What Does the Bible Say About Death?
It seems that the apostle Paul listed death as one of the
many things we have been given - one of our belongings. This is what he wrote: “All things belong to
you, your teachers Paul and Apollos and Cephas belong to you and also life and
death and things present and future; they all belong to you, and you belong to
Christ and Christ belongs to God.” (1Corinthians
3:21-23)
We have been given many things in this package called life –
and death is one of the things in the package. We don’t want it but it is there just the
same. We fear death, hope it won’t come
for a long time, wish it would go away.
But there are some good reasons why we have to die!
In the beginning God had warned our first parents, Adam and
Even that if they ate the fruit growing on the Tree of the Knowledge of Good
and Evil that they would die. Adam and
Eve probably did not know what dying meant since nothing ever died in God’s
newly created healthy loving world.
But sadly Adam and
Eve ignored God and disobeyed and ate the forbidden fruit and they began to die
from that time on. They knew right away after
they disobeyed that things weren’t the same.
That the world and their lives had somehow been changed for the worse! Just as God had warned, they were no longer
immortal and their bodies would no longer last forever. And their sin brought all of creation down
with them. And Scripture tells us that all
of this broke God’s heart.
God told Adam and Eve that because they had sinned they would
have to leave their beautiful garden home, the Garden of Eden. For Adam and Eve it may have seemed like God
was punishing them when He drove them out of the Garden of Eden, but really
this was proof of God’s kindness. The
Tree of Life was in the middle of the Garden and God was afraid that Adam and
Eve might eat the fruit of the Tree of Life and live forever.
(Genesis3:22) So that is why He told
them to leave.
If Adam and Eve could have stayed in the Garden and eaten
the fruit from the Tree of Life, it would have kept them from ever dying! But then they would live forever in their
sin! Forever is a long time to be stuck
in sin and sickness and God had better things for them. He wanted them well and sinless and with Him
in heaven. God prevented Adam and Eve
from eternal sinfulness by giving them the gift of death. Only death could give them the gift of
eternity. Death, though it would appear
to be our greatest enemy, would in the end be our friend!
Let’s read through the Bible and check out some of the
things it says about death. First of all the Bible describes death in several
ways. Death is referred to as an exit or
a departure. On the Mount of
Transfiguration Moses and Elijah appeared with Christ and “were speaking of
Jesus’ departure (his death) which was about to happen in Jerusalem
And just before His death, Jesus told the disciples that He
was going where they could not come.
Peter was upset since he wanted to follow Christ everywhere. And Jesus lovingly told him,” Where I go, you
cannot follow Me now; but you will follow later.” (John 13:36)
Paul said about death: “to be absent from the body (to depart from it)
is to be present with the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 5:8) Death is an exit from this world to another
place - a departure.
Sleep is used as a picture of death in the New
Testament. Perhaps Scripture speaks of
death as a restful “sleep” because death is a means of rejuvenation “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord
from now on…that they may rest from their labors,…” (Revelations 14:13)
The Bible describes death as a collapsing tent! Paul speaks of death this way: “For we know that if the earthly tent which
is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with
hands, eternal in the heavens.” (2
Corinthians 5:1)
Our present body is
like a tent, (a temporary structure) where our spirit lives. Tents deteriorate
in the face of changing weather and storms.
If used regularly, a tent often needs to be repaired. A tattered tent is a sign that we will soon
have to move. Death takes us from the tent
to the mansion. Our address changes from
earth to heaven. A tent (our temporal
body) reminds us that we are only pilgrims here on earth on our way to our
permanent home.
Scripture speaks of death as walking with the Lord through a
valley while He continually comforts and protects us as a Shepherd takes care
of his sheep. “Yea, though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For You are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. … and I will live in the house of the Lord
forever.” (Psalm 23:4-6)
We will be the same person in heaven as we are here on
earth, except we will be glorified and purified. And our desire to sin will no longer be a part
of our being. We will see our family and
friends and we will be “known even as we are fully known.” (1 Corinthians 13:12) At the point of transition between life and
death some people have actually testified that they saw departed relatives
awaiting their arrival. As he was dying,
my great grandfather told his children who were gathered around him that he
could see his wife who had died years earlier waiting there for his arrival
into heaven.
The New Testament doctrine of the resurrection teaches that
God intends to put us back together again.
In 1 Corinthians 15 we are given four contrasts between our present
bodies and our future ones. “It (your
body) is sown a perishable body, but it is raised an imperishable body. It is sown in dishonor, and it is raised in
glory. It is sown in weakness and it is
raised in power. And it is sown a
natural body, but it is raised a spiritual body.” (1 Cor. 15:42-44)
And when the Bible describes heaven, the descriptions go way
over the top! Here are just a few hints
as to heaven being more than we can imagine.
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy
to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:18)
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has
prepared for those who love Him.” (!.
Cor. 2:9) And speaking about how we
will be in heaven: “You will fill me with joy in Your presence, and at your
right Hand are pleasures forever more.”
(Psalm 16:11)
Most of us are fearful of that future time when we will be
called upon to walk through the valley of the shadow of death. But we have the promise that God will walk
that valley with us. And we know that
even though it may be a deep valley, there will be victory for us on the other
side if we belong to Christ. We have
that promise again and again throughout Scripture. “Oh death, where is your sting? Oh grave, where is your victory? …Thanks be to God who gives us the victory
through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1
Corinthians 15:55a-56)
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