Jeremiah Knight, Born Hindu, Saved by Grace
The only person who can truly face death without terror is the one whose life already belongs to Christ.
Death stops being an enemy to fear when Christ has already conquered what death threatens to take away. The man who can honestly say, “to me, to live is Christ” is the same man who can say, “to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21), because death no longer separates him from life but brings him into its fullness.
Scripture never teaches believers to love death itself. Death remains the last enemy (1 Corinthians 15:26). Yet for those united to Christ, its sting has been removed because sin has been forgiven and righteousness has been given through Him (1 Corinthians 15:55–57). What once condemned now becomes a doorway into the presence of the Lord.
The world clings to life because life is all it has. The Christian holds life loosely because Christ is his life (Colossians 3:3–4).
Our hope is not escape from suffering but union with the Savior who defeated the grave. Therefore Paul could say he desired “to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better” (Philippians 1:23), not out of despair but out of certainty. Only the one who has died to self in this life can face physical death with peace, because eternal life has already begun in him (John 11:25–26).
When Christ becomes our treasure, death loses its terror and becomes the moment faith turns to sight.