Fear Him, Not Them

“Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28, HCSB)

At one time or another, everyone thinks about death. When death comes to the mind, fear usually follows. When people ask: “What happens when I die?” the question brings with it the fear of an answer that life just ends. Sometimes we may think about the way death can occur – cancer, murder, or a drug overdose. When we think about the way death can happen, we fear it. We get scared of death. We may try to avoid it, ignore it, or deny it.

However, Jesus has an answer to help us with this death problem. Jesus said: “Fear Him, not them.” By that I mean that Jesus does not want us to be concerned about the manner of our physical death. We may be able to delay our physical death, but we can’t avoid it. Jesus said that we should be more concerned with what is going to happen after we die.

He answers the question, “What happens when I die?” and says that there is a place for people who die. If you trust Jesus, then you go to be with Him. If you don’t trust Jesus, then He will be able to destroy both the body and the soul in Hell.

The Person who controls death is Jesus. He controls what happens to the soul after bodily death. Our soul will go on after our bodies die. It will go to one of two places – Heaven or Hell. In either location, our souls reside forever. In Heaven, it will be a pleasant experience. However, in Hell, the soul will experience eternal unpleasantness and torment.

Hell is a real place – it is a destination with a location, not an idea. Jesus will not end the soul’s existence (which is called annihilationism). Instead, Jesus will exact divine punishment. Jesus says to not worry about the ways in which your body can die. Worry about where your soul goes.

If you have not trusted Jesus, then you should fear Him because He has control over your soul after you die. To the question “What happens when you die?” in this case, Jesus says that He will deposit your soul in Hell.

So don’t worry about how you will die when you think about death. Instead, consider Who is controlling your eternal destiny.