Revelation of the Word:
Revelation of the Word 29/10/2021 Admin
THEME: FEAR OF DEATH
Matthew 28:6
“He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.”
INSIGHT
-The death and resurrection of Christ forms the foundation of our faith as Christians. Christ is the Lord over all and death could not hold Him captive. When He ascended on high He led captivity captive and gave gifts to men (Ephesians 4:8), that we should glorify Him with all that we say and do. We should therefore not be afraid nor fear death for Christ has conquered all. We should rejoice for He took the keys of death and hades, and lives forever more, and has given us eternal life; we who believe in Him.
SUMMARY
Thanatophobia is commonly referred to as the fear of death. Sometimes we are confronted by situations that threaten us with death and we become fearful. David a young warrior trusted in God even when Goliath threaten all the armies of Israel with death. Unskilled in battle, equipped with only a sling and stones, wearing no armor and smaller in physical structure, he believed in the deliverance power of the Lord. Jonah also relied on the compassion and love of the Lord. When he rebelled and ran away from God to Tarshish, God brought a violent storm to disrupt his movement. He was not shaken by the storm and was deep asleep on the lower deck of the ship as the sailors fought for their lives. When we was discovered after they cast lots, Jonah did not mix his words and asked the captain and sailors to throw him into the raging waters (Jonah 1:12). He proclaimed the name of the Lord and relied on His salvation. Paul the apostle, did not consider death as a great opportunity to be eternally joined with Christ but he viewed living on; for the purpose of ministry. He considered his death as gain and His life as a revelation of Christ. First and foremost, none of us is guaranteed of tomorrow, for matters of death and life entirely belong to God. Even if we worry what can we change? Matthew 6:27 reminds us that, by worrying we cannot add a single hour to our lives. We should therefore rest in the Lord like Jonah did, because only God has control over our future. God knew us before we were formed in our mothers wombs and predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will (Ephesians 1:5). Secondly, we should put all our hope and trust in the Lord like David and not rely on our own wisdom lest we fear. If we do not rely on the Lord entirely we become anxious over the unknown future and the fear of death in our lives and situations creeps into our hearts. The Lord calls us to trust in Him with all our hearts and not to lean on our own understanding and in all our ways acknowledge Him and He will make all our crooked paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6). Thirdly, we should acknowledge and confess the power of Jesus’ death and resurrection that works in us and through us. Since we have been united together in the likeness of His death, we shall be likened to His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, so that the body of sin might be done away with, and we should no longer be slaves of sin (Romans 6:5-6). We should believe in Jesus and have a personal relationship with Him who destroyed the power of sin that brought about death and gave us eternal life. Fourth, since the Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead lives in us, we should not be afraid of death but submit our lives to Him. We are called to stand on the truth like apostle Paul that, we have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer us who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which we now live in the flesh we live by faith in the Son of God, who loved us and gave Himself for us (Galatians 2:20). The Holy Spirit in us, works inside out, transforms us and delivers us from slavery was brought about through the fear of death.
PRAYER
Jesus is risen, let all the heavens and the earth rejoice. He is risen, let all the angels and saints praise His name. This is the day that the Lord has made, we rejoice and are glad in it. We celebrate Your love dear Jesus, thank You for loving us and dying on the cross for our sins and rising from the dead for our salvation. May You forgive us all our sins and purify us from all evil. We celebrate Your mercy and grace, thank You for giving us the gift of salvation unto us and all our generations. May You grant the same gift to us, our children, family members, friends and the entire world. There is no other God but You, we love You Lord. We are more than conquerors in You dear Jesus, thank You for giving us abundant life. Our lives belong to You dear Jesus, may You increase us in faith and wisdom for the glory and honor of Your name. Teach us to rely on Your truth and not on our own understanding. Nothing is hard for You dear Jesus, may You make a way for us even where there seems to be no way, we humbly ask You. May You bless us and increase us dear Lord. May You make Your face to shine upon us and may You be gracious us. May You lift up Your countenance towards us and grant us peace. Amen
Blessed Weekend
Further reading: 1 Corinthians 15:20, Hebrews 2:14-15
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