He Has the Keys

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"When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: 'Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.' " — Revelation 1:17-18

Bible Reading

REVELATION 1:9-18

Devotional

We are all going to die. Unless Christ returns within the next hundred years, all the readers of this page will have died. Perhaps you find this thought appalling. Maybe it is an unnecessary reminder. But nobody can deny that it is realistic.

Death is our constant companion, although we never get used to him. When people speak of death as their friend, they are not quite healthy anymore. Death is our enemy (1 Cor. 15:26), whatever else we Christians have to say about him. Thank God, we can say more.

Death is a dark curtain, and nobody can see through it. It is a high wall, and nobody can look over it. The older we get, the greater the number of people we used to know who have vanished behind that curtain. Nobody has returned.

Only one man went that way and returned. His name is Jesus. He now crosses our paths because he is in the land of the living. He comes to us while we are still on our way. And he laid his hand on John's head, an infinitely gentle gesture. "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. You have to die, but I was dead and I live. When you have to go through the gate, do not be afraid. I have been there. And I have the keys."

Jesus speaks as the One who has conquered death in death's own realm. And he has every right to speak that way. He is forever beyond the dominion of death, but death is not outside Christ's dominion. That's what he means when he says: "I hold the keys." His authority extends behind the dark curtain.

As far as we can see, the righteous and the unrighteous leave this life through the same gate. They disappear behind the same wall. But we have heard the Word and received the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Therefore we walk our way with confidence. Even when we have to take that last step, we hear his voice: "Do not be afraid. I hold the keys."

REFLECTIONS

Reflect on your own attitude toward death. What are you afraid of? What comforts you?

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Death. What a topic to speak about, especially during Memorial weekend while we remember those who have served our country in the armed forces. Some have lived to tell the tale and others are fallen soldiers who died, brave, defending their country. But to echo what was already said - death is in all of our futures. All doctors can agree that 10 out of 10 patients will die at some point. It may be randomly, it may be expected, it may be 40 years from now, but the day will come where we will come face to face with our maker. There is no escaping it.

I know this probably seems a bit morbid and maybe to some of you, its hard to think about death because it may seem scary or sad. Death is incredibly sad to me and its even worse when you know that person was not a believer. But its a reality that I think we should all discuss openly and honestly. I know you all have heard the saying "live life as if it were your last" - so even the secular world subtly reminds us that we are not immortal beings. The encouraging part about this is, as Christ's child, we don't have to look at death as something permanent. As part of Christ's universal church, our physical bodies may die, but our soul will then go on to be with Jesus in Glory. How amazing is that? Just as Christ died and resurrected and ascended into heaven, when we are His child, we have hope that death may sting, but we can rest that it is only for a moment, followed by eternal joy and peace.

"He is forever beyond the dominion of death, but death is not outside Christ's dominion. That's what he means when he says: "I hold the keys." His authority extends behind the dark curtain." Christ conquered death and by doing that He "holds the key" of dominion over that looming reality we call death. The remarkable thing is to see what Christ ruling over death means to His children. It means that God no longer sees us for what we truly are, He sees us through Christ, and sees us as covered by the blood of the Lamb! It means that death will seem like seconds as we are then united with our Heavenly Father for all eternity! Its a new life, a new beginning that will never end! Heaven - Amazing. If you can, I recommend reading the book, Heaven by Randy Alcorn. It is a beautiful book about the glories of Heaven and the life waiting for us with our Father!!

Don't get me wrong, there are things about death that I am not comfortable with, that make me uneasy. I selfishly do not want to die in pain and I also do not want to leave loved ones behind to have deal with grief and suffering. Unfortunately, my life has not been shy of death and the loss of loved ones. Actually, a friend of mine just passed away a month ago from Cystic Fibrosis. He was only 24. It just goes to show we never know when our time on earth is up and when we will go to meet our maker.

The comforting thing for me is that I know that I am sealed in the hand of the one who holds the key of dominion over death. He has me and will not let go. The hope of heaven allows me to rest assured that no matter if my death is scary, sad, expected, unexpected, painful or painless - once I'm in heaven with my Father, He will wipe away any tears from eyes, there will be no more pain and I can worship at His feet and love Him perfectly for eternity! Its so exciting!! What do you all think? Agape.