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Hebrews 2:9-15, 1 Corinthians 15, Romans 8, Romans 6, John 5, Romans 15, Genesis 3
The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
We shouldn’t be preoccupied with dead, but it is very good for us to take a look every once in awhile at the issue of death. It is a very important subject for us to think about and come to terms with.
God did not plan for death but He knew it would happen.
Genesis 2 – God did not say that if Adam and Eve ate of the tree they weren’t supposed to that he would kill them. God did not kill them.
Satan is an instrument of death. Jesus came to earth to fight against death.
There are at least three types of death in the scripture.
- Physical death – Job – Physical death begins the moment that we are born.
- Spiritual death – Colossians 2
- Eternal death – Revelation 20 – The separation from God for ever.
What is the origin of death? God created us and wanted us to live forever in relationship with him. Sin is the root cause for death. Sin is the agent of death.
Romans 5 – When Adam and Eve decided to sin they were choosing Satan over God.
The Fear of Death
The purpose of Christ’s coming was to destroy Satan’s power and to deliver those who are slaves to the fear of death.
The fear of death is often “beneath the surface,” some of it is natural, we all want to survive.
The fear of death is wrong when it holds us captive. Jesus came to deliver those who are held captive by their fear of death.
If we have a fear of death and we are trying to cover it up by adding to the “stuff” that we do… maybe this message is for us. There is something wrong and something that needs to be taken care of. We are being held captive by a fear of death.
The Defeat of Satan
1 John 3 – Jesus came and died to crush the power of Satan. Delivery from the power of death is tied in with the defeat of Satan at calvary. Satan did have the power of death.
When Adam and Eve sinned they switched their allegiance from God to Satan. They chose to follow Satan’s suggestion and to sin. The powers and kingdoms of the world became Satan’s domain.
The Deliverance from the Fear of Death
John 11 – Death is something that we will all face. What allows us to look ahead at death and be confident…
- Our sins our forgiven.
- We have been born into His family.
- God loves us and wants us to live with him forever.
- The power of God is more than adequate to overcome death – Ephesians 1.
- We are ready to go!
1 Thessalonians 4 – But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.