“Inasmuch, then, as the children all share in flesh and blood,
he himself partook of flesh and blood just as they did,
so that through death he might break the power of him who held the power of death
—that is, the devil—
and release those who, through the fear of death,
were subject to bondage all throughout their lives.”
Hebrews 2:14-15

Unless the Lord Jesus returns beforehand (and in my case VERY beforehand), we who are Christians will die. When that happens, who will be in charge? Who will determine the day and manner of our death? Who will bring it to us and take us through it: God or (as the text above might tempt us to think) the devil?

The answer is: God, and the Christ who, by his righteous life and atoning death, released us from the fear death, which previously held us in its grip until the happy day we came to the Lord.

Scripture is clear: Physical death is altogether in the hands of God. It is the judgment he imposed upon the family of man due to the sin of the first Adam (Gen. 2:17). It is part of the curse that he himself wisely laid upon the whole creation, in order to teach us about sin, and to bring us to the only Rescuer from sin and the only Restorer to eternal life (Rom. 8:20).

Death is also part of the flow of events that we call history, a history altogether under the control of the Him who holds all things together by his powerful word, and who guides them to their appointed ends (Is. 46:8-11; Rom. 8:28-29).

In sum, God, in Christ, is lord over every man’s death, whether saint or sinner.

What, then, does the writer to the Hebrews mean when he says that the devil holds the power of death, and that he has the ability to torment human hearts with the fear of death?

The answer is found in Revelation 12, where the devil is called the accuser of the brotherhood, the hostile angel who accuses them day and night before the throne of God (Rev. 12:10). In so doing, his goal is to incite God to act against them, to judge and punish them for their sins (Job 1-2).

But in the case of the saints, it is a labor in vain. As it is written, “They overcame him through the blood of the Lamb” (Rev. 12:11). By appealing to the substitutionary death of Christ on the Cross, and by resting their faith firmly upon it, the saints elicit the approving smile of their heavenly Father, who promptly throws the devil out of court. They are doing just as the Father would wish: in all simplicity trusting in the Person and Work of his Son, who, on the day of his own death, cried, “It is finished!” Accordingly, Satan’s power to effectively charge them with sin and put them to spiritual death is shattered, and the chains of the fear of death are broken forever (Rom 8:31-39).

Brothers and sisters in Christ, it is our Lord Jesus Christ who REALLY holds the power of death. And he would have us know that, in infinite love, he will be waiting for us at the day of our own death, and will bring us safely through it for his glory, our joy, and the spiritual edification of all who behold our God-given courage, confidence, hope, and joy.

“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even if he dies.
And everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
John 11:25