Jack---Your statement, "What's important is to be able to face death without fear.", is the crux of the matter. Jesus is the only power that can eliminate the fear of death. Frist, Jesus cleanses you from all of your sins and wrong doings and makes it possible to be reconciled with God. Secondly, Jesus demonstrates his power over physical and spiritual death by raising the biologically dead and then raising himself--one who had died both spiritually and biologically . When Jesus died on the cross, he died both physically and spiritually. It was His spirituallly death that made Him cry, "Father, why have you forsaken me". At that moment, all of the sins of manking pour upon Jesus on the cross. God the Father then truned His face away from sin--which Jesus had become for all of us. At that moment, Jesus felt all of the horror, fear, darkness of man's seperation from God because of sin--He became our atoning lamb.
Because of that atoning suffering and death, all of mankind has been freed from their sins if they accept Jesus. God places only one requirement---each individual must acknowledge Jesus. He has becaome the reality of the ancient Hebrew sacrificial lamb that was scrificed once a year for the sins of the people.
Through Jesus's sacrifice, God has deposited infinite funds in a bank account for all of manking. Each person must simply write a check on their account. Writing that check simply means to accept Jesus's sacrifice.
Emile |
