Snap Shot
Death is an eventuality for all; no one escapes it:
“And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27 ESV).
Death is experienced physically, spiritually, and eternally.
The Genesis of Death
“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die’” (Genesis 2:16-17 ESV).
When Adam disobeyed God’s command, the “you shall surely die” literally became “dying, thou shalt die;” or, from the minute you disobeyed, Adam, you began physically dying until the day you die completely.
Death Inherited by All
Thus, Adam’s disobedience produced sin; and sin results in death, as Paul penned to the Romans:
• “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (3:23 ESV);
• “For the wages of sin is death…” (6:23 ESV).
Death awaits all of us.
Experiences
Death is scripturally defined as a separation and not annihilation (the complete destruction of something). It is a separation of body and spirit (cf. Ecclesiastes 12:7 and James 2:26). It is the end of life in one’s present body; however, it is not the end of one’s existence.
Physical
When Adam sinned in the Garden he began to gradually die physically. Granted, he was 900 years old for it to finally happen but happen it did. His body that was made of dust would return to dust—as will all of us. But physical death is not the end.
Life and death cannot be thought of as existence and non-existence; rather, it must be embraced as two different states of existence: physical existence and spiritual existence. The physical existence ceases at physical death, but the spiritual existence continues.
Spiritual
With the correct understanding of one having both a physical and spiritual existence, then death is seen as the event that changes the mode of existence—what begins as an intertwined and dualistic life that is both physical and spiritual, becomes solely spiritual with physical death. Just as physical death is a separation of body and spirit, spiritual death too is a separation—it is the separation of one’s spirit from God.
This spiritual death also occurred in the Garden with Adam’s sin. Physically he began to die progressively, but spiritually he died instantaneously as sin brought a separation from the created communion with God.
Eternal
Eternal death is the finalization of spiritual death through an everlasting separation from God and is called the “second death” in Scripture.
“But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8 ESV).
The Cure for Death
When God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit created man the potential for death was with Adam in the Garden of Eden; yet, so too was the prospect of eternal life. But because of Adam’s failure, sin and death entered the world.
With Adam’s disobedience the potentiality for death became the reality of death.
Yet, God’s desire for man to live in harmony with Himself did not change, even though the destiny of man changed with sin and, thus, death’s reality. Something had to be done to remove sin for man to be reconciled with God.
The something became Someone in Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus became man to reclaim, through obedience, what Adam lost in disobedience. Since all die in Adam, all can be made alive in Christ Jesus, because He—Jesus—experienced the necessity of death for all (cf. Hebrews 2:9).
Just as the wages of sin is death, all who personally accept Christ’s death for their death can then receive salvation “…the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23 ESV).
Conclusion
Physical death is a reality all must face. The separation of our present body and spirit will take place. Whether one experiences both the spiritual and eternal death of total separation from God following their physical life depends entirely on the individual: If they accepted Christ as their savior in their physical life their physical death just became a door to ever being in His presence, and the eternal death—the second death—has no power:
“Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years” (Revelation 20:6 ESV).
And believers will, in turn, forever be with the Lord.
“No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever” (Revelation 22:3-5 ESV).
