I recently conducted a funeral for a friend. The chapel was full of people whose faces revealed the reality of death’s invasion. "What is that look in their eyes?" I asked myself. The only answer that seemed to fit was intimidation. Sure, death is intimidating. It stops life as we know it, and we can’t manage it. But mostly it reminds us that there are consequences to mankind’s choices. Death came into God’s creation as a result of sin; so death and punishment are connected.

I believe that the main aspect of the fear of death is this penal aspect. After death there is judgment. No more time to make amends. No more cramming for finals. Now the real test is administered. Is anyone really ready?

This fear of punishment goes further than just physical death. It permeates all of life. It defines our attitude towards failure, and we begin to fear failure because it brings punishment. That leads to cautious living. Why venture out when the odds go up that you might fail? If you fail there will be some type of punishment.

This fear often paralyzes faith. It would be nice to live on the edge with nothing but the word of God to stand on, but what if you didn’t really hear the word of God? And what if you can’t hold out in faith?

The fear of punishment also leads toward judgmentalism. After all, when people fail they must be punished, and if God is not speedy about it, we will jump in to help. Then we are guilty of failing to be non-judgmental and expect something bad to happen as a result. In fact, most of us live with a mentality that is expecting "the other shoe to fall." Every bad thing is suspected as being punishment for personal failure. And we surely don’t have confidence to approach God in bold faith nor approach life with joyful expectancy. So, we just accept intimidation as natural and normal. We try to dress it up in clothes of humility and piety, but by any other name it is still the shaming power of intimidation.

Where did this dynamic get started, and is there an answer? Death entered the world as a result of sin. Since God is just and His creation carries the stamp of justice, everything and everyone has some aspect of justice in them, even in the fallen state.

Then there is Satan who is by name and nature the accuser. Like a universal prosecutor, he takes the Law of God and uses it against violators. His power is legal. He has the evidence of our injustice and insists on the punishment being carried out. It is in this way that he has the power of death.

Contrary to what some have led us to believe, Satan does not have arbitrary power to kill or let live. He has the authority God gave him. Before the fall of mankind, he had power to tempt man and accuse God. The book of Job shows a devil who is under the restraints of God as it relates to the people on earth. Remember that before he could test Peter he had to gain permission from God. He does not have absolute authority in the earth. He only rules over the world of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. He doesn’t own anything. Instead, he is the great trespasser. God uses Satan’s accusations against us to push us toward getting our information from God alone.

There is good news to hear and tell!

God fulfilled justice. He became one of us and lived under the Law. Through Jesus, the eternal Son, He lived up to the requirements of justice and then paid the ultimate punishment for our violations. He made propitiation for our sins. That means He took the full measure of God’s wrath and satisfied justice forever. In fact, Jesus, as our representative, satisfied the justice of God as if every person who ever lived had died and gone to eternal punishment. There is no more wrath left for those who are in Christ. That is why Paul can say in his letter to the Romans, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ…"

Understanding this made the early Christians radical and risky. They feared nothing but God. They undertook the assignment to proclaim the presence of God’s kingdom above all others. It cost them their lives. They died, but they did not fear death. Jesus had taken all the penalty out of death and made it a door into the unlimited liberty He bought on the cross. "Through death he destroyed death."

There is an Old Testament account that points toward this liberty Jesus purchased for us. There was a time when the armies of Israel were confronted by the Philistines who were occupying land that God had promised Israel. Their champion was a giant. He was more than nine feet tall. He carried a sword that no man could easily lift. His armor was as heavy as a good sized pony. He came out every day for 40 days to intimidate the army of Israel and mock their God. He taunted their cowardice, saying that their God could not deliver them from the Philistines’ hands. Israel’s army had grown accustomed to being put down by the giant no one could fight.

But, back at the father’s house… Jesse had a son. Several of Jesse’s boys were out there fighting, but one was left to tend the sheep. In the fullness of time, the father asked the young son to go to his brothers and take them gifts. He came to them but they rejected him and his gifts.

"He came to his own and his own did not receive him."

He didn’t fit what they expected of a warrior. He was just a boy — a shepherd boy. Young David went to Saul and asked for the privilege of fighting the giant. Saul tried to dress him in armor, but the young savior chose to go out in his own identity. He would fight as a shepherd. Down to the flowing brook he went, fresh water always being a picture of life, and picked up five stones.

Why five— he only needed one? Later, his antitype (the fulfillment of the type David represented) would go out to fight the Devil with the five books of the Law in His heart and only quote from one.

With one stone he struck the giant in the forehead and dropped him.

Reminds you of the battle in the wilderness between Jesus and the devil, doesn’t it? One word from God and all deception is disrobed and defeated.

But he was not finished. He ran and picked up Goliath’s sword and cut his head off. With the enemy’s own weapon he defeated the enemy.

"Through death he destroyed the one with the power of death."

He then held it up for the intimidated army to see. An amazing thing happened. They took courage from the action of their deliverer. They began to chase the enemy off the land that was theirs by promise. Over river and plain they chased them. Now the enemy was on the defensive rather than being the intimidator.

That is also what happened after the greater David died and was raised. Sensing that the power of death had been broken, the disciples of Jesus went to all the world with confidence that to live was Christ and to die was gain. They were not content to occupy some small piece of real estate in the Middle East. They knew their inheritance included the whole world (Romans 4:13). The kingdom of God was preached and practiced in every known land, and truth displaced the lies of Satan.

It is still our privilege to rout the forces of deception and defeat. Our Champion has destroyed him who has the power of death and delivered us who were subject to lifelong slavery.

Why be intimidated any longer? We cannot afford to listen to one who claims to have authority but does not. We must submit to the King who has all authority and has brought us into Himself. The penalty has been paid. The Law has been fulfilled. Death, though still around, has no power to punish. We are liberated from the intimidator.

There are millions who don’t know about this Savior. It is our privilege to tell them. A wonderful thing has happened, and we should be busy spreading the news. Those who know it never get tired of hearing it, for the devil still stands to accuse every day. Those who have never heard must hear. They have been loved of God too, and He has given us the privilege of sharing in His redemptive work.