Category Archives: Death

January 17, 2016 · 10:30

Knowing the Way

Dallas Hi-5 Traffic

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.  (John 14:6)

Traffic in and around Dallas, especially during rush hour, is an adventure to say the least. I never know from one day to the next how long my daily commute will take. Mondays seem to be the worst. Perhaps due to overindulgence over the weekend, the attentiveness of some drivers is sorely lacking. Combine that with technical distractions (aka “smart” phones), and it is no surprise the number of incidents that emerge along the way to impede and prolong one’s travel.

Except for the fact that my concentration focuses on staying alive, I sometimes find the insanity rather amusing and even entertaining. One interesting maneuver I have witnessed on more than one occasion is the last-minute dash from the far left lane across a crowded, bumper-to-bumper, fast-moving (in Dallas rush hour that means anything over 20 mph) highway, picking his way across the four-lane maze of cars to take his exit that is less than a quarter mile away. Did he not realize – a long time ago – that his exit was coming up? That is just poor planning, or else he is paying more attention to his smart phone rather than to his geographic location. Perhaps the driver is new to the area, and this is the first time he has driven this route, and the exit just caught him by surprise. I’ve been there.

This kind of frantic maneuvering generally results from not knowing the way. Unfortunately, in Monday morning rush hour, this lack of awareness culminates in the incidents that impede the progress of drivers who do know the way. I usually do not experience those kinds of problems on my commute because I know the way. I know the location of all my exits, and I logistically maneuver my vehicle into the proper lane to make my exit long before the exit comes up. I relax and enjoy the ride without stress (while staying alert for the crazies).

Life can sometimes be like rush-hour traffic full of roadblocks, near misses, and incidents. Not knowing your destination can further complicate the journey. Too many distractions often leave one unprepared for the sudden diversions one will encounter along the way. When this happens we can become desperate, and franticly struggle to get back on course or find an alternate route. Too many times our solutions lead to incidents that halt our progress and impede the progress of others.

Jesus knew the way. He knew the road blocks along the way, and He knew how to get around them. He knew the exit He must take. “And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51). He knew the cross awaited Him, and He allowed nothing to deter Him. When well-meaning “Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee” (Matthew 16:22), Jesus sternly and resolutely responded, “Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men” (Matthew 16:23). Nothing was going to deter Jesus from His destination.

In the final hours before the cross, His disciples were still distracted with illusions of greatness with Jesus as king. “They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory” (Mark 10:37). – Evidently they had been watching their smart phones instead of watching the road! – So when Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2), it is not surprising that “Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?” (John 14:5).  Nor was their reaction surprising when they encountered the roadblock, i.e. Jesus’ arrest, “And they all forsook him, and fled” (Mark 14:50), but Jesus knew the way He must travel.

It’s a good thing that Jesus knew the way, and that He stayed the course. By staying true to His course, He made the way for us to follow. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6, emphasis mine).

All life is eternal life. That is how God intended it in the beginning: “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:17, emphasis mine). But because of Adam’s disobedience, the end result is eternal separation from God – death. Eternal life has two destinations. One destination has many roads, many distractions, many diversions, i.e. many ways. “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat” (Matthew 7:13, emphasis mine). The Greek word translated “destruction” is apōleia, and it does NOT mean annihilation; rather it means ruin or loss (physical, spiritual, or eternal). This is the meaning of “death,” and Jesus said that many go down that “broad way.”

The other destination is “narrow” or “strait.” “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:14, emphasis mine). That destination is not easily found, but Jesus said, “I am the way … and the life.” Since He made the way, He knows best route to take. One finds the way in Christ alone; “no man cometh unto the Father, but by me,” He said. There is no other way; “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12, emphasis mine).

The road to eternal life with God is “strait and narrow,” but it is not impossible to find or even difficult. Knowing the Way is essential. Jesus said, “I AM the Way.”

By the way, knowing the Way does not ensure an incident-free journey, but when Jesus takes the wheel, He knows how to steer you around – even through – the trouble spots. Give Him the wheel and let Him drive! He knows the way. You can know the way too!

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December 13, 2015 · 10:30

Why Jesus?

jesus_and_mary_manger_by_bnw20401

But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.    (Galatians 4:4-5)

At this time of year we pause to consider and reflect on the entry of God into the world in human form. When we take the time to seriously ponder this wonder, the notion that He chose to make His entry as a helpless newborn baby, makes us marvel in awe. He, “being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:6-7, emphasis mine), as a baby. Why? And why in this way?

Too often we get caught up in the “story” of Christmas and overlook the greater significance. God had to intervene into the hopeless human condition in order to ransom back His most prized creature ruined shortly after creation. Man, Adam, disobeyed God’s only prohibition. “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (Genesis 2:16-17, emphasis mine). “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat” (Genesis 3:6, emphasis mine). What weakness is there in man that even in a pristine environment that, without a need or care in the world, he cannot keep one simple commandment?

That single act brought the curse of death upon all subsequent generations – not only physical death (Genesis 3:17-19) but, worse, spiritual death separating us from our Creator (Ephesians 2:1). “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 8:12, emphasis mine). Being that man offended Holy God (and because God is eternal, the offense is eternal), only man can right the wrong, and the only thing that can reverse the curse of death, is the gift of life. God tells us in His Word, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul” (Leviticus 17:11, emphasis mine).

As a temporary measure, God (I believe in the form of the pre-incarnate Christ) offered the first blood sacrifice to atone for (cover) the sin of the first couple. “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21, emphasis mine). In order to make “coats of skins” innocent animals had to shed their blood to cover the nakedness of the disobedient couple. But animal blood is insufficient; “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4). Neither is the tainted blood of man sufficient to take away sins because the sacrifice must be “without blemish” (Exodus 12:5). The innocent blood of animals cannot qualify because the sin belongs to man, and the blood of humans cannot qualify because it is blemished with sin.

Enter Christ. Innocent animal blood was insufficient because they are not at fault; animals did not sin. The one responsible for sin and death is the only one that can pay the “wages of sin” (Romans 6:23). That responsibility falls on man, but man’s blood cannot atone for sin, because man’s blood is tainted by sin. So God became man, engendered in a virgin’s womb, gestated for nine months until the proper time to be delivered as a helpless baby. Then, He grew up as a normal child (Luke 2:52) into adulthood, and He “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15, emphasis mine). Jesus, God in human flesh, voluntarily became “a lamb without blemish and without spot” – the only acceptable sacrifice to atone for the sins of man. John the Baptist recognized Him at the beginning of His earthly ministry: “and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29, emphasis mine) – perfect man; sinless blood; problem solved! Thus, He is the only path to redemption. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

As we celebrate this Christmas, let us look beyond the baby in the manger. If you do not know the Savior, this is a great time of the year to get acquainted.

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November 8, 2015 · 10:30

God’s Not Fair

Judgment of God

O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? (Romans 9:20)

Someone complained that God is unfair to send people to hell simply because they don’t know any better. She said, “I’ve recently hit a point where my faith is all but dead, not by will but by fear that the worst is true, that there is no God after all.” Her reasons for arriving at this conclusion are as follows: “It’s two-fold in that [1] God has never revealed Himself to me in ways that I was taught He would (Pentecostal background), and [2] more recently that I just cannot wrap my head around the idea of a God of ultimate love knowingly creating even one single soul knowing it was destined for eternal damnation. I question why God would create such a being, knowing beforehand the choices he would make.”

Her first reason, it seems to me, finds an explanation in her “Pentecostal background.” I see this problem with many Pentecostals because many (not all) are taught (if not directly then by inference) that God must reveal Himself in miraculous ways: speaking in tongues, healings, tangible answers to prayer, etc. The fact is that God is not obligated to reveal Himself to us in any way other than He has already done, i.e., through His creation (Romans 1:19-20) and through His Word (John 1:1-3, 14; Psalm 119:105; 2 Timothy 3:16, et. al.). Her Pentecostal background may also have something to do with her second issue against God in the Arminian soteriology of Pentecostals, which holds, in part, that a believer can “fall from grace,” and if they die in that condition, they will go to hell. So, Pentecostals must continuously “work out their own salvation” so as not to lose their salvation. That, in itself I think, might give one a tenuous grasp on their eternal status and sense of eternal security.

Her Pentecostal background may be the source of her sense of insecurity which she then projects on those whom she sees as victims of a merciless God. Why would God create humans knowing that He is going to send them to hell? Not only is God merciless, but she finds eternity in hell to be cruel and unusual punishment.  She said, “I am a pale imitation of God, an ignorant human born in a world of decay, yet to me the pain of one soul, any soul, even the worst example of humanity, is not worth the existence of this universe” (emphasis mine). Can you see what she has done? She made moral judgment against God and placed herself in a position of moral superiority above God. Though she is “a pale imitation of God,” she makes herself morally superior  to God because she would not cause pain even to the worst example of humanity. If she were in the place of God, she would not even create the universe, if even one soul would suffer eternal torment. Furthermore, God has no basis “to extend this eternal punishment further to those that fail to heed words in a book thousands of years old when other books tell their own versions (other religions).”

As I read her tirade, I distinctly heard echoes of Genesis 3:1-5: “Tssssssssssssssss! Yea, hath God said in the Bible? That book is so ancient. Those are just the words of men. What about all those other holy books? Aren’t they just as valid? Ye shall not surely die. If God is so loving, He wouldn’t send anyone to hell would He? And even if He did, surely He wouldn’t make someone suffer for eternity. If He does, then God’s not fair! Why should you follow a God like that!”

When we put ourselves in a position where we question why God made us the way He did, we in effect pass judgment on Him and make ourselves superior to Him because we are saying that we could have done it better. “Who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” (Romans 9:20-21 also Isaiah 29:16, emphasis mine). We are not in a position to question God’s motives in creating us as He did. We are not God. Humanly speaking, does not a creator/inventor of anything have the right to assign value to his/her creation/invention, and to decide how to dispose of it? By the same token, can we not allow the Creator to decide the “worth” of His creation and select what He will keep and what He will discard without our input? Let’s be fair here!

The fact is that God made us in His image (Genesis 1:27), and part of that image includes rational thought and the ability to make decisions and exercise our free will. Along with that comes the responsibility to assume the consequences for our decisions.  When God made Adam and Eve and He placed them in the Garden, He gave them one choice: eat of the tree of life and live, or eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and die, i.e., be eternally separated from God (Genesis 2:16-17). God created Adam and Eve with a will and the ability to choose whether to obey or disobey God. Had God not given that choice, His creatures would be no different than any other animal, and they certainly would not have the “image” of God. The will and the ability to make choices is part of having the image of God. Without that, we are just animals.

Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s only prohibition (Genesis 3:1-6). Eve was deceived, but Adam disobeyed willingly (1 Timothy 2:14). That disobedience, whether willful or through deception, brought death upon all of God’s creation. Because of that original sin, all of mankind receives the curse of sin which is death (Genesis 3:19). Every human being is born “dead” – eternally damned – due to Adam’s original sin. We are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners. We are all in the same condition; there is no escaping it. How well informed or how misinformed one is has nothing to do with it.

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. (Romans 5:12)

And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses (Colossians 2:13)

And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins … Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) (Ephesians 2:1, 5)

Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. (Ezekiel 18:4)

This is the truth, and it is not going to change simply because it offends our sensibilities. It does not matter whether someone is duped by evolution, or whether they have not had the Gospel explained clearly enough for them to understand; the fact of the matter is that every human being that is born, is born “dead” because of sin. The penalty for sin is eternal death (separation from God) in hell.

However, this dead condition is not without resolution. God provided the way to eternal life through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God makes Himself available to all who will seek Him. “For by [the free gift of] grace [i.e., unmerited favor] are ye saved through faith [Hebrews 11:6]; and that not of yourselves [even the faith to believe comes from God]: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). What God asks of us is not that difficult: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9). “Neither is there salvation in any other [than Jesus]: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).

People like to quote John 3:16 because it expresses the love of God for the entire world, but two verses later it says, “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18, emphasis mine). A choice has to be made. Because of Adam’s sin, we all begin from the point of “condemned already.” We all have the same choice: believe or disbelieve. Not choosing is actually choosing to disbelieve. And to remove any excuses, God’s creation testifies to His existence, “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20, emphasis mine). God reveals Himself in His creation. Without exception, everyone has a choice.

The charge that God is somehow unmerciful and unloving dissolves in light of His personal intervention on our behalf. God’s grace and mercy was expressed on the cross of Christ. “The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). God has given sufficient evidence in His creation to make man wonder about his origin and about the origin of the world around him. God says, “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). God does not hide Himself. The fault is with man for rejecting the evidence God has provided and refusing to seek God. Jesus said that the way to destruction is broad, and many go that way; but the way to life is narrow and difficult to find, and very few find it (Matthew 7:13-14).

Answering the criticism of God sending people to hell: God created hell for “the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41), not for human beings. People choose to go to hell by not choosing God. God demonstrated “his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ [God in the flesh] died for us” (Romans 5:8, emphasis mine). What more could He possibly do and still respect our will and our right to choose? He could have made us animals, but He didn’t. He made each one of us unique, created in His very image. That is why He values us, and because He values us, He gives us the choice to either accept Him or reject Him. Because He cherishes us, He will not impose Himself on any one of us. But, if we reject Him, we make an eternal choice, but it is our choice. God didn’t create us for hell. Do you think for one moment that God has any desire to destroy His image! “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9), but He respects our choice.

There you have it. Rather than criticize God for His methods with which we may disagree, why not simply submit to Him? He is God, and by definition, His way is right regardless of what we may think. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9, emphasis mine). If we are truly concerned for those that are bound for hell, perhaps rather than criticizing God for His methods, we should be a light to show the way (Matthew 5:14).

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October 25, 2015 · 10:30

A Day Is A Day

Evening and Morning Was One Day

Evening and Morning Was One Day

For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. (Psalm 90:4)

In a previous post, No Gap, I discussed the “Gap Theory” compromise of the biblical creation account.  The Gap Theory is only one of several compromises of theistic evolution.[1] Another popular compromise is the “Day-Age Theory.” This offshoot of theistic evolution maintains that God used long ages – billions of years – and evolution to create rather than the six literal days stated in the Bible. The Day-Age Theory attempts to stretch the days in Genesis 1into six long periods of undetermined time. “[The] ‘days’ of creation were interpreted figuratively as the ‘ages’ of geology.”[2]  In order to back up that assertion, the proponents of the Day-Age Theory will cite the psalm above or 2 Peter 3:8: “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”

Besides the hermeneutical problems with this view, a logical dilemma arises that refutes any form of theistic evolution. To see this, one must have a clear understanding of who God is and what His attributes say about Him. To begin with, God is inconceivably great beyond anything the human mind can imagine. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9, emphasis mine). Considering God’s “thoughts,” one of His attributes is that of omniscience; He is “all-knowing.” Hence, He innately knows all that can be known, and there is nothing He does not know. “Shall any teach God knowledge?” (Job 21:22). “Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him?” (Job 40:2). “For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him?” (1 Corinthians 2:16). Since that is so, why would God need to take billions of years to create by means of evolution, slowly developing from a single cell one thing, and then the next, and then the next, etc. until in the end He evolved man? That makes God out to be something of a mad scientist experimenting in a laboratory to see what He can come up with next. God does not need to experiment! God has nothing to learn; He has no need to practice. Besides all that, billions of years of evolution also involves billions of years of death. This is contrary to God’s nature. “In him was life; and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4, emphasis mine). God is concerned with life, not death. “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death” (1 Corinthians 15:26, emphasis mine). If death existed before the completion of creation, God would have erred when He said that it was “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Besides that, death before the fall creates greater theological problems. (I deal with this issue in No Gap.)

In addition we must consider God’s omnipotence; He is “all-powerful.” There is nothing He cannot do. “Is any thing too hard for the LORD?” (Genesis 18:14). “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27). “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God” (Luke 18:27). “For with God nothing shall be impossible” (Luke 1:37).

Given that God is all-knowing and all-powerful, i.e., there is nothing impossible for Him, it is not unreasonable to believe the Genesis literal six-day account of creation. In fact, given His omniscience and omnipotence, He could certainly have created in an instant what He took six days to create.

Simple logic with a basic understanding of God’s nature refutes theistic evolution and the Day-Age Theory. Furthermore, these compromises fail when applying proper hermeneutical principals. A plain reading and understanding of the text of Genesis 1, as I explained in No Gap, precludes any possibility of long ages. The Hebrew word, yom, for day can only mean a normal 24-hour day. To further stress this point, God encapsulated the completion each creation day between the boundaries of “evening and morning.” There is no other way to interpret this narrative without pulling in from outside sources information not contained within the text. This system of hermeneutics is known as eisegesis – reading into the text what is not there.

The proponents of the Day-Age Theory in attempting to legitimize their compromise will cite 2 Peter 3:8 and Psalm 90:4, but when properly interpreted, in context, these passages speak of God’s eternal nature and have nothing to do with specifying time limits. God is not bound or limited by time; His transcendent nature places Him outside and inside of time simultaneously. Therefore, one day with Him is like one thousand years and one thousand years is like a day. Peter employs a literary device known as simile; otherwise he would have left off the “like.” Likewise Moses in his psalm says, “For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night” (Psalm 90:4, emphasis mine). But when God says He completed the work in one day, He means one day. So, why did He take six days to create rather than an instant? He created in six days and rested on the seventh day to set the pattern for our work week – six days of work, one day of rest. Have you noticed that the seven-day week is ubiquitous around the world? Furthermore, He wrote it in stone: “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it” (Exodus 20:8-11, emphasis mine). The Hebrew word yom for “day” used here in the Fourth Commandment, is the same word yom used in Genesis 1. God was not talking about long ages when He gave this commandment, and He was not talking about long ages when He gave His creation account.

Another argument offered by the compromisers suggests that Genesis uses “poetic” language. This argument falls apart simply by comparing the narrative text of Genesis 1-4 with the literary style of parallelism employed in the Wisdom Books: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs (Song of Solomon). One does not even need knowledge of Hebrew to see the difference. So, claiming that Genesis 1 employs poetic language is a weak argument in support of a sad compromise.

No long ages fit into the narrative of Genesis 1. The Day-Age Theory compromises and weakens the Word of God. It is a diabolical instrument of Satan to create doubt for God’s Word, and disparage the very character and nature of God. There is no gap in Genesis 1, and there are no long ages. A day is a day, plain and simple.

Notes:

[1]  Henry M. Morris, “Evolution and the Bible,” http://www.icr.org/article/evolution-bible/, accessed 10/23/15.

[2]  Ibid.

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June 14, 2015 · 10:30

The Curse of Death

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment (Hebrews 9:27)

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment (Hebrews 9:27)

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.  (Genesis 2:17)

This week a young man, who labeled himself an agnostic, wrote in with a very good question concerning the curse of death. His question was posed as follows:

Genesis 2:17 says, “in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.” Assuming that day equals 24 hours (big assumption, but Gen 2 is still part of the creation account) then the death must be spiritual or non-literal, since Adam lived to be 930 years – Gen 5:5. If the death resulting from sin is not literal, what is the relationship between sin and physical death? Is there any relation at all? Could physical death have occurred before sin? If sin and physical death are not related, why would Jesus have to rise from the dead? Is a bodily resurrection necessary for salvation? Why? Does any of the apostle Paul’s teaching of Christ conflict with a spiritual interpretation of death and sin? (I Cor 15:12-22)

Alternately, if the term “day” in Genesis 2:17 is not 24 hours, but instead an unspecified length of time equalling [sic] at least 930 years, most of the same questions about the relationship between sin and physical death would still apply.

His question is a very good one, and one of the key points in our biblical apologetics. The “death” described in Genesis 2:17 must be taken in context with the entire account of creation and the Fall, and in light of the rest of Scripture. Genesis 1 and 2 both narrate the creation account. Genesis 1:1-2:4 is God’s account of creation, and it gives a broad overview of the creation week. (For more details, see the notes on Genesis 1 and Genesis 2:1-4). Genesis 2:5 begins Adam’s account, and the focus is on Day Six and the creation of man. Allow me to regress and point out that chapter and verse divisions are not inspired. The original text was a continual reading with no breaks. This can sometimes be an obstacle, if one does not recognize that fact.

Another point that needs to be clarified is that the 24-hour day is not an “assumption” as he suggests. The Hebrew word used is yom, and it almost always means a normal 24-hour day in the Bible. When it is not a 24-hour day, such as in the “day of the Lord” (yom laYahweh) it is referring to a specific time, but never an extended period of time. Furthermore, God clearly defines the meaning of “day” with the phrase “evening and morning were the nth day” (Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23).

At the end of the sixth day, God declared His creation not only “good” as in the previous five days, but “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Keep in mind that this assessment comes from an ultimately perfect being. So, if death existed before the fall, can death be considered a very good thing? If we say death is good, then how can death be a curse? And if death cannot be a curse, then why should Jesus die to pay the curse (the wages) of sin? If death was just a “spiritual” death, then, again, why should Jesus die a “physical” death to atone for a “spiritual” death? That really does throw a huge wrench in the works of the Gospel.

But “physical” death is NOT good. The Bible calls death the “enemy” (1 Corinthians 15:26). In the end, “death and hell (Greek hades “the grave”)” are cast into “the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:14). So, physical death cannot be part of a “very good” creation, if the Creator counts it as an enemy and something to be abolished. When God issued the command “thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:17), He was speaking of physical death. “Spiritual” death, i.e., separation from God, was a necessary consequence of that disobedience because He is the source of life (Job 33:4; Psalm 36:9; John 1:4; 5:26; 6:48; 10:28; 11:25; 14:6, et al). So, the death was both physical and spiritual. To further emphasize the point, Adam and Eve, since they had never experienced or observed death (keeping in mind that this all occurred shortly after creation – probably within a week or so), God (in the form of the pre-incarnate Christ – my opinion) sacrificed two (or more) innocent animals (probably sheep) in order to “cover” (atone for) their sin (Genesis 3:21). This was the first physical death of anything to this point, but on the spiritual side, man had already lost that intimate relationship with their Creator (Genesis 3:8).

This young man observed that Adam lived 930 years and concludes that the death curse must not have been physical but only spiritual, because they did not die immediately. One needs only to read Chapter 5 of Genesis and count how often the phrase “and he died” is repeated. Adam and Eve did not die instantly when they ate of the fruit, but they initiated the dying process. The phrase “you shall surely die” (Hebrew: mot tamot) would be better translated “dying you shall die.” Furthermore, the couple was denied access to the “tree of life” (Genesis 3:22) because apparently it had properties that would extend their life forever. The fact that they lived the long ages that they did is attributable to near perfect DNA (with the exception of the death mutation), and a near perfect environment. You may want to note the steady decline in longevity following the Global flood (Genesis 11:11-32).

Paul’s argument in 1 Corinthians 15:12-22 confirms that the curse of death is both physical and spiritual – physical in that our bodies degenerate to the point that they cease to function (we die), and spiritual in that our sin separates us from God (as physical death separates our spirit from our body). Jesus was sinless, like the first lambs sacrificed for Adam and Eve. Paul tells us that the “wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23); here we are speaking of that spiritual death that separates us from God. Jesus’ death on the cross was the only sacrifice suitable to pay that debt of sin that separates us from God for all of mankind. “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4). Then when He rose again, He conquered the curse of physical death so that we can have eternal life. The choice, however, remains with us. From beginning to end, God has provided the way to restore that broken relationship and to enjoy eternal life with our Creator. We can either accept His offer, or reject it. “He came unto his own [not only the Jews, but mankind in general], and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:11-12).

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