Life and Death

The Bible Sheds Light on Life and Death

Hebrews 9:27 reads, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” Sooner or later, every human being experiences death. Death is the inevitable end of life. Whenever someone we love dies, we are vividly reminded of our own mortality, and of the fact that we shall die also, unless we are alive when the Lord returns to the Earth (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Life on Earth is overcast by the looming shadow of death (Psalm 23:4), and many live in abject terror of facing the end of life. We all face life and death.

What is death? It may surprise you to know that doctors, lawyers and philosophers find that a very difficult question to answer. Is death the cessation of the beating of one’s heart? Not necessarily. The definitions of life and death can be difficult. Some life-saving surgical procedures require the patient’s heart to be stopped for long periods of time. Some people’s hearts have stopped beating for several minutes at a time, only to be restarted by doctors. Is death the cessation of respiratory function? Not necessarily. The human body can survive for several minutes at a time without breathing, under certain conditions. There are many documented cases of people who were fully revived, even after their breathing had stopped for much longer than anyone had ever thought possible. Is death the cessation of brain function? Not necessarily. There are cases of people whose brain functions ceased for months, or even years at a time, and yet they were able to completely recover. Questions like these, about life and death, are debated in our courts, halls of medicine, and halls of academia, with no easy answers forthcoming.

Can the Bible shed some light on questions about the definition of death? As a matter of fact, the Bible offers us its own definition of death, in James 2:26. “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” Some have argued that the word, “spirit” ought to be translated, “breath,” since that is the primary meaning of the Greek word, in the text. But, the secondary meaning is “spirit,” and that is the translation that is called for, in the context (as in John 4:24). Besides, we have already pointed out that, just because someone has stopped breathing, it does not necessarily mean that they are dead.

Once the spirit leaves the body, the body begins to decay (Ecclesiastes 12:7). Only God can restore life to such a dead body (John 3:2). Only God has made something living out of something that is not living (Genesis 2:7). People who are truly dead (according to the Biblical definition) cannot be brought back to life by any natural means. This is why I am convinced that people who claim to have died and come back to life probably did not, in reality, experience the death that they claim to have experienced.

For most people, life and death are a great mystery. People speculate about life and death and whether there is any such thing as life after death. Some argue that, in death, the souls sleeps until it is awakened by resurrection. Others say that, in death, one simply ceases to exist. But, the Bible says that, while death may be the end of life on Earth, it is not the end of life, altogether. In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus gives us the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, demonstrating life and death. Both of these men died, and both of them continued to live on, after physical death. The rich man experienced the best that life had to offer, in this world, but he then experienced the worst that life has to offer, in eternity. Lazarus’ experience was just the opposite of the rich man. From this parable, we learn many things; not the least of which is that, faithfulness to God, in this life, results in an eternal reward, in Heaven (Luke 16:25).

When we think of life and death, we often think of death as being final, and absolute. But, the truth of the matter is that death is not a permanent condition. Instead, death is a transition from life in this physical world to life in the spiritual world. The time is coming, when death shall no longer exist (1 Corinthians 15:24-26). When God shall destroy this world and we shall exist only the spirit world, where death has no dominion (1 Corinthians 15:54-57). At that time, death shall be destroyed, and the faithful shall live eternally – without the shadow of death looming (Revelation 20:14).

Now is the time for us to prepare ourselves for what lies beyond life in this world. We all ought to learn from death that we shall not live in this world forever (Hebrews 9:27). Here and now is the only time and place to prepare for what lies beyond (2 Corinthians 6:2)!