In our previous blog, we saw that God created man. He put them in the garden and gave them free moral agency. They had the ability to choose. God told them a clear command, but they chose to disobey that command. This one transgression forever Changed their life. One moment they had the tree of life to sustain them, and the next moment they found themselves cast out of the garden of Eden. This is when God told them this hair- raising statement. Genesis 3:19 “In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.” What did God mean by that statement? It meant that Mankind would no longer live forever in Paradise. Adam and Eve’s disobedience changed everything. The living soul would now be subject to the penalty for sin. Man could now die.
We see that disobedience, and wickedness brings an awful curse on mankind One proof text is found in the Genesis story of Noah. Genesis states that the people on the earth had become wicked and God became grieved that He even made them. God’s heart breaks when man sins. Yet God created man with the ability to do what he wants. God always lets man choose his course; in fact, one phrase can be seen throughout the pages of the Bible. God begs us: Choose life. And yet, His children disobey. They did not fully believe the facts God had laid out for them. In Adam’s case he was deceived into believing a lie. Even though we are warned of the consequences of sin, do we really believe the Answer? Ezekiel quoted in Ezekiel 18:4 “Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sins it shall Die.
Since sin entered so did the penalty for sin. Mankind was now subject to death. And since all men sin, the outlook was gloomy at best. Death and the ideas surrounding death are a mystery to most men. All we know is we will one day die. The Bible has a lot to say on this subject.
What Happens When We Die?
Let’s take a walk through the scriptures and see how the patriarchs described death.
Job understood what happens to man at death. He said in Job 14:10 “But man dies and is laid away.” Indeed, he breathes his last – And where is he? Where does man go? Job says elsewhere Job said 17:1 “My spirit is broken, My days are extinguished, The grave is ready for me.” King David explains in Psalm 13:3 “Consider and answer mw, O Lord my God, Enlighten my Eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of Death. So, how did the Patriarchs describe death? 1 Kings 2:10 “So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.”
Man’s death is likened to “sleep.”
Let’s look at a few more examples. Job 14:12 “So man lies down, and rises not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.” Today many people would laugh at the notion that being dead is being asleep. Also, there’s the story about a small child who had just passed away. Jesus comes into the room where everyone was mourning and “He went in and said to them, Mark 5:39 ‘Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.’” But they laughed at him. After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (Which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around. What we see here is astonishing, Jesus has power over death. When all seemed lost Jesus saved the little Child. Although sin has brought death to all of mankind, Jesus brings us the victory over death. The great promise of things to come for all who believe in Christ and his unmerited pardon is pictured in this little Child. God loves us so much that He sent His only son to pay the penalty for our sins. All Jesus had to do was speak and as the little girl came back to life.
With Jesus, we will have eternal life.
In future blogs, we will find all Jesus has done for us. Man’s final destiny is not the grave. We will see that as we talk more about. Christ and what his life and Death did for all mankind. We will find how death is destroyed by Jesus and how he has brought us the victory over the grave. While Paul quotes “for the sting of death is sin.”, we who believe the gospel, ask. O death! where is thy sting? O grave! where is thy victory?
Look for more on Christ’s triumph over death in our next blog.