Daily Devotional For Saturday, May 4, 2024

Well, sleep-in Saturday is finally here. I hope you were able to get enough sleep and rest for all you want to accomplish today. For many people, by the time they get home Friday, they are dead and all they want to do is rest. Speaking of death, according to those who get stats on the greatest fears, it seems the fear of death is #1 for all kinds of reasons. One reason is many people fear there is nothing after death or “on the other side.” Another reason people fear death is the finality of it. A third reason people fear death is they are no longer with loved ones here. A fourth reason people fear death is regret over things they did not do or accomplish. A fifth reason some people fear death is the fear of eternal punishment. A sixth reason some people fear death is there is a loss of control. A seventh reason some people fear death is fear of the uncertainty of what will happen to the people they leave behind.

Years ago Billy Graham said, “Someday you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead. Don't you believe a word of it. I shall be more alive than I am now.” The writer of Hebrews says this in Hebrews 2:14, “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,” (ESV). Read that again please. Jesus broke the devil’s power over death for us. 

It says that since we “share” in the flesh and blood . . .” “Share” is a Greek New Testament word you probably have heard in the past but in a different context. It is the Greek New Testament word [κοινωνέω, koinonia]. This word means “to have fellowship, communion, or partnership. It involves having something in common with others.” In other words, because we are ‘human,” we have “fellowship’ or we “fellowship” with other people the common experience of death. This is not probably how you want to think of death, but the good news is: Jesus broke the devil’s power over death for all truly born again Christians. 

It says that Jesus “partook . . .” This is the Greek New Testament word [μετέχω, matecho]. It has to do with taking hold of something that is not naturally one’s own kind. We by nature are flesh and blood; Christ was not. Yet He willingly took hold of something which did not naturally belong to Him. He added to Himself our nature in order that He might die in our place, and that we might take hold of the divine nature that did not belong to us. So, what does it say? Let me let you read what pastor and author Chuck Swindoll says about this:

“In the balance of Hebrews 2, the subject shifts from the glorious future to the grind of the here and now. Humanity had been designed to rule this world as God’s image-bearing representatives. That changed when sin entered the story. No longer capable of handling that charge, humans found themselves in dire need of renewal but unable to accomplish it on their own. Christ stepped in to reverse this downward trajectory, having tasted death for everyone (2:9). But now, during this time between the accomplished work of Christ and the “until”—when everything will be made subject to Him—we who will one day partake of glory with Him are still subject to suffering. Nevertheless, the superior person and work of Christ puts even our suffering in perspective” (Source: Charles R. Swindoll,  Swindolll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentary, “Hebrews,” p. 41).

Hebrews 2:14 answer this question: “Why did God become man?” The answer is this: “Jesus “must be able to suffer with men in order to suffer for them. Jesus, as our high priest who himself had suffered, provides help when we too are suffering” (Source: Oscar Cullman, The Christology of the New Testament, p. 97). 

I like how the Life Application Commentary summarizes this. Please read this:

“How does the devil have “the power of death”? Why do people still die if Jesus has defeated death? Paul explained it this way: “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, … so death spread to all because all have sinned” (Romans 5:12, NRSV). Sin and death are interconnected: Sin results in death. Only by first breaking the power of sin could Christ then break the power of death. He accomplished both through his death and resurrection. In those acts, Christ dealt the final blow to both Satan and death. First John 3:8 explains, “He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. 

The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work”. Although satan still holds great power over this world, he is mortally wounded. God allows satan to work, but limits him (see Job 1:12; 2:6; Ephesians 4:27; 6:11; 1 Timothy 3:7; James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:8–9). Just as salvation is partly realized now and will be fully realized later, in God’s kingdom, so satan is still at work but will one day be destroyed (see Revelation 20:10) —  Source — Life Application Commentary, “Hebrews,” p. 26).

"One of my favorite Christian author, pastor, writer and martyr is Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He says this: “When God’s Son took on flesh, He truly and bodily took on, out of pure grace, our being, our nature, ourselves. This was the eternal counsel of the triune God. Now we are in Him. Where He is, there we are too, in the Incarnation, on the Cross, and in His resurrection. We belong to Him because we are in Him” (Source: Life Application Commentary, “Hebrews,” p. 26).

The point is this: in order for Jesus to break the devil’s power over death over us, Jesus personally had to experience death Himself. Paul makes this clear in Romans 6:9, “We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and He will never die again. Death no longer has any power over Him” (NLT). Implication — to those us in Christ, death no longer has any power over us.  

We read about this in 2 Peter 1:3-4, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to[a] his own glory and excellence, (4) by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire” (ESV). 

In other words, by partaking in our nature Jesus has made it possible for us to partake in of His divine nature.  Do not misread or misunderstand this. It does not say we become divine or deity as Jesus Christ is. What is says that by Jesus Christ breaking the devil’s power over death, struck a deathblow to the devil and his grip over death. That ancient serpent long ago enslaved us to sin and death is now mortally wounded. Christ crushed his head on the cross.

This was God’s promise to Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:14-15: 

“The Lord God said to the serpent, `Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. (15) I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; He (Jesus) shall bruise (crush) your head, and you shall bruise (crush) His heel” (ESV). Notice there is a huge difference between a bruised or crushed head and a bruised or crushed heel” (ESV).

The Bible says in Revelation 21:4, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (ESV). We have no reason to fear death because Jesus conquered death for us. Yet, others in our culture have a huge fear of death. Take this news article about this woman in Arakansas:

“A woman in Arkansas was sitting in her car in a parking lot last year when she heard a loud bang and then felt a sharp pain in the back of her head. She was holding her hands behind her head when someone walked by and asked, "Are you OK?” The woman answered, "I've been shot in the head, and I'm holding my brains in.” Well, it wasn't her brains.

It was dough. A Pillsbury biscuit canister had exploded in the back seat, apparently from the heat, making a loud explosion and shooting the dough into the back of the woman's head. So, this woman in Arkansas got bashed by a biscuit. What's next? Muffin muggers? Toast thieves? Cookie cons? I'm on a "roll" now  , , ,” (Source: "Strange World," Campus Life, Vol. 56, no. 2). 

Questions To Consider

1. How much do you think about death and why? Like the woman above, have you ever thought your death was imminent? If so, how did you deal with it?
2. Do you fear death for any of the 7 reasons listed above or for another reason? Why?
3. Does your faith give you assurance Jesus has it all covered for you when your physical death occurs? How does your faith console you and eliminate the fear of death for you?
4. There is coming a day when Christ’s victory on the cross and over the grave will be fully  experienced by us who are Christians. How does this give you hope, faith and joy?
5. What does it mean to you that in order for God to save us from eternal punishment and death, He had to become one of us and share in our human experiences? 

Scripture To Meditate On: 1 Corinthians 15:53-57, “For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. (54) When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” (55) “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (56) The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. (57) But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (ESV).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, thank You for becoming human and sharing in our human experiences, even death, so that You could conquer death and eliminate the fear of it. Thank You that when my death occurs, I have nothing to fear because death has no sting, death has victory and death will not have the final say. Thank You Jesus You do. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside! — Pastor Kelly