Why do people die? Is this what God intended?

What is death?

Death is the cessation of life, the opposite of life. Death is not a person, place, or thing, but a term describing the condition of something. A person can either be physically dead or physically alive, but not both at the same time. There are legal definitions describing when a person is considered physically dead. Since this is the kind of death most people are asking about, we will start with why people die physically.

What causes physical death?

As we know, people are mortal and die physically from many different causes: people either live out their allotment of 70-80 years of life (Psa.90:10) and die because their life is all spent (Ecc.6:12); or their lifetime is cut short by accidents, disease, suicide, murder, etc.

Is this what God intended?

No, God never intended for death to be in his creation. God is a life giver, not a life taker! Moses (Gen.2:9) and Jesus (Rev.2:7) both referred to God as "the tree of life." In Jeremiah (Jer.2:13) , God calls himself the "fountain of living waters." God breathed into Adam the breath [spirit] of life (Gen.2:7) . God is not the one that causes accidents, diseases, hopelessness, war or murder. These are the works of the devil (Joh.8:44) , the enemy of God (Mat.13:39) . Death is the result of evil (Rom.6:23) , and God did not originate evil! (1Jo.1:5)

Doesn't "The Lord give and the Lord take away"? (Job 1:21)

Job did say that, but Job was wrong. As we can read in those first two chapters of Job, it was Satan that robbed Job of his family, his livestock, and his health. (Job 1:12; 2:7) God, through Elihu, later said Job had spoken without knowledge and without wisdom (Job 34:35) and that he justified himself and not God. (Job 32:2) When Job repented, God was the one who restored to him more than the devil had taken from him. (Job 42:6,12) God is the life-giver, (Act.17:24,25) not the life-taker. (1Pt.5:8; Heb.2:14)

Since God is Almighty, why hasn't he stopped all this death?

God is Almighty. (Psa.91:1,2) Nothing can overpower God. (Rev.19:6) But God did not create robots. He created beings with a will and a capacity to make moral decisions. (Deu.30:19) Whenever people consistently choose to do God's will, sin and death can and will be stopped. (Rom.6:16,17,22) When God has an obedient people and sin is eradicated, death will no longer occur. (Rev.21:4) "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." (1Co.15:26)

How did death begin?

For human beings, the first recorded physical death was when Cain killed Abel (Gen.4:8). This murder was the result of sinful thoughts and feelings working in Cain because he yielded his mind to the devil instead of to God (1Jo.3:8,11,12). God tried to stop Cain, but God does not treat his creatures like robots. God offered Cain a choice; God warned Cain about the consequences of his choices (Gen.4:6,7). But, Cain chose to side with the devil and kill his brother (Luk.16:13).

Were Adam and Eve supposed to live forever?

Yes, God wanted them to eat of the "tree of life" and live forever, but they had sinned by eating of the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" and, at that time, lost their chance for eternal life (Gen.3:22,23). Adam and Eve had started off with a certain amount of "breath [spirit] of life" just as all other animals had been given (Gen.2:7;7:21,22). But mankind had a purpose beyond that of the animals. Adam and Eve were to mature spiritually by obeying God's words of life and, thereby, live eternally here on earth (Gen.1:28;2:16,17). By agreeing with the devil's ideas instead of following God's commandment, they could only live out their temporary allotment of "breath of life" in struggle and hardship (Gen.3:19). When their life (900 years +) was spent, they died and went back to the dust (Gen.5:5).

So Adam and Eve died physically because they sinned?

Yes, had they not sinned, they would have continued to receive the physical and spiritual nutrients they needed to live forever on the earth. By sinning, they lost access to those nutrients and could only live out the remainder of their allotted spirit of life. God warned Adam and Eve of the consequences of taking in knowledge from Satan, the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil." God did not want his creatures to sin and die (Gen.3:3). God's warning was a loving warning of a parent that cares deeply for his children (Heb.12:9). God knew the power of the devil's "poison." (Psa.140:1-4)

Would their children be able to avoid physical death?

No, they were born mortal like all earthly creatures and, because sin had entered into the world, they did not have access to the tree of life to be able to live forever (Gen.3:24). The earth was now beginning to degress (Gen.3:17,18) and God would not be able to supply them all the physical and spiritual nutrients needed for eternal life on earth until his plan to eliminate sin was fully in place (Eph.1:10). God sending his word and spirit through his prophets, his angels, his Son, and his ministers has all been part of that plan (Tit.1:2,3).

Did God intend for Jesus to die physically?

Yes, God wanted to start a new covenant with all people of faith (Jer.31:31-34) but the old covenant leaders had cheated on their animal sacrifices (Mal.1:7,8) and built up a sin debt of life that needed to be redeemed before God could start his new covenant (Heb.9:15). Jesus was to physically die as "the lamb of God" (Joh.1:29) to pay off the Jewish sin debt (closing out the old covenant) so God could set up a new covenant with people of faith (Rom.3:24,25;5:9,10).

Why does the Bible say people can be dead while they're alive?

It does sound like a contradiction, especially if one is only thinking of life and death to the physical body machinery. Many times in the new testament, there is a distinction made between death of the physical body and death of the spiritual body of thoughts and feelings (the mind) (Mat.8:22) Paul said, "to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." (Rom.8:6) For instance, "She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth." (1Ti.5:6) She still has not fully spent her allotment of spirit of life, but her spiritual body of thoughts and feelings has become corrupt (dead to God) because of sin. Paul warned the Corinthians that the devil was trying to corrupt their minds like he had corrupted Eve's mind (2Co.11:3). They were to be single minded, not double minded (2Co.13:11; Jam.4:8). The corrupt part of their minds was the devil's tool (1Ti.6:5). It would only produce more sin and death, not life (Gal.6:7). They were now "dead in trespasses and sins." (Eph.2:1)

Does everyone die in trespasses and sins?

Yes. All people learn to sin as they grow up (Jer.9:5,14). Sin breeds sin by entering in and conceiving in people's minds (Jam.1:13-15). "Death and life are in the power of the tongue." (Pro.18:21) Good words produce more life (Joh.6:63,68). Evil words produce more death (2Ti.2:16,17). Eve spoke evil words to Adam. By Noah's time, "the wickedness of man was great ...every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." (Gen.6:5) Paul said, "if one [Jesus] died for all, then were all dead." (2Co.5:14) All were not physically dead, but all were carnally minded or dead in sins. "All have sinned." (Rom.3:23) And "the wages of sin is [spiritual] death." (Rom.6:23)

Did God intend for this kind of death [dead in sins] to happen?

No. "The dragon, that old serpent, ...the devil , and Satan" (Rev.20:2) are names for the father of the lie, the murderer from the beginning (Joh.8:44). Lucifer passed his sin on to other angels before Adam and Eve were created and they became spiritually dead in sin (2Pt.2:4; Jud.6). God gave his commandment to Adam to keep Adam from dying spiritually in sin (Gen.2:17). The day Adam partook of the sinful words, he died spiritually. God punished Adam because he had become dead in sin like the devil (Gen.3:22,23). Sin is breaking God's law (1Jo.3:4). God wants everything to be done decently and in order, because his order will give life (1Co.14:40;15:22,23). God didn't know how much evil would spread (Gen.6:5-7). God asked "why will ye die?" (Eze.33:11) "Seek ye me, and ye shall live." (Amo.5:4)

If the body can die and the mind can die, what about the soul?

The soul can also die, cease to live, perish, or go out of existence. "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." (Eze.18:4,20,27) The truth was given to "save a soul from death." (Jam.5:19,20) "But we are not of them that draw back to perdition (destruction of the soul); but we are of them that believe, to the saving of the soul." (Heb.10:39) Jesus "poured out his soul unto death." (Isa.53:12) There are no scriptures that say the soul is immortal at birth. To the contrary, the scriptures say you (the soul) must put on immortality (1Co.15:53), seek after eternal life (Rom.2:7), lay hold on eternal life (1Ti.6:12), believe in Christ to get everlasting life (Joh.3:16), eat Christ's flesh and blood to have eternal life (Joh.6:54), etc.. God will not give his eternal spirit to any who do not obey his commandments (Rev.22:14,15).

Why does the Bible say "it is appointed unto men once to die"?

This brings up a third kind of death: "dead to sin." When we obey the gospel we can overcome evil (1Jo.3:9;4:7;5:3,4), destroy the body of sin (Rom.6:6), be dead to sin (Rom.6:1,2), put off the old man (Eph.4:22,23), lay aside all filthiness (Jam.1:21), be cleansed of all sin (1Jo.1:7), be forgiven of all trespasses (Col.2:13), etc. Once Eve and Adam sinned, God started a plan to provide mankind with the "power on earth to forgive sin." (Gal.4:4;Mat.9:6) This is the only death God helps to bring about, becoming dead to sin just as Christ was dead to sin his whole life (Rom.6:10,11). When that is accomplished in our lives, we will know what Paul meant when he said, "For ye [the soul] are dead [to sin], and your [eternal] life is hid with Christ in God." (Col.3:3)

What are the keys of hell and death that Jesus has?

Jesus does have the keys of death (Rev.1:18). Just as death and hell are not physical places, these are not physical keys. They are keys of knowledge (Luk.11:52), words that unlock the mystery of what death and hell are and how to overcome them (2Th.2:3-8). Jesus was the first man to overcome sin and death (Joh.16:33) the firstborn from the dead (Col.1:18). It took absolute honesty and strict obedience to God's word to accomplish this (Heb.5:4-9). God supplied Jesus with the power (Mat.9:8). Jesus then could pass the power on to those who accepted the deeper knowledge and understanding (Mat.10:1;Luk.10:19). Jesus said the overcomers would not die anymore (Luk.20:36). Their physical bodies died, but the overcoming souls had put on immortality and lived on (1Co.15:54-58). "Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?" (Joh.11:25,26)