Death

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Death

By: Jim Crews

 

Death is first mentioned as a consequence for partaking of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil.

Genesis 2:17

 

Death is mentioned in the punishment of Adam.

Genesis 3: 19

 

However, Adam lived 930 years before he died.

Genesis 5: 5

 

God specifically said they would die in the day that they ate of the fruit. Obviously, God had a different meaning in mind than physical death.

Death is a separation. On the day Adam and Eve ate of the fruit, they were thrown out of the garden.

Genesis 3:23-24
 

Their sin had separated them from God. This is spiritual death.
 

Our sins cause us to be dead, but God has made a way for us to return to life.

Ephesians 2:4 - 7

The second death, spiritual death, is a permanent separation from God. One where there is no return to life.

Revelation 20:11-15  

Today, though, we want to study physical death. Physical death is the separation of the body from the spirit and soul.

James 2:26

You cannot see a spirit anymore than you can see the wind, but you know its effects.

John 3:8

 

Since we cannot see the spirit, we have difficulty in determining exactly when a person dies. There are three things used by doctors to determine time of death. Clinical death is when a person has stopped breathing and their heart stops pumping. Biological death is when the body tissues begin to decay. Legal death is when there is no response to resuscitation efforts.

We know that somehow the spirit sustains the body, but we don’t know how or when that substance ends until the effects stop.
 

 

There are many attitudes towards death. Most people don’t like change. Change is scary. We like things to stay somewhat constant and predictable. We get nervous when we don’t know what to expect or what is expected of us. Maybe we get a new job, or maybe we move to a new location, any major change brings on fears of the unknown. Death is the ultimate uncertainty. We don’t know what the other side is like. Everything we take for granted in this physical world will not apply in the spiritual. It is a scary thought.

A prime focus of religion throughout history has been to seek to give an explanation of what happens after death. Let’s take some time today to look at the false notions of death from other religions and compare it to what we are taught in the Bible.

The Egyptians believed the physical affected the spiritual. They believed that if the body was preserved then the spirit would go on living.  They buried things with the dead so they would have them to use. That's why we find mummies in tombs with boats, carts, and servants. Even their pets were buried with them.
 

 

Hinduism is predominantly a religion of India. It welcomes the worship of a large number of diverse deities. It accepts “truths” from many different and often contradictory sources. A devout Hindu believes there is room in Hinduism for Jesus, Mohammad, Zoroaster, Mohammed, and Moses.
 

In Hinduism, there is a rigid hierarchical ranking of society into castes. There are 2,000 castes in India, organized into 5 general groups.  Brahmans, or priests, are at the top followed by warriors, commoners, serfs, and the untouchables.

Hindus believe in the reincarnation of the soul after death. A person’s status in his reincarnated life is determined by how he lived in a previous life. A morally upright untouchable may be rewarded by returning to life as a serf in the next life. Animals and gender differences are also included in this system. An upright woman may be rewarded by returning as a man. An evil individual could be demoted to a lower caste, or even return as a bug. The top of the earthly cycle of lives is being reincarnated as a cow, hence the sacredness of cows in India.
 

The goal of the Hindu, through all of these deaths and rebirths, promotions and demotions, is to reach a state of release from the cycle of earthly life and become a part of the cosmic consciousness.
 

Like Hinduism, Buddhism includes a broad mix of beliefs and ideas borrowed from numerous sources. It is difficult to list a set of beliefs and say this is what a Buddhist believes. It was started by Buddha in sixth century B.C. He claimed that he was the source of truth, which he found through his own efforts and this qualified him to teach others.

The central idea of Buddhism is to obtain Nirvana. However, Buddha would not define what Nirvana was, only how to live one’s life so as to attain it. An oversimplification might be to say that Nirvana to a Buddhist is like salvation to a Christian. There is an idea that it can be obtained while living here on earth. After death, Nirvana brings greater blessings to those entering the spiritual realm. Buddhist believe this material world is an illusion and the spirit world is all that is real. They believe that people obtain Nirvana when they finally succeed in making that belief consume their thinking and cause them to abandon material thoughts and possessions until they are united with the spirit world. The Buddhist idea of a soul is different from Christians or even Hindus. They believe in reincarnation, but the soul that returns is not literally the same being that died. Instead, it is a new inheritor of the results of the previous life’s actions.

Buddhist believe in a multiple levels of heavens, hells, and in-between life, including animals like Hindus.

The Chinese believe in impersonal, abstract powers associated with natural forces and objects. These mini-gods are thought to be the souls of the deceased. The spirits of the dead are thought to be able to influence the events among the living. Dead ancestors are venerated so as to gain favor upon life’s activities. A person of distinction might attain the status of one of the nature gods, becoming a god of a place or activity he had been associated with during life. There is no belief in punishment after death.

Confucianism and Taoism generally centered men’s thoughts on achieving harmony with nature and their fellow men, and gaining prosperity in this present life. Most Chinese accept the basic “this life only” outlook and do not concern themselves with life after death.
 

Islam was started by Muhammad ibn Abdullah of Mecca about A.D. 610. Much of his religion was borrowed from Judaism and Christianity. The major focus of his teaching was his concept of judgment day.  Islam believes in a resurrection of the dead and the living to appear at a great judgment. The Muslim judgment scene is walking a tightrope over the flames of Hell. The unrighteous fall off, while the righteous reach Paradise on the other side. Paradise is supposed to consist of delicious foods, abundant cool water, shade, and beautiful women for the enjoyment of men.

Hell is supposed to consist of torture, rotten food, hot water to drink, and foul odors.

There are the major false teachings and lies about death. Now let’s look at what scripture teaches about death. Many teach that death is an annihilation or an extinction. They teach that once we die, there is nothing else.  Death is not an annihilation or extinction. Some read Matt 10:28 and think that destroy means ceasing to exist.

Matthew 10: 28

 

Rom 14:15 uses the same word, but it does not mean annihilation.

In Rom 14:21 destroy is equated with causing someone to stumble.

In Luke 16:19-31, Abraham, the rich man, and Lazarus all die, but continue to exist. They discuss things, they feel their environment, and they remember their past life.
 

 

A lot of people think that death is a punishment on individuals. Death is not a punishment on individuals. God said the wages of sin is death.

Romans 3:23
 

However, this refers to spiritual death, not physical
 

Jesus showed that thinking death was a punishment on individuals is a false line of reasoning.

Luke 13:1-5

 

When people die at an early age from disease, accident, or calamity,  it is not evidence that God singled them out for punishment. God did use death as a consequence on occasion, but it was rare and never used as often as people sinned.

While death isn’t used as punishment, sinful living can hasten death.

Prov 1:17-19
 

 

There are a lot of people who think that we shouldn’t mourn at the death of our loved ones because they have gone onto a better place. However, it is proper for us to weep for the dead. Abraham wept for Sarah.

Gen 23:1-2

The disciples wept for Dorcas.

Acts 9:36-39

Jesus, Mary, and some of the Jews wept for Lazarus.

John 11:31-36
 

Grief is not a sign of a lack of faith, but to say “I will miss you.”

For Christians, grief is not permanent. We know our separation is temporary.

I Thess 4:13-18

If you are not a Christian, how will people grieve for you? As one who is lost to them forever because you would not obey the Savior’s call? Or, as a fellow traveler who has reached our destination in advance?