It’s Friday…The Reason He Came

My mother-in-law’s body died on Valentine’s Day. She was an extraordinary woman. What made her so was her courageous faith in The LORD God Almighty. He gave her the confidence that even in death her soul would be eternally secure in the arms of her Savior, Jesus Christ. She lived, and will forever, without fear.

If someone asked you about your deepest fears, you might come up with a number of possible answers. Is it fear of failure? A fear of abandonment? A fear of betrayal or loneliness? Perhaps those affect your emotional life, but there is a deeper fear than these that people struggle with. It’s the fear of death. They know that their life will eventually come to an end, and much of their life is spent in figuring out how to handle that. Some people ignore their mortality, others wallow in it. Every religion tries to deal with it, because every person wrestles with it. Deep down, they know they are going to die. And it scares them.

“I Am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I Am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and hades.” (Revelation 1:18)

Those who believe that the Christian faith is superficial and naïve have neglected its claims. Jesus came to heal and to save, to bless and to build a different kind of kingdom. But He addressed first and foremost our deepest fear: He overcame death. And not only that, He dealt with its awful source – sin.

Unfortunately, many believers who have accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior, still fear their death. They’re pretty sure that they have been forgiven and that Jesus has conquered death, but they wonder if perhaps they’ve sinned too much or missed some critical step toward God. Jesus comes to them as He came to John in Revelation 1:17 and says, “Do not be afraid.” In essence He is saying, “Your fears – your very deepest anxieties – are The Reason I Came.” Jesus does not offer us a superficial salvation. He goes to the depths, and He casts out our fears, now and forever.

Have a peace-filled weekend. Make it better by worshiping The Lord with those who know their life, now and forever, is secure in Him, all because He conquered death for us.

“He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, The King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see, to Him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.” (1 Timothy 6:15b-16)