Forced to come to terms with his own physical death so often, the reality of human mortality comes to play an important role in the Apostle Paul’s thinking. How did Paul find meaning in his own death and how can we face the fears and anxieties of death and dying and live life with authenticity and vigor?
Existentialism and faith
When we talk about the meaning of death and dying in the life and writings of the Apostle Paul, we may refer to the process of dying, the state of being dead, or of those who have already died. Someone may have a fear of death itself, or of the suffering that accompanies dying, or about the anxiety of losing someone to death.
It is worth mentioning in this discussion existentialism; that life is experienced authentically when we are able to overcome the fear and anxiety of death. We can say that death is existential in that it is part of our existence and part of our life experience, whether or not we talk about it,...
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Death and the fear of death are the big negatives that drive people to do everything they can to avoid them and avoid thinking of them. They are the strategic means Satan uses to keep mankind in spiritual bondage. They were overcome by the actual death of Messiah and by His using death as the means to conquer the bondage the fear of death puts us into. The redeemed soul is to die to self and the bondage it committed itself to at the Fall. In doing so the self-life is crucified in Christ (Gal 2:20) and becomes the cross the believer carries (Matt 16:24). He takes part in a divine exchange whereby Messiah takes his death and he receives Christ’s life. This is publicly proclaimed at his baptism where Christ identified with the sinner during His baptism to fulfil all righteousness (Matt 3:15).