We all come face to face with a dark fear in this world that cannot be brushed away. It's rarely spoken of, but it never goes unfelt, and it's the fear of death. This fear is universal in scope and it's enslaving in its power, and is a fear Jesus Christ came to conquer and defeat on behalf of sinners like you and me.

John Piper explained this more fully in his sermon titled "You Will Never See Death" preached on May 14, 2011. Near the end of the sermon, Pastor John explained Hebrews 2, verse 14 by saying this. The effect of Jesus' death in our place as the God-man in Hebrews 2, verse 14 is what I want you to feel and see in the last few minutes of this message.

"Since therefore the children," that's us, just people, "Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood," that is we're human, "He himself," the Son of God, "likewise partook of the same things," the same nature, that is he became human. See the dynamic. The question is now, since we're human, He became human.

He became human. This is what we're seeing in John all over the place. And here's the reason. "So that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death," that is the devil, "and deliver," this is us now, "deliver all those who through the fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery." The writer to the Hebrews believes that all human beings are enslaved their whole life by the fear of death, even when they don't know it.

In 1973, Ernest Becker wrote a Pulitzer Prize-winning book called "The Denial of Death." It was all the rage in the 70s. The thesis of the book was the same as the thesis of Hebrews. Humanity is enslaved globally by fear of dying. And what humans do is deny, deny, deny, deny, and we find all kinds of ways, religious ways, alcoholic ways, work ways, family ways, beautiful ways, surgery ways.

Take 10 years off. Listen to this. I'll read you the thesis. The main thesis of this book, Becker says, the main thesis of this book is that the fear of death haunts the human animal like nothing else. It is a main spring of human activity, activity designed largely to avoid the fatality of death, to overcome it by denying in some way that it is the final destiny for man.

Becker has no answer. He's just documenting this pervasive reality, this massive human effort to deny, deny this reality of death. Jesus has an answer. His answer is to, number one, say, "I am God." Number two, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth." Number three, "I lay down my life for my people and cover all their sin and provide all their righteousness." Number four, "I conquer death, and I conquer Satan who has the power of death." Number five, "I rise from the dead." Number six, "I take away the fear of dying." That's Jesus' answer.

Hebrews and Becker, Ernest Becker, and the writer of the Hebrews, both say that the fear of death produces pervasive, lifelong slavery. Don't miss that. See at the end of verse 15 in Hebrews 2, "I came to deliver those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery." You may not think that.

He does. I believe. I'm going to agree with him, not you. John Piper, "Until grace does a miracle," is subconsciously driven to deny my death. There are things in your life right now that are owing to the fear of death that you don't know are owing to the fear of death, and that if you could have this stunning liberation from the fear of death, there would come into your life a kind of freedom and a kind of risk-taking, adventuresomeness for God that would change almost everything in your life.

It is haunting our choices, making us cautious and wary and restrained and confined and narrow and tight and robbing us from risk and adventure and dreams for the sake of Christ and the kingdom and the cause of love in the world. Why do you live such cautious lives? Why do you devote so much energy to security?

It's just absurd if the one who said, "Before Abraham was, I am," said, "You keep my word, you'll never die, ever." You have entered life. You have passed out of death. You have moved around judgment. You are hidden with Christ in God. It cannot be ended. It cannot be interrupted.

What are you afraid of? Beautiful, freeing, and motivating. That was a clip from John Piper's sermon, "You Will Never See Death," preached on May 14th, 2011. It was suggested to us by Timothy White of San Diego, California. Thank you, Timothy, for the suggestion. You can find the full message on our site, along with a couple thousand other messages like this one from John Piper in our sermon archive at desiringgod.org.

On Wednesdays, we dive into the archive and pull out a classic clip. And if you have a favorite clip from a John Piper sermon, email us the title of the sermon and if possible, the timestamp of when and where the clip occurs in the audio. Put the word "clip" in the subject line of an email and send it to us at askpastorjohn@desiringgod.org.

What happens when a pastor of an evangelical church thinks it's a good idea to officiate a so-called same-sex marriage? What does an elder board do in response? Pastor John will think through a tough question faced by one church right now. I'm your host, Tony Reinke. We'll see you tomorrow.

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