Fear death?

Face it, folks, we are all going to die! As unpleasant as that sounds, it is the reality. The ancient Psalmist penned it graphically:

Yet for your sake we face death all day long;
    

we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. – Psalm 44:22

Death is the destiny of each of us. Yet, this passage is transformed in the Christian Bible (the New Testament) from a word of doom to a word of glorious hope. In the Letter to the Roman Christians, this ancient text is used to describe the confident faith of Christian believers in face of every imaginable terror including death:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:35-39

Yes, death is a reality but it is not such a great reality that it can separate us from God’s love. As we celebrate this Christmas, remember the real message is that the Babe is the love of God expressed to us and nothing can separate us from God's love including death. – Ron Friesen