What is Death? Why Did God Create Death?
In Goethe's famous work Faust, the evil character Mephisto, corresponding to the devil, says: Why this purposeless creation? What if every created thing will disappear one day? Death is a very serious and highly thought-about phenomenon for many people, whether believers or non-believers. Many writers, poets, thinkers and theologians have written different works on this subject. Famous French essayist Montaigne asks the following question about this phenomenon in his essay "On Death": If our ultimate end is death when we are born, do we begin to live or die?
So how is the phenomenon of death viewed in the Christian worldview? What is death for Christians? Where did death come from? Did God create the world and humans mortal?
Creation and Death
The most important source a spiritual Christian should look at regarding life and death is the Bible's Genesis. In this section, the creation of life is described as follows:
God commanded, “Let the waters teem with living creatures, and let birds fly in the sky above the earth.” God created great sea monsters, aquatic creatures, and various flying beings. He saw that this was good. God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” Evening came, morning came, and the fifth day came.
God commanded, “Let the earth bring forth all kinds of living creatures, domestic and wild animals, and reptiles.” And so it happened. God created all kinds of wild animals, domestic animals, and reptiles. He saw that this was good.
God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, so that they may have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over all the domestic animals and over all the reptiles on the earth.”
God created man in his own image, he created him in the image of God. He created them male and female. He blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; Have dominion over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and every living creature on the earth. Behold, I give you every plant bearing seed on the face of the earth, and every fruit tree whose seed is in its fruit. These will be food for you. “I give the green grass for food to the wild animals, to the birds of the air, to the reptiles—to all breathing animals.” And so it happened. God looked at his creation and saw that everything was very good. Evening came, and morning came, and the sixth day came. ( Genesis 1:20 – 31)
Creation and the Good
As seen here, God looked at his creations and saw that they were all very good. As can be seen, these texts only talk about life. The first mention of death occurs in Genesis 2:
The LORD God placed Adam in the garden of Eden to tend it and cultivate it. “You may eat from any tree in the garden,” he commanded him, “but do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. For in the day you eat of it you will surely die.” ( Genesis 2:15 )
This chapter is the first chapter where death is mentioned. So if God created life and saw that it was good, where did death come from? Did God also create death? Why is death the inevitable consequence of life?
Nature and Animals and Death
In fact, when looking at Genesis, death is not mentioned much. Life is at the center of God's word. However, the fact that death is not mentioned does not mean that the phenomenon of death did not exist at that time. When we look at fossils, we can see that living things have lived and died on earth for millions of years. So it seems clear that death is an integral part of the cycle of life. Plants and animals are born and die.
So why did God create the world with death? Couldn't it be otherwise? You know, God created everything perfectly? When we look at the ecological balance of the world, the life-death circulation is actually necessary for perfect living conditions globally. The death of one living creature can contribute to the life of another living creature, and this is important for a perfect balance of nature. When we look at it from this perspective, the life-death cycle is not actually an obstacle to the perfection of God's creation; but it remains an important element of a perfect creation. When God created the universe and the world, He created it as a self-sufficient, sustainable system with the laws of physics and nature.
Death of People
When it comes to the death of people, the situation can become a little more complicated. Because especially in Genesis 2, there is a perception that humans were created immortal, and death along with sin is thought to be a part of our lives. This is true up to a point.
When we look at the Genesis chapter in the Bible, when God created humans (Adam and Eve), He prepared the garden of Eden in the east for them:
The LORD God planted a garden in Eden in the east. He placed Adam, whom he created, there. He grew all kinds of beautiful trees in the garden that bore good fruit. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. ( Genesis 2:8–9 )
Choice of Life or Death
As seen here, God has prepared a special place for people to live. This special place is the Garden of Eden. While the Garden of Eden was part of God's creation, it was also a special place in the world. The two trees he placed in the middle of the garden are also very important at this point. One of these trees is the Tree of Life; The other is the tree of knowledge of good and evil. In fact, the existence of these two trees was important for Adam to make a choice regarding his free will.
The LORD God placed Adam in the garden of Eden to tend it and cultivate it. “You may eat from any tree in the garden,” he commanded him, “but do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. For in the day you eat of it you will surely die.” ( Genesis 2:15 )
Adam had two options here. Either he would trust God with complete faith, eat from the tree of life, and live immortally; Or he would eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which only God knew and wanted Adam to trust in Him, and he would sin and follow that knowledge. As can be seen, there was a parallel between faith in God and eternal life.
The LORD God made garments of leather for Adam and his wife and clothed them. Then he said, “Adam became like one of us in knowing good and evil. He should no longer be allowed to reach the tree of life, take fruit, eat it and become immortal.” So the LORD God brought Adam out of the garden of Eden to cultivate the ground on which he had been created. He fired him. He placed cherubim and a flaming sword that turned in all directions to the east of the garden of Eden to control the path of the tree of life. ( Genesis 3:21 – 24 )
Faith and Death
We can clearly see in the scriptures that God actually created Adam, that is, humans, mortal. However, there was a state of immortality based on his relationship with God and connected to the tree of life. In fact, Adam had two options, either he would trust in the wisdom of God, the creator of good, and live an eternal life with Him based on faith and holiness; Either he would follow his own wisdom, cut off his relationship with God, and choose a limited, mortal life. Unfortunately, Adam and Eve chose the latter and were removed from the garden of Eden and the tree of life. However, this has of course also affected the generation that came to us.
With sin, our connection with God, who is holy, is broken. Our communion with God, and therefore our relationship with our source of life, has been deeply damaged. All that is needed to repair this relationship and attain eternal life is to be justified, become holy in the eyes of God, and meet God again. This plan reaches its peak in one person.
Death and Resurrection
God takes responsibility for repairing this broken relationship and carries out his plan in Jesus Christ. In his earthly ministry, Jesus Christ invites people into the Kingdom of God and promises eternal life:
God came to earth in Jesus Christ, died on the cross for our sins, and took upon himself the consequences of our sin. With the death of the sinless, holy Jesus Christ on the cross, our sin and its evil consequences were absolved and cleansed. The resurrection of Jesus Christ 3 days after his death allows us to hold tightly to the hope of resurrection and hold on to the promise of eternal life. God returns to us the garden of Eden and the tree of life from which we were removed because of our sin, through faith in the salvation of Jesus Christ.
Having achieved peace through the blood of Christ shed on the cross, he was willing to reconcile to himself all things in heaven and earth through Him. ( Colossians 1:20 )
