What is Death and Why Does Death Happen?

From listening to comments in our contemporary world, as well as views and observations of others historically, it appears clear to this author, that death, as well as evil, are the two primary obstacles for belief in the creator God.

In this blog, we will address what appears to be the single biggest obstacle by far, and that of death. There is more that could be said about this subject than space will allow for in this blog post. However, we believe the information presented will be compelling enough to persuade those open to its consideration.

Death as clearly described in the Bible takes two forms. Spiritual and Physical.

In the very first account from scripture where the word “die” is presented, Genesis 2:16-17 states, “And Jehovah God layeth a charge on the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden eating thou dost eat; and of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou dost not eat of it, for in the day of thine eating of it — dying thou dost die.’ (Young’s Literal Translation) [emphasis mine]

That translation is a little wordy from the simple English way of speaking and can be a little hard to decipher with the use of words like, layeth, thou, and dost. But it does provide a better literal understanding of what is being said when broken to modern terminology.

Layeth simply means commanded, thou means you, and dost means certainly or surely.

The very important point to understand from this text is the wording in verse 17, where it states, “in dying you shall die.” Why is that so important? Because the Hebrew word MUWTH which was translated “die” over 250 times in the King James Version, was used twice at the end of that verse. The verse is literally saying, “You will die die.”

How can someone die twice?

When reading the full account of what happened in Genesis 2:16-17, along with Genesis 3:1-7, we see that the man and woman did not crumble over or collapse immediately and die on the spot.

So, what is going on here?

What is going on is we see that there are two forms or types of death that came upon humankind because of their disobedience. Spiritual and physical. Spiritual death was the immediate result which led to physical death which was progressive.

“Death” as described in the Bible never means ceasing to exist. It indicates separation. Physical death is when the spirit and soul separate from the body (James 2:26). But the spirit/soul continues to exist, just separate from the body.

Spiritual death is when our spirit is separated from God. Everyone’s spirit and soul will continue to exist for eternity. It is just a matter of where? Either with God or eternally separated from Him and all that is good.

Romans 3:23 states, “for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.” (NASB)

Consequently, all must die spiritually and physically.

However, Romans 6:23 states clearly that, “For the wages of sin is death,” just as the Lord told Adam in the Genesis account. But that Romans 6:23 verse goes on to say “but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ.”

Because of God’s incredible love for His human creation, He sent His Son, Jesus the Christ, to die in our place (John 3:16). To those who will receive Him (John 1:12), He gave the right to become a new creation (spiritually) in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

This is important because a vast number of conservative theologians accept animal death before Adam’s Fall. No significant doctrines are impacted, they say, if animals have been killing each other for millions of years. (Dr. Terry Mortenson, Answers Magazine)

Ultimately, one’s view and beliefs regarding death is directly connected to one’s overall worldview. (See related blog post: There is no Creator God? Really?)

The underlying beliefs regarding death, as well as evil, is tied directly to a correct Biblical understanding of the sovereignty of God. God is most definitely sovereign in that there is no greater power in the universe than Him. But that issue needs to be properly understood in the light and context of scripture, because there are many bad, evil, and outright heinous acts attributed to God that He had and has absolutely nothing to do with, according to the Bible.

We will do a separate blog post and video teaching on the sovereignty of God topic in the future. The only reason it is mentioned here is because even for believers in the creator God of the Bible, it ties into the issue of death.

Time and Death

From an evolutionary point of view, death for the most part is thought to have been a permanent part of the world. This is undoubtedly the conclusion Charles Darwin (Origin of the Species …) came to after the death of his daughter Annie. (A. Desmond and J. Moore, Darwin: The Life of a Tormented Evolutionist (New York, NY: WW Norton & Company, 1991) p. 387.

The grief he experienced was no doubt almost unbearable. I get that. I have experienced the passing of family members myself, like many others have.

But how does it follow that because of death, creation itself, and all the immense complexities and extremely intricate functions of life as we know it, is the result of a random chance explosion of extremely dense non-living matter “billions” of years ago?

Belief in evolution and the millions years age of the earth, requires that death has been a part of history since life first appeared. The fossil layers, which contain billions of dead things, supposedly represent life over millions of years.

The “secrets of evolution” as Carl Sagan put it, “are time and death.” (C. Sagan, Cosmos, Part 2: One Voice in the Cosmic Fugue, produced by Public Broadcast Company, Los Angeles, with affiliate station KCET, first aired 1980.)

Evolutionist say fossils represent not only millions of years of history and a record of life, but also of death. In essence, the evolutionist history of death is:

Death, suffering and disease over millions of years led to humans emergence, which exist in this present world, and will continue on into the unknown future. Death, they say, is a permanent part of history.

The biblical teaching on death is very clear and consistent from Genesis to Revelation. Six times during the creation week (Genesis 1), God called the creation “good,” and when He finished on day 6 is called everything “very good” (Genesis 1:31). That “very good” state is seen partially by the fact that man, land animals and birds were originally vegetarian according to Genesis 1:29-30. Given that connection between man and land animals, this would further support the idea that land creatures were vegetarians before the fall, and therefore had no need to kill and devour one another as we see today.

As opposed to “time and death,” the words “sin and death” is an accurate way to sum up the history of death according to the Bible. God’s original creation was marred because of Adam’s rebellion, and sin with its consequence of death entered the world that was once a paradise.

“Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” (Romans 8:20-22, NLT)

The opinion of millions of years came from the belief that most of the fossil-bearing layers were laid millions of years before man existed. Those, including Christians, who accept that, and try to fit it into the Bible must also accept death of animals, disease, suffering, animals eating each other, and other natural evil in the non-human creation, before sin. (answersingenesis.org)

All of that is clearly in opposition to the teaching of Scripture that these things could not have existed until after sin.

Human Physical Death

Scripture clearly states there could not been human death (physical) before Adam sinned. Romans 5:12 states, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all mankind, because all sinned.” (NASB)

When Adam sinned, he immediately died spiritually. His relationship with God was broken and he also began dying physically, as his body began the process of growing old and dying.

As a result of that, all of humankind has inherited Adam’s sin nature and suffered the same consequences of spiritual and physical death.

Now, I can hear the thought and question many have. “That’s Not Fair, AND Why should we face the consequences of Adam’s sin when we did not eat the fruit?”

That is an obvious and probably legitimate question, one which I “grappled” with for a time. It seems the reason we would think and ask that is because we, humans in general, see ourselves in a totally different “light” from the way God sees us.

Most of us see ourselves as “good” people. Very few people would not consider themselves a “good” person if asked. But the real question is “good” compared to what, or better, to who?We may consider ourselves to be “good” compared to most of our friends, family or neighbors, but they are not the standard by which Jesus (John 5:22) will judge us. His standard requires absolute pure, 100% perfection (in word, thought and deed), and obviously nobody, but nobody has ever lived up to that.

So, when someone thinks they would not have sinned in the beginning like Adam did, we might want to think that through a little bit. If we give ourselves the benefit of the doubt, we may have lasted a little longer than Adam did, but in the end we too would more likely than not have sinned. At least God knows we would have.

That admission and our acknowledgment of our need for a Savior to be right with God requires humility on our part. However, there is that nasty little thing called pride that gets in the way of many people, which causes a reluctance to bow their knee to the Lord God Almighty.

There is much more that could be said about that, but the good news is just as Adam’s sin was imputed to us, so also was Jesus’ righteous imputed to us (2 Corinthians 5:21) if we receive Him.

There is no verse of Scripture that specifically teaches that there was no animal death before sin. However, a close reading of Genesis 1:29-30, would lead us to conclude this. It should be noted first though, that the Bible is not about animals. It is about humankind and our relationship with God. Therefore, we would not expect much specific teachings about animals as there is about man. But in the Genesis 1:29-30 account, it is strongly inferred that the animals were to be vegetarian originally (before sin).

Why is that important?

Because people, including some Christians, who believe the fossil record that is claimed by secularist to be millions of years old, has in it numerous examples of animals having eaten other animals, supposedly millions of years before man. That is contrary to the Bible strong inference that animals were vegetarian originally.

In Genesis 1:31, at the end of the sixth day of creation, God described the entire creation as “very good.” However, in the fossil record, there are many examples of diseases in the bones of animals (e.g., tumors [cancer]; arthritis; abscesses etc). Such diseases could not be described as “very good,” when in the rest of the Bible diseases are always viewed as bad and a result of sin and the curse. These diseases simply could not have existed before sin. (answeringenesis.org)

If the Bible makes it clear there was no animal death and disease and no carnivorous animals before sin, then we cannot add millions of years into the Bible. To do so undermines the authority of Scripture and comes with major theological implications.

The battle between creation and evolution, between young-earth and old-earth views, is in fact a battle between two totally different histories of death. (answersingenesis.org)

What is Death and Why Does Death Happen? – Conclusion

So, what is at stake in this issue of death and other natural evils before the Fall? Nothing less than the character of God Himself, the authority, and reliability of His Word, and the truth of the Gospel.

The age of the earth is not a salvation issue, but it is a gospel issue. It is not necessary to believe in a young earth and global Flood to be saved.

We only need to believe in Jesus as Savior and Lord to be saved. But the acceptance of millions of years of natural evil in the non-human creation undermines the reliability and authority of the Bible that gives us the gospel and destroys the whole reason for the gospel and Christ’s final redemptive work.

If we call into question the literal understanding of Genesis 1-11, then we subject the rest of the Bible into question, specifically the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the event and truth upon which the entirety of Christianity rises or falls.

It is not “nature” that presents evidence for millions of years, but rather the scientific majority’s naturalistic interpretation of some of the observations of nature that leads to this conclusion. (Terry Mortenson, “Philosophical Naturalism and the Age of the Earth: Are They Related?” The Master’s Seminary Journal, 15 (1): 72–91.

Sadly, some well-respected Christian philosophers and prominent apologists, including some influential scientist, have yielded to the secular scientific community’s position, and have abandoned the Biblical view.

One example of this is William Lane Craig’s interview on Canadian TV in 2009 explaining why he rejected the 6000-years age of the universe. He stated, “I don’t think it’s plausible. The arguments that I give are right in line with mainstream science. I’m not bucking up against mainstream science in presenting these arguments. Rather I’m going with the flow of what contemporary cosmology and astrophysics supports.” (Interview by Christian Canadian TV talk-show host, Michael Coren on February 6, 2009).

Well, if we are going to go “with the flow” on what the contemporary prevailing view is on any subject matter that is inconsistent with the Bible, then we might as well disregard the entirety of God’s Word, and just go with the alleged “wisdom of man,” which is foolishness (Romans 1:22).

A large and growing body of scientific evidence shows that both evolution and millions of years are religiously, and philosophically motivated myths disguised as proven scientific facts. God describes death as the last enemy in 1 Corinthians 15:26, and that is the point. Death is an enemy, and intrusion. The Bible makes it clear that God does not delight in death.

In Ezekiel 33:11 we read, “Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn you from your evil ways!…” [emphasis mine]

God takes no pleasure in the afflictions and calamities (death, etc.) of people, as some erroneously accuse Him of. The death of man and the animals was not part of the original creation. And even though death reigns in this present world, one day in the future there will be no more death.

“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away” (Revelation 21:4) [emphasis mine]

The choice is ours. We either go with Scripture that was inspired by the infinite God of creation (2 Timothy 3:16) or go with man’s so-called wisdom which is finite.