Lesson 111 - THE UNCANCELLABLE APPOINTMENT (PART 2)
By Frank Eiklor and the Shalom Team
The Fear of Death
“It's me again—Death. I'm back! You would be smart not to ignore me. But maybe I wish you would—ignore me, that is. Because if I have to go through with these five visits with you, I know I'm going to be exposed and my days of tormenting you will be over. You see, I can't help but brag about my power to fill you with fear, but I'll also admit that I, Death, am scared to death.
"Even my name frightens you, doens't it? You're not alone. I terrify kings.1 Presidents. Scientists. Philosophers. Dictators. The wealthiest of men. But I play no favorites. I also torment those the world calls weak, poor, and simple. In fact, you humans fear me so much that many of you die 10,000 times in your mind before I finally end your lives. The book that spells my doom—you know, the Bible—exposes how my boss and I operate. I know, some of you don't even believe in the devil. How foolish! But keep on being fooled. Satan will keep on tempting. Men will keep on sinning. And I, Death, will keep on killing
"But even devils can recognize the truth once in a while. They know there is only one God—and they are terrified.2 And our leader, Satan, knows he only has a short time, so he is super angry with the Creator.3 And since I'm linked to Satan, my days are also numbered. You see, before God sent His holy Son Jesus into the world, we had little opposition. Other than those trouble-making prophets who spoke of the coming Savior of men, Satan, Sin, and I, felt free to scare the hell into people.
"Talk about fear! We had almost everyone living their whole lives in fear of me—Death.4 Oh there were some who defied me—like Daniel and those three characters whose names I won't repeat. I remember ordering those lions to devour Daniel, but instead God sent His angels and shut their mouths.5 Man oh man, have you ever seen one of those terrifying angels?! It's enough to scare the death out of me! And those other three? They told a king they would welcome me—Death—rather than defy their Creator.6 Imagine! It really burned me up to see them enjoying the flames that couldn't touch them or that fourth one that joined them—you know, the Son of God.7
"But mostly, the devil and I, Death, had our way with you humans. Once Abel became food for worms, men shivered at the thought of me. I remember Methuselah. I couldn't touch him for 969 years.8 But I could keep him running scared through the fear of death. Then the Holy God reduced those life spans all the way to 120 years9 and then to 70 or 80.10 Well, the shorter the life span, the greater the fear factor. And you know what that Book that I don't like says: that through fear of death you humans were all your lifetime subject to slavery. 11 We thought we owned you.
"Then He came. Jesus. How could Satan, Sin, and I know the full mystery in the mind of the one who is our Creator and future executioner—God?12 How could we know that by becoming weak flesh and dying on that cross He would destroy my boss the devil,13 break our prisons in pieces and rescue those who were lifetime slaves to their fear of me?!14 But that is for another visit. Enough for now is to leave you with what my devilish boss and I still hope to do to you. We want you to fear us who cankill your body but can't touch your soul.15 We want death to stay a mystery, a mystery that torments you with fear, rather than have you experience that other mystery—you know, Christ in you, the hope of glory.16
"Somehow I think I may regret having these discussions with you. Maybe I should have just told you about the father of lies,17 my boss. For if you ever encounter the One who calls Himself 'the truth,'18 my days of tormenting you with fear of death will be over. Because once you know the truth, the truth will set19...well, you know the rest. And that won't set too well with the boss and me."
1 Ecc. 2:16; Daniel 5:5-6
2 James 2:19
3 Rev. 12:9-12
4 Hebrews 2:15
5 Daniel 6:22
6 Daniel 3:16-18
7 Daniel 3:25
8 Gen. 5:27
9 Gen. 6:3
10 Psalm 90:10
11 Hebrews 2:15
12 Col. 1:27
13 Hebrews 2:14
14 Hebrews 2:15
15 Matt. 10:28
16 Col. 1:27
17 John 8:44
18 John 14:6
19 John 8:32
"Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ" (I Corinthians 11:1)
The ST. PAUL SCHOOL, with Frank Eiklor, Eileen Young and Cecilia Contreras