The fear of death if not controlled can lead to people losing their lives before their appointed time. long life is our heriatage in Christ as believers. There are Spiritual Steps we can apply to our lives to Overcome the Fear of Death.
It is very important and extremely crucial for you to realise that God loves your family more than you do, even though you care for and love them. God is very much interested in keeping you and your family on earth to fulfill his will and purpose. Look at these scriptuures for a start:
- God is never going to leave you. “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified … for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6 NIV
The consciousness of God’s presence around you can be a great way to drive out that fear of death in your heart.
This world is not our forever home. For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come. Hebrews 13:14 NLT
God’s peace will comfort you. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Matthew 5:4 NIV And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7 NIV
Heaven sounds like a place I want to be. “‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation 21:4 NIV
These scriptures above let’s us understand that at the proper time, we can leave this earth for a better place. It’s more like a transition and not a total end. You can see it as phase two of your life.
What does the Bible say about the fear of death?
Fear! One of the greatest fears that people list is the fear of death as well as the fear of the unknown. It points to one side of “the sting of death.” And to a mature follower of Christ, it should dissipate as a person focuses on the promises of God. The great saints and martyrs of Hebrews 11 all shared in a common bond: an assured faith in knowing where they were headed after this life ended. It was call the “better resurrection”, the Godly city, a heavenly country and the great reward. Paul, in the midst of imprisonment, beatings, shipwrecks and persecution, maintained his Godly outlook and contentment with his attitude of “To live is Christ, to die is gain”. To believe in our heavenly destiny not only can alleviate fear but minimize the grip we have on this world of uncertainty.
The second aspect of overcoming the “sting of death” is in the promises offered to the survivors, an offer of a peace that transcends understanding and an assurance that with every loss, there is purpose. Jesus stated in his Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” What is the comfort of mourning? Every loss and trial has the potential of character development. It is at funerals when people appear to offer their greatest expressions of empathy and support and when friends become especially meaningful. Every memorial is an opportunity for those who grieve to transform their attitudes about matters of faith.
Scriptures pertaining to dying in Christ
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
Jesus said to her,“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying,“Fear not, I am the first and the last,and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.”
And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”
For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable.It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord,for we walk by faith, not by sight.Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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.
…You have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.”
And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”
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