The Light at the End of Our Path
Bob Yandian
…and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Hebrews 2:15 NKJV
Fear of Death
Hebrews 2:15 tells us one of the reasons Jesus came to redeem us was to remove the fear of death. The writer also tells us fearing the day we die brings a lifetime of bondage. Knowing heaven is on the other side of physical death should remove all fear and bring an assurance we will enter eternity and live with our Lord Jesus forever. Life can be wonderful for a Christian, but heaven will be far greater.
The key to understanding our loss of fear over death is to know that each day is designed to be better than the previous. This can only come with growth in God’s word and a closeness to our Friend and Guide, the Holy Spirit. Situations in life can be good or bad, but with either, today should be better than yesterday, no matter what we are facing.
God’s Plans Are Progressive
“The path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day” (Proverbs 4:18).
Almost everything God does for us is progressive. Because we grow in intimacy and dependence on God, He can trust us with more of His blessings and greater accuracy of His will for our lives.
1. Getting healed should lead to a life of health.
“Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers” (3 John 2). Prosperity of the soul is another term for the renewing of the mind (Romans 12:2). Knowledge of God’s word will bring healing. But a large group of scriptures dealing with God’s grace of healing in our lives can produce a life of health. We no longer fall back on an individual scripture of healing but have a number of scriptures producing an entire doctrine of healing and divine health.
2. Receiving finances from God’s faithfulness should lead to a life of prosperity.
Our verse in 3 John 2 tells us God’s desire is not that we only have health, but that we also prosper. Not just have each need met. We no longer need to face shortages but have enough and more to meet not only our own needs but the needs of others.
3. God’s time periods and dispensations are also progressive.
The first time period was perfect – Adam and Eve living in a paradise, the Garden of Eden. Their fall took mankind to its lowest. Since that time each time period of Conscience, Promise, and Law have progressively increased in blessing. Our dispensation of Grace is the best since the fall. IN the next time period, the Millennium, we will see the removal of the curse on the earth, and we will experience one thousand years of a worldwide Garden of Eden. Each passing day leads us to a perfect day.
