God’s Mercy in Death
While the death of a loved one can cause the survivors great loss and mourning. For the one departed, the loss is not the same. The Bible asks us to look at the loss from a different frame of reference. Some ask: "If there is an all-powerful, all-loving God, why do good people die while they are still young?" The Bible gives some insight into this question. Also see the "Pain and Suffering in Light of God's Love and Power" page.
Philippians 1:21 "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." The "to gain" is in reference to having entrance to the New Creation, through the Grace and Mercy found in Jesus Christ (not good works). Psalm 139:16 "Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book..." God knows how many days you need to be alive to make up your mind about His offer of forgiveness and salvation. Psalm 90:12
1) The righteous sometimes die young. Why? To protect from future torment (the person may have a very bad future if they remain on Earth.) To protect heavenly rewards (the person may fall away from the good walk with the Lord, thus lose heavenly spiritual rewards, called crowns of faith). Be an instrument for good (like the death of Stephen in Acts 7, which brought others to faith in Christ)
2) The righteous sometimes die old. Why? To maximize heavenly reward, and to protect a spiritual heritage (pass on faith). To provide an opportunity to complete ignored service to others.
3) The wicked sometimes die young. Why? They lacked wisdom to live on earth. They may have been led astray by folly. To stop the spread of more wickedness. To limit judgment on them. To limit the grief of their relatives and loved ones (they could hurt then even more in the future.)
4) The wicked sometimes die old. Why? To give them time to learn and repent of their ways. Time to ask those they hurt for forgiveness.
References:
The righteous sometimes die young
1 Kings 14:6–13 Isaiah 57:1–2, 2 Kings 20:1–21:16 Acts 4:32–5:11, 2 Chronicles 32:22–33:6 Acts 7:54–8:4, Isaiah 36–39 Acts 9, Psalm 23:4
The righteous sometimes die old
Psalm 116:15 Ephesians 2:10, 1 Corinthians 3:12–15 2 Timothy 4:6–8, Philippians 1:21–26 Revelation 14:13,
The wicked sometimes die young
Genesis 38:6–19 Proverbs 5:21–23, Job 20:4–11 Proverbs 29:16, Psalm 55:15 Ecclesiastes 2:26,
The wicked sometimes die old
Ezekiel 18:23 2 Peter 3:9, 1 Timothy 2:4 Revelation 2:21
On death in general
Isaiah 65:19–25 , Ezekiel 18:20–32, Proverbs 16:4 , 1 Corinthians 3:12–15, Ecclesiastes 7:2–4 , Ecclesiastes 8:8, Revelation 20:11–15, Ecclesiastes 9:2–6
Death
People who have no assurance of their salvation fear death. I know, since I was afraid of death before I put my faith in Jesus Christ. If there is no God, then death would be merely a ceasing of existence, with nothing to fear. However, if Christianity is true, then those who do not believe should fear death, since the fate of believers and non-believers is quite different. Death is a natural part of life (all will died); sadly, many today view many deaths as a failure of our medical system, and not just part of life.
Why judgment? The consistency of the physical laws of the universe is a reflection of God's unchangeable and righteous nature. In order to be consistent and righteous, God must judge every behavior that is not consistent with His. Therefore, any ungodly behavior must be judged and condemned by God in order for Him to retain His righteousness. A common myth is that God "grades on the curve" and "as long as I behave better than most people, He will allow me into heaven." God's righteousness is absolute, not relative. Now one is good enough to get to heaven by their own works. Thus God offers total forgiveness of all past and future wrongdoings (sins). The forgiveness must be humbly accepted in faith; Jesus Christ has paid the debt that one can not pay on their own.
Why fear? Public speaking (glossophobia) and death ranked as a top human fears. As spiritual creatures, humans recognize that their spirits are eternal and that they will face God after death. The Bible says that knowledge of God's existence and the eternal nature of the human spirit has been revealed to all people:
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end (Ecclesiastes 3:11, italics added).
No fear?: I have found some Atheists say that God doesn't exist, yet fear death. Numerous other religions claim a god or gods, and have some works-based system to try to overcome judgment or the bad things they have done in their lives. It is only Christianity that says that death brings you face to face with God, and He either knows you (as you took His offer of forgiveness found in Jesus Christ), or you have rejected Him and are hoping you are good enough. The message of the Bible, from the Creator of all, is that no one is good enough to enter the New Creation, based on their "good" works. So the only kind of uncertainty that should be feared is whether or not Christianity is true and Juses Christ is who He says He is.
Ending fear: If you want to relieve your fears about death, you should try to determine if Christianity is true or false, that is Is Jesus who He says He is. The assignment is not too difficult. It isn't as if you need to examine every religion on the face of the earth - just one. Unlike the other religions, which generally go uncriticized, there are numerous objections to Christianity, especially by atheists. It's as if they know that Christianity is the only religion that seriously challenges their atheism. So, you are going to live in fear and doubt until you deal with the question of whether Christianity is true or not. Visit the Is Christianity True? page, Bible vs Science page and make a rational decision about the God of the Bible.
Conclusion: If you fear death, yet believe that God does not exist, then please look at what the Bible says: see the Eternal Security page.