Wednesday, December 2, 2009

matter of death and life

I enjoyed reading Hebrews chapter 2 this morning in preparation for fellowship time with a friend.  Hebrews is a noble book that states eloquently the nature of man, the nature of God (Father and Son) and the nature of heavenly beings (angels).  It also explains our need for salvation and the manner through which the Father has provided it through the Son.  Chapter 2 discusses how perfect Jesus is to represent us because He is both man and God at the same time.  How amazing that He is both brother and Lord!  One thought that grabbed me came from verses 14-15: Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
It occurred to me that death is the dark door that we all must go through and that lingers in the background of our minds...surfacing frequently and full of unknown.  We cannot speak to others who have been through this experience and we cannot read the writings of people who have died.   We know that death leads to another dimension that will probably be very different from this dimension.  And we sense that we will face God in a direct and personal way on the other side.  All of these factors can make a "stew" of unknowns that cause fear.  So it is wonderful that Jesus has shown the way through that door and conquered the fear of judgment by paying the price we know needs to be paid for our shortcomings.   We start under a cloud of fear about death, but when we have put our trust in Jesus' victory we realize the story is all about life...moving from one dimension to another.
 
blessings,
Rob Smith

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