Hebrews 2:14--16 Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil--and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels He helps, but Abraham's descendants. --NIV
In the name of the One Who helps Abraham's descendants, amen.
Death, how sad. Death affects each and every one of us. If you are among the fortunate few who have not been closely touched by death, enjoy your time now; you will be touched by it. Eventually, each and every one of us is closely touched by death. We mark the passing of our closest loved ones, and , short of Christ's return, we will experience death ourselves.
But Christ, who is true God and cannot die, saw fit to become a human being. We do not have words to properly describe how awesome that simple fact really is. Yes, Christ became a man so that He too could become intimately familiar with death. He did this for us, His brothers and sisters. He became intimately familiar so that we can know that we will see our lived ones in The Faith again some day. We will see them again, even if they die. He became intimately familiar with death so that we will not die eternally, and our mortal bodies will be raised again never to die. Glory be to Jesus Christ who trampled down death by death. Amen.
Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, how glorious is Your name in all the earth. You call people your brothers and sisters who were Your enemies. You took their flesh, and carried their sins. You took the punishment of those who were your enemies and conquered death by death so that Your enemies could truly be Your brothers and sisters. We thank and praise You for such incredible grace and mercy. Make us stand firm in our love for You. Protect our faith by Your Holy Spirit. Fill us with Your Holy Sprit so that we might reach out to all people. We ask this for the glory of Your holy name, amen.
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