“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 death to us and take us through it. Will it be God, or—as the text cited above might tempt us to think—will it be the devil?

The answer is: It will certainly be God, and the Christ who, by his righteous life and atoning death, purchased our redemption, brought us to faith, delivered us from condemnation, and released us from the fear death, which had previously held us in its dark and destructive grip.

On this matter of physical death, the Scripture is clear: It is altogether in the hands of God (1 Sam. 2:6). It is the judgment he himself imposed upon the family of man due to the sin of the first Adam (Gen. 2:17; Rom. 5:12). It is part of the curse that he himself wisely laid upon the whole creation (Is. 25:7; Rom. 8:20). It is part of the flow of events that we call history, a history decreed by God and altogether under the control of him who upholds all things by his powerful word, and who guides them to their appointed ends (Psalm 139:15; Is. 46:8-11; Rom. 8:28-29; Eph. 1:11; Heb. 1:3). And as we see clearly both in the resuscitations performed by Christ and in his own resurrection from the dead, he, and he alone, holds the keys to death and hades, having both authority and power to release his beloved people from their grip once and for all (Matt. 28:1-10; John 11; 1 Cor. 15; Rev. 1:18).

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 (Matt. 4:16; Heb. 2:14-15)?

The answer is found in Revelation 12, where the devil is revealed as the accuser of the brotherhood, the hateful archangel who accuses them day and night before the throne of God, appealing to his holiness, sovereignty, and justice, inciting him to throw the book at them, desperately hoping that he will judge and punish them for their sins (Job 1-2; Luke 22:31; Rev. 12:10).

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). Which is to say, they simply rest all of their faith and hope upon the righteous life and sacrificial death of Christ on the Cross (Phil. 3:7-11); they simply trust that henceforth they have a loving Friend and Advocate with the Father (1 John 2:1); they simply rejoice that their great High Priest is continually making intercession for them, effectively securing their eternal pardon based on the infinite merit of his shed blood (Rom. 3:21-26; 8:34; Heb. 7:25). Viewed from above, such faith elicits the approving smile of their heavenly Father, who promptly throws the devil out of court. The children are doing just as he would wish: In all simplicity, they are depending upon the Person and Work of his Son, who, on the day of his own death, cried, “It is finished!”

The result is victory. For whether before the throne of God above, or in the hearts of the saints on earth, Satan’s power to condemn God’s elect and put them to spiritual death is shattered. Henceforth, the Spirit of God steels his justified children’s conscience, strengthens their assurance of salvation, and forever breaks the chains of the fear of death (Rom 8:31-39; 1 Cor. 15:50-57).

Brothers and sisters, it is our Lord Jesus Christ who REALLY holds the power of death. And he would have us all to know that in his infinite love he is already waiting for us up ahead, at the day of our own death; and also that he will faithfully bring us through it for his glory, our eternal happiness, 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