What’s uppermost on everyone’s mind today? While we are all concerned with what’s going to happen with the economy, and wondering when things will get back to normal, there is also an underlying anxiety or apprehension of “what if I get it?”

What if the virus visits our house?

Is there a possibility I could die?

Death is the final equalizer. As a believer, I do not fear death at all. There are some days when I would welcome it. I do not look forward to the process of dying, but I have full confidence that when I take my last breath on this planet, I will open my eyes to see the face of Jesus and take my first breath in my new home, heaven.

How can I have this hope? I have it because I believe God has told us the truth in His Word, and I have placed my faith “in Christ.” My hope of heaven is based purely on what Christ has done. I rest confidently that I am “in Him.”

In Romans 5:15-21, Paul compares Adam and Christ, explaining how God can save us “in Christ.” If you struggle with believing or understanding that your sins were truly paid for on the cross and that God is perfectly just and righteous to offer salvation by grace to you through Christ, the following quote from Warren Wiersbe’s book, Be Right, might help you.

Skeptics sometimes ask, “Was it fair for God to condemn the whole world just because of one man’s disobedience?” The answer, is, of course, it that it was not only fair; but it was also wise and gracious. To begin with, if God had tested each human being individually, the result would have been the same: disobedience. But even more important, by condemning the human race through one man (Adam), God was then able to save the human race through the One Man (Jesus Christ)! Each of us is racially united to Adam so that his deed affects us. The fallen angels cannot be saved because they are not a race. They sinned individually and were judged individually. There can be no representative to take their judgment for them and save them. But because you and I were lost in Adam, our racial head, we can be saved in Christ, the Head of the new creation. God’s plan was both gracious and wise.

Wiersbe goes on to remind us how we all know that we are in Adam: we all die.

Men do not die because of their own acts of sin; otherwise, babies would not die (Romans 9:11). Men die because they are united racially to Adam, and ‘in Adam all men die” (1 Corinthians 15:22).

So, what’s our choice? We can stay “in Adam” or accept God’s free offer of salvation in Christ and be “in Christ.”

Wiersbe concludes the chapter with these words:

The Old Testament is ‘the book of the generations of Adam’ (Genesis 5:1) and it ends with ‘a curse’ (Malachi 4:6). The New Testament is ‘The book of the generation of Jesus Christ’ (Matthew 1:1) and it ends with ‘no more curse’ (Revelation 22:3). You cannot help being ‘in Adam’ for this came by your first birth over which you had no control. But you can help staying ‘in Adam,’ for you can experience a second birth—a new birth from above—that will put you ‘in Christ.’ This is why Jesus said, “You must be born again” (John 3:7).

Our biggest fears come from the unknown.

WHEN will this “thing” end?

WHAT will life be like on the other side of it?

HOW will we recover from the repercussions and HOW will our lives change as a result?

There is, however, one “unknown” that you can take care of. The Bible strips away the mystery of death, exposes it for what it is (the wages of our sin), and tells us how it can be defeated. Only “in Christ” can we turn the unknown fear of death into a living, confident, assurance of eternal life. Only “in Christ.”