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DEATH & DYING THE BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE (revised 4/13/03) Death Death to the modern man appears to be a problem. It seems that every Christian wants to go to heaven, but nobody really wants to die. One philosopher said "man must first learn to die well before he can learn to live well." Death, are you afraid of dying? Death, do you worry about dying? Death, do you worry about loved ones dying? Death, are you concerned about where you will go when you die? MANY CHRISTIANS ARE AFRAID OF DYING, WHY? (A) Discussion SATAN'S ROLE (a) Satan is the ruler of this world (2 Cor. 4:4) (b) Satan uses death as a means to bring about fear in the human race Hebrews 2:14-15 14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. As Christians we can check our own spiritual progress by our attitude toward death. Our attitude toward death is a direct determines our capacity for life. Fear of death causes instability in the life of the Christian. PHYSICAL DEATH (a) Physical death occurs when the human soul separates from the body. When the believer dies his / her soul goes to heaven 2 Cor 5:8-10 8 we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. 9 Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. (b) When the unbeliever dies his / her soul will go to a place called Hades, to await the Last Judgement and there the unbeliever will be sentenced to the Lake of the Fire. The Lake of the Fire is the final destination for unbelievers and fallen angels. WHY PHYSICAL DEATH? (a) Genesis 2:17 gives the beginning of spiritual death and physical death is only a consequence of spiritual death 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die." (b) Hebrews 9:27 gives us our destiny in relation to living and dying and dying without Jesus Christ.