“The shadow, of course,” one of the children said. “It’s harmless.”
“Two thousand years ago,” the father said, “the truck ran over the Lord Jesus . . . in order that only its shadow might run over us.”[19]
For the Christian, death is but a shadow. No longer is it the true substance of our fear; it’s just a momentary obscuring of the light. Jesus’ promise to every believer is this: “Because I live, you will live also” (John 14:19). He also says, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:25-26).
DEATH IS LONELY, BUT YOU ARE NEVER ALONE
You are with me. . . .
PSALM 23:4
Something strange but subtle happens in Psalm 23:4. You may not have noticed, but an editor would. The narrative mode changes: He becomes You. In the first three verses, we’ve seen the Lord referred to in the third person: “He makes me to lie down; He restores; He leads me . . . for His name’s sake.” Very abruptly, however, third person becomes second person, and David says, “You are with me.” He stops talking about the Shepherd and begins talking to Him. It’s as if he has been talking about God, and then in the midst of the shadows he realizes that God is right there: “I will fear no evil; for You are with me.” An essay becomes an intimate conversation.
It all makes beautiful sense if you’ve ever walked through that valley. You think about God, and suddenly you find yourself caught up in a conversation with Him. His presence suddenly changes your whole line of thought. Over the years, I’ve spoken to many people who were traveling their darkest roads, and they’ve often told me that they were never more aware of the presence of the Shepherd than when they were walking in that shadow.
Corrie ten Boom once ran into an old friend who was only going to be in town for the day. So they dispensed with small talk and had a substantial conversation together. Corrie asked him, “Are you afraid to die?”
Yes, he was, he admitted. Corrie was surprised, knowing that her friend had a deep faith in God. She asked, “Why are you afraid? You’ve been a believer for as long as I’ve known you. Surely you know Jesus won’t leave you alone for one moment.”
He explained that he was afraid because death was the unknown for him; he didn’t know what to expect. So they began talking about Jesus and how death was also unknown to Him when He went to the Cross. He had never died before. Surely He, too, had to confront fear. But now Jesus knows all about death. He has been there. He has conquered it. And He promises never to leave or forsake us. He says He will be with us always, and the journey through death is no exception.
The old man smiled, at peace, and thanked God for the conversation.[20]
I’ve counseled with many people as they sat in death’s waiting room, and experience has proved to me that God makes His presence known as they walk through the valley. He reaches for their hands. He whispers words of comfort and promise. And it’s not limited just to the dying people themselves; it’s also for those who grieve for them. They, too, walk through the valley, and God reaches to them as well.
The Bible is filled with comforting promises such as these:
God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear.
PSALM 46:1-2
He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
HEBREWS 13:5
Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,
But the night shines as the day;
The darkness and the light are both alike to You.
PSALM 139:12
We never have to walk that road alone. The Shepherd appears at our shoulder, and as we reach the gate, angels are there to attend us and usher us into the wonderful surprises that await us.
This life seems like the “real” one, but it is only a preface, and we have yet to see the first chapter. As Hungarian composer Franz Liszt expressed in the introduction to his symphonic poem Les Preludes, “What else is our life but a series of preludes to that unknown Hymn, the first and solemn note of which is intoned by Death?”[21] We think the story ends with death, but the truth is, death is only the beginning. The Bible grounds our hope, assuring us that what follows is too wonderful for us to understand now.
In the seven books of C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia series, four children explore another world, ruled by Aslan the Lion. In the first six books, Aslan sends them back to their home in England after each adventure. As the final book draws to its close, the children find themselves in a brilliantly enhanced Narnia, and they don’t want to leave. Their own world seems pale by comparison. But Aslan has a surprise. He reveals that the railway accident that brought them to Narnia this time was a real one, and they have, in earthly terms, died and left their everyday world for the last time. “The term is over,” Aslan says. “The holidays have begun. The dream is ended. This is the morning.”
The great Lion then begins to transform into something that is—like the adventures facing the children—too wonderful to write about. Their lives on earth and in the old Narnia were only “the cover and the title page,” and now they are truly beginning the first chapter of the real story. It is a story that “no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.”[22]
Born in 1800, a century before Lewis, John Todd also saw the significance and hope of death. Todd was a Vermont boy who at the age of six lost both parents. He lost his siblings, too, when they were divided among relatives. John was taken in by a kindly aunt. He lived with her for fifteen years until he left to study for the ministry. The years passed, and he became an effective pastor. One day he received a letter from the aunt who raised him. She was dying, and she had the same questions we all ask: “What awaits me in death? Is this the end?” John could feel her anxiety in every line she wrote.
John loved his aunt, and he sat down to answer her letter. He began with the story of a little boy of six who waited for the arrival of the woman who would become a mother to him:
I can still recall my disappointment when instead of coming for me yourself, you sent your servant, Caesar, to fetch me.
I remember my tears and my anxiety as, perched high on your horse and clinging tight to Caesar, I rode off to my new home. Night fell before we finished the journey, and I became lonely and afraid.
“Do you think she’ll go to bed before I get there?” I asked Caesar anxiously.
“Oh no,” he said reassuringly. “She’ll sure stay up for you. When we get out of these here woods, you’ll see her candle shining in the window.”
Presently we did ride out in the clearing, and there, sure enough, was your candle. I remember you were waiting at the door, that you put your arms close about me—a tired and bewildered little boy. You had a big fire burning on the hearth, a hot supper waiting on the stove. After supper you took me to my new room, heard my prayers, and then sat beside me until I fell asleep.
Someday soon God will send for you, to take you to a new home. Don’t fear the summons, the strange journey, or the dark messenger of death. God can be trusted to do as much for you as you were kind enough to do for me so many years ago. At the end of the road you will find love and a welcome awaiting, and you will be safe in God’s care.[23]
John Todd painted for his aunt a picture of new life as beautiful as any person could hope for. But I can assure you that it is only a dim shadow compared to the magnificent beauty and joy awaiting us when we finally close this gate and open the new one into God’s presence.
[1] Wayne Hale, “After Ten Years: Working on the Wrong Problem,” January 13, 2013, http://waynehale.wordpress.com/2013/01/13/after-ten-years-working-on-the-wrong-problem.
[2] Stephen White, “Revealed: NASA Chiefs Didn’t Tell Columbia Space Shuttle Crew They Were about to Die,” Daily Record, February 2, 2013, www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/nasa-knew-space-shuttle-columbia-
1569567; Gina Sunseri, “Columbia Shuttle Crew Not Told of Possible Problem with Reentry,” ABC News, January 31, 2012, http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/columbia-shuttle-crew-told-problem-reentry/story?id=18366185.
[3] Eric Lax, Woody Allen: A Biography (New York: Da Capo Press, 1991), 26.
[4] Kevin J. Gardner, Faith and Doubt of John Betjeman: An Anthology of Betjeman’s Religious Verse (New York: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2006), 77.
[5] Philippe Ariès and Helen Weaver, The Hour of Our Death: The Classic History of Western Attitudes toward Death over the Last One Thousand Years (New York: Vintage Books, 1982).
[6] Joseph Bayly, The View from a Hearse (Elgin, IL: David C. Cook Publishing Co., 1969), 11–12.
[7] Eugene O’Kelly, Chasing Daylight: How My Forthcoming Death Transformed My Life (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007), 17–18.
[8] S. I. McMillen, MD, and Dr. David E. Stern, MD, None of These Diseases: The Bible’s Health Secrets for the 21st Century (Grand Rapids, MI: Fleming H. Revell, 2000), 228.
[9] Ligon Duncan, Fear Not!: Death and Afterlife from a Christian Perspective (Tain, Scotland: Christian Focus, 2008), 24–25.
[10] Philo, Every Good Man Is Free, 3:22.
[11] Ruth Overholtzer, From Then till Now (Warrenton, MO: CEF Press, 1990), 130.
[12] Nino Lo Bello, The Incredible Book of Vatican Facts and Papal Curiosities (New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1998), 16.
[13] The fifth verse of Watts’s (untitled) hymn number 112, as found in collections of his hymns.
[14] Larry Libby, Somewhere Angels (Sisters, OR: Multnomah Books, 1994), 41.
[15] Peter J. Marshall, ed., The Wartime Sermons of Dr. Peter Marshall (Tulsa, OK: CrossStaff Publishing, 2005).
[16] Perfect Illustrations for Every Topic and Occasion, compiled by the editors of PreachingToday.com (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2002), 289.
[17] Robert J. Morgan, The Lord Is My Shepherd (New York: Howard Books, 2013), 116–117.
[18] James M. Campbell, Heaven Opened (New York: Revell, 1924), 178.
[19] Michael P. Green, ed., Illustrations for Biblical Preaching (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1989), 91.
[20] Corrie ten Boom, He Cares, He Comforts (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell, 1977), 89–90.
[21] Franz Liszt, Les Preludes: Symphonic Poem No. 3 (Van Nuys, CA: Alfred Music Publishing, 1985), 39.
[22] C. S. Lewis, The Last Battle (New York: Macmillan, 1956), 210–211.
[23] Charles L. Allen, You Are Never Alone (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell, 1978), 77–79.
CHAPTER 7
YOUR ULTIMATE HOPE
* * *
The LORD takes pleasure in those who fear Him.
PSALM 147:11
In C. S. Lewis’s Narnia book The Silver Chair, the schoolgirl Jill finds herself alone and desperately thirsty in an unknown wood. She knows nothing of Aslan, the Christ figure in these stories, but when she comes upon a stream, she sees the great Lion between her and the water. Though her thirst is overpowering, Jill freezes in her tracks, too petrified with terror to either advance or run.
“If you are thirsty, you may drink,” the Lion says.
The terrified Jill, afraid she will be eaten, doesn’t move. She says, “Will you promise not to—do anything to me, if I do come?”
“I make no promise,” the Lion answers.
“I daren’t come and drink,” Jill replies.
“Then you will die of thirst,” the Lion tells her.
Jill says she will go find another stream, but the Lion responds, “There is no other stream.”[1]
Throughout the Bible God’s people are admonished to fear God. Is this fear to be equated with Jill’s—that of a child quivering in unmitigated terror at an all-powerful being who forces hard choices and may do anything to anyone at any time?
The same God who invites us to come boldly into His presence (Hebrews 4:16; 10:19) also expects us to “serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:28-29; emphasis added).
As one who lives in Southern California and has seen consuming wildfires up close and personal, I can say that fear is an apt description of the emotion they produce. Do they also produce a sense of awe? Yes—one cannot help but be awed by flames shooting hundreds of feet in the air and consuming everything in their paths. But is it awe that causes my neighbors and me to flee for safety when these fires are on the loose? No, it is fear of dying in their presence—not because the fire has any intent of harming us, but because fire has an innate nature that can harm us if we don’t respect it. So when the author of Hebrews says “our God is a consuming fire,” I am not surprised to read that I should serve Him with “godly fear.” Yes, God inspires overwhelming awe. But just as fire acts according to its nature, so does God. He operates according to His providential intent for His world, and we had best align ourselves with that intent to keep from getting burned.
Two Ways to Fear God
Biblical references to the fear of God fall into two distinct categories. The first is awesome dread, and the second is astonished devotion. Let’s explore the meaning of these two terms.
Awesome Dread
The term awesome dread seems to indicate something to avoid rather than embrace. And I realize that I have been guilty of avoiding the topic myself at times because it’s so easy to stress the love of God and how Jesus is a friend of sinners. But that is only one side of the equation. Unless we balance our perspective, we end up with the idea that “there’s no need to be afraid of our good buddy God.”[2]
So when we go to the Bible to adjust that perspective, do we discover that fear is just a synonym for awe and reverence? As a matter of fact, no. In Genesis, where the word fear is first used in the Bible, we read about God walking in the Garden just after Adam and Eve had eaten the forbidden fruit. Apparently God made a practice of enjoying fellowship with them “in the garden in the cool of the day” (Genesis 3:8). But after Adam and Eve sinned and God drew near, Adam hid himself from God’s presence. He explains, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself” (Genesis 3:10).
I assure you that what Adam felt at that moment was much more than awe and reverence for his Creator. He was stone-cold afraid—exactly as he should have been. God had warned him that if he ate of the forbidden tree, he would die (Genesis 3:3).
We don’t fear what we don’t know. That’s why little ones touch hot stoves once. People who are without God are without fear of Him, so they don’t hesitate to act in immoral ways. In Romans 3, Paul the apostle gives us a long list of complaints about ungodly people, and in verse 18 he concludes it by quoting Psalm 36:1: “There is no fear of God before [their] eyes.”
But those who know God fear Him. People in Scripture such as Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Saul found this fear so overwhelming that they could not stand on their feet in His presence.
Many Christians today seem to think the Incarnation eliminated the need for any fear of God. In Jesus, God came to earth in the form of a man, giving us an accessible God, one we could love and relate to as a friend. Those who adopt this mindset as the whole truth often describe Jesus as a gentle, compassionate, loving person. He was (and is) all that, but this is not the entire picture. Forgotten is the fearsome Jesus who took a whip and single-handedly drove from the Temple a mass of thieving merchants. You can be sure that those around Him felt fear.
It is in the book of Revelation that we witness some of the most terrifying depictions of our Lord. For example, when John saw the risen Christ, he fell at His feet as dead (Revelation 1:17). This was not a voluntary act of worship but an instinctive reaction of fear.
The apostle Peter gives us what is perhaps the primary reason for our awe and dread of God. After a night of unsuccessful fishing, Peter was discouraged. Then Jesus performed a miracle that suddenly overloaded Peter’s nets. “When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at
Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!’” (Luke 5:8). Awe and dread are natural responses of the imperfect to the perfect, of the marred to the beautiful, of the contaminated to the pure, of the powerless to the powerful.
Astonished Devotion
If awe and dread are appropriate responses to God, how do we reconcile that with Paul’s confident statement in Romans 8:1? “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” As believers in Christ, we know we can live with absolutely no fear of the wrath of God. That’s an assurance engraved in eternity.
This brings up an important question. If Christ has removed the need for fear of God’s wrath, do we really need to fear God at all? Paul answers by telling us that fear still has its place. He instructs his friends in Philippi to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). Peter also affirms the role of fear when he admonishes us, “Conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear” (1 Peter 1:17). Why should we continue to fear God if His grace removes the consequences of His wrath?
We find the explanation in the Bible’s second conception of fear. For active followers of Jesus Christ, this understanding is the most meaningful for everyday living. We fear God by honoring, reverencing, and cherishing Him. His greatness and majesty reduce us to an overpowering sense of awe that is not focused only on His wrath and judgment but also on His transcendent glory, which is like nothing else we can confront in this world. It leaves us all but speechless.
Though God had every right to judge the human race, in astounding mercy He sent His own Son to stand in judgment for us. So to fear only God’s power with trembling and dread without fearing (or respecting) His astonishing love is an incomplete response that diminishes our experience and enjoyment of Him.
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