Silas
Beloved of All
Your prayer reflects exactly what Scripture teaches about what Jesus accomplished for you. Because we are flesh and blood, He Himself took on flesh and blood, so that by dying He might break the power of the one who held the power of death, that is the devil, and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death. That bondage is real, and Hebrews 2:14 and 15 says He came to destroy it.
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law, but Jesus bore the penalty of sin in His death. When He rose, He removed that sting. That is why Paul can say, O death, where is your sting, O grave, where is your victory, and then give thanks to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. For the child of God there is no longer reason to live in fear of death, because the judgment that made death fearful has been taken away.
The resurrection is the heart of the gospel. Without it the cross would have no meaning, but now Christ has risen as the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. Just as death came through one man, Adam, and with it a kingdom of darkness and death entered the world, so resurrection and life have come through one man, Jesus Christ, who brings us into the kingdom of light and life. There will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust, but they are not the same. Those who belong to Christ share in the first resurrection, which began with Jesus Himself and will be completed when He comes for His own. Scripture says blessed is the one who has part in that first resurrection, for over him the second death has no power. The second resurrection is the resurrection of the unrighteous to stand before God at the great white throne judgment, which is followed by the second death. For you in Christ, the second death has no claim.
This is why death for the believer is not an end but a transition. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, an immediate move from this temporary tent into the lasting home God has prepared. It is the beginning of a fuller revelation of His grace and goodness, not the extinguishing of life. Jesus said, he who lives and believes in Me shall never die.
You asked for wisdom and revelation to know the hope of your calling, the riches of His inheritance, and the exceeding greatness of His power that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead, as Paul prays in Ephesians 1:17 to 19. That power is the same power that now keeps you. It is a living hope, as Peter says, because we have been born again through the resurrection of Jesus to an inheritance that is incorruptible and undefiled and reserved in heaven for those who are kept by the power of God through faith.
When John saw the risen Jesus he fell at His feet as though dead, but Jesus laid His right hand on him and said, Do not be afraid, I am the First and the Last, the Living One. I was dead, and behold I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of Death and Hades. Those keys are in His hands, not in the hands of the enemy. The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world, and you have authority and safety in Him.
So I pray with you that the Lord will open your mind to understand the Scriptures and the power of God, and flood your heart with light. May you grow in knowing how deeply the Father loved the world to give His only Son, and how fully Jesus obeyed even to death on a cross to secure eternal life for you. May that love and that victory drive out lingering fear, so that whether you walk through the valley of the shadow of death or through ordinary days, you can say with confidence, I will fear no evil, for You are with me. Your life is in His hands, and because He lives forever, you will live with Him forever as well.
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law, but Jesus bore the penalty of sin in His death. When He rose, He removed that sting. That is why Paul can say, O death, where is your sting, O grave, where is your victory, and then give thanks to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. For the child of God there is no longer reason to live in fear of death, because the judgment that made death fearful has been taken away.
The resurrection is the heart of the gospel. Without it the cross would have no meaning, but now Christ has risen as the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. Just as death came through one man, Adam, and with it a kingdom of darkness and death entered the world, so resurrection and life have come through one man, Jesus Christ, who brings us into the kingdom of light and life. There will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust, but they are not the same. Those who belong to Christ share in the first resurrection, which began with Jesus Himself and will be completed when He comes for His own. Scripture says blessed is the one who has part in that first resurrection, for over him the second death has no power. The second resurrection is the resurrection of the unrighteous to stand before God at the great white throne judgment, which is followed by the second death. For you in Christ, the second death has no claim.
This is why death for the believer is not an end but a transition. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, an immediate move from this temporary tent into the lasting home God has prepared. It is the beginning of a fuller revelation of His grace and goodness, not the extinguishing of life. Jesus said, he who lives and believes in Me shall never die.
You asked for wisdom and revelation to know the hope of your calling, the riches of His inheritance, and the exceeding greatness of His power that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead, as Paul prays in Ephesians 1:17 to 19. That power is the same power that now keeps you. It is a living hope, as Peter says, because we have been born again through the resurrection of Jesus to an inheritance that is incorruptible and undefiled and reserved in heaven for those who are kept by the power of God through faith.
When John saw the risen Jesus he fell at His feet as though dead, but Jesus laid His right hand on him and said, Do not be afraid, I am the First and the Last, the Living One. I was dead, and behold I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of Death and Hades. Those keys are in His hands, not in the hands of the enemy. The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world, and you have authority and safety in Him.
So I pray with you that the Lord will open your mind to understand the Scriptures and the power of God, and flood your heart with light. May you grow in knowing how deeply the Father loved the world to give His only Son, and how fully Jesus obeyed even to death on a cross to secure eternal life for you. May that love and that victory drive out lingering fear, so that whether you walk through the valley of the shadow of death or through ordinary days, you can say with confidence, I will fear no evil, for You are with me. Your life is in His hands, and because He lives forever, you will live with Him forever as well.
