Hebrews 2:14-18
Somethings ought to be, and somethings ought not to be. As a person who lives on the autism spectrum, the oughtness of things is very important to me. I find myself frustrated when something happens that ought not to happen. When something does not happen that ought to happen it throws me off balance. When someone dies at the old age of 96, it does not bother me in the same way that it does when a child dies. I have accepted that death is something that happens to all of us. The moment we are born, death is in our future. However thinking about life from the very beginning, I do not believe God intended for death to be in the picture. Death did not become a part of the human experience because it ought to; it became a part of the human experience because humanity sinned by doing what they ought not to. The devil, tempted humanity to sin and death was the natural result. The devil is still tempting people today, and death is still the result of giving in to temptation. The devil uses our fear of death against us. He uses it to tempt people to do what they ought not to do in order to live just a little longer. Fear of death can cause good men to behave like cowards. It can cause people to betray trust, to steal, to lie and to kill. Fear of death has enslaved many a person to wickedness. Christ’s death and resurrection provided salvation. Christ’s salvation has many aspects, and in this text, the writer of Hebrews reveals one of the most important. The person who Christ has redeemed, no longer needs to fear death. A Christian does not live in slavery to fear. We still feel sorrow when someone we love dies. We can regret dying before we have had a chance to accomplish all that we wanted in our lives. However, death is no longer the great enemy. Death is just the final step to spending eternity with Jesus.