer to the eternal death, which is the ultimate consequenses of sin. Let me put it this way.

A man is hired as a laborer on a construction site; as a part of his duties he is called upon to shovel concrete for several hours a day. After a month on the Job the man developed a fit, muscular body or he hurt his back; is the effects of his labor the wages for or of his labor. No it is not; it is one of the consequences of his job but the wages of his Job will be the salary he agreed upon and received at the end of the pay cycle.

The sleep that we call death is not the wages of sin; it is merely one of the many consequences of sin. However the wages of sin is eternal death. The death that is inflicted in the lake of fire after which, those who so choose to die eternally will be no more, never to be resurrected again. This is the same death the devil will experience.

John 8: 51 declared that Verily, Verily, I say unto you, if any man keep my saying he shall never see death. This statement may confuse many for many of the elect had suffered death. Stalwarts like Moses, Abraham, Jacob, Isaac, Job, John the Baptist, and David a man who Jesus declare was a man after his own heart suffered death. Didn’t they keep the saying of Jehovah, why then did they die. Is this a contradiction? No it is not a contradiction.

Jesus who is the son of Jehovah, who was present in the beginning, who played an integral role in the creation of the universe and who will play an integral role in the final destruction of those who reject him, refers to death as a sleep, for that is what death is: a sleep. However after death is the judgment and after the judgment is the reward be it pardon or execution. We can either be sentence to eternal life of be damn in the lake of fire to an eternal death.

The sleep of death, what is it? Death is just the absence of life, nothing more nothing less. There is nothing to fare in death. However, because of the mystery that surrounds death, we are very apprehensive of facing death. The bible speaks of the sting of death but what is that sting of the first death or the sleep? The sting is the negatives and the fear that is associated with death.

Death is nothing to be afraid of, as a matter of fact, death is not a bad thing; in fact, in many cases Death is a welcome relief from this world’s ills. Let’s see what Jehovah say about death. Ps. 116: 15 Jehovah said precious in the sight of the lord is the death of the saints. When a saint dies, Jehovah sees it as a precious thing; for he knows that individual is seal for his kingdom and there is nothing the devil can do to cause him pain or to cause that person to forsake the God who loves that individual. In Numbers 23:10 Balaam said to the King of Moab: Let me die the death of the righteous and let my last end be like his. Here Balaam is expressing pride in dying, but not just any death; Balaam saw the dignity in dying the death of the righteous.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again; even so, to them also which sleep in Jesus will God (Jehovah) bring to him.

Father if it be thy will take this cup from me, nevertheless, not my will but let thy will be done. When Jesus briefly cried out to his father in prayer and asked his father to allow him not to go through with the horrible death of a criminal that he the innocent was required to voluntary go through. It was not that Jesus was afraid to die, as a matter of fact Jesus was not killed, he chose to stop living; he give up the ghost. Jesus had the assurance that his father was able to raise him from the dead. As a matter of fact Jesus himself gave Elisha the power to restore life unto the dead as is recorded in 2 Kings 4: 32-35. Even many years after Elisha’s death his bones still possessed the power to restore life unto the dead see 2 Kings 13: 20-21. Jesus had no fear of death for he knew what death is, after all he made death and death heeds Jesus instruction.

The human in Jesus were aware of the pain that is associated with the type of death he had to undergo. The objective of death by crucifixion was not meant to kill its victims although death was the final outcome, but rather it was designed to cause those who must die in such a manner the greatest of prolong agony. Like everyone who lived at that period where death by crucifixion were a common practice; they knew the pain and the agony that is associated with such death. The human in Jesus was concern about the physical pain of such a death; but more so he knew the pain of enduring the sins of pass, present and future generation was more than any man could bear. Yet he was called upon to bear such and so he did.

So death is just the absence of life and it has all of the characteristics of a deep sleep. Sleep is an event that is welcomed and enjoyed by all? We are not afraid to go to sleep yet we are afraid of death they are both a state of unconsciousness. The only thing we should be afraid of is to die not accepting Jehovah is the creator and sustainer of this world and Jesus as our savior.