The Good News
About Death
Colin Melbourne
© 06-08 Born-Again-Christian.info
Part 1 of 4
God wants you to lose all fear of death, and enjoy His abundant life. But before you can truly live, you need to understand death.
What is Death, why does it occur, what happens after you die? Is death the end, or is there a Judgment to face?
All you need to know before you die. The Good News of what the Bible says about Death, and the Christian view of dying.
Death on a Pale Horse
I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. Rev. 6:8 Holy Bible NIV
Two Deaths
The Holy Bible teaches us that there are two kinds of death:
Spiritual death and Physical death.
Most people are only conscious of physical death, the death of a body.
God's Word tells us that spiritual death came first, and is much more important.
Where Does Death Come From?
When God first created people on Earth there was no death in Eden, death did not enter until Adam and Eve sinned. Death came with sin.
The LORD's creation was perfect, sinless, and eternal.
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. Gen 1:31a
He made man and woman in His image, like Him, with the freedom to make choices, and gave them a stern warning:
You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die. Gen. 2:16-17
They chose to disobey His Word, ate from the tree they were commanded not to eat from, and sinned. Their sin brought sin and death to us all:
Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned. Ro. 5:12
This death is spiritual death, separation from Almighty God our Creator.
Born Dead
God is Spirit and Life, being apart from Him is spiritual death.
He was killed in a car crash and certified dead, but his wife would not let them bury him...
African Pastor raised from death
It is why you and I were born sinful, and without a connection to God. We know He's 'out there somewhere', we see the evidence of His Creation, and power, but we have lost contact with Him, because He cannot walk with sinful man.
All of us are born spiritually dead, children of the devil, and wide open to his evil influence. Our natural inclination is to sin. See Ro. 3:10-18
We have physical life, but walk in spiritual darkness and death from cradle to grave.
Born to Die
God tells us the result of a life of sin:
The soul who sins is the one who will die. Eze. 18:4b, 20a
For the wages of sin is death... Ro. 6:23a
Physical death comes from a life of sin. We all deserve to die, because we are all born sinners.
There is no-one righteous, not even one... there is no-one who does good, not even one. Ro. 3:10,12
Our allotted span on earth is seventy years, or eighty if God gives the strength. Ps. 90:10.
What happens after death?
Some say you cease to exist when you die, others claim that we can not know what comes after death. Both are flat-wrong. God tells us plainly:
Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment. Heb. 9:27
It is no mystery what happens after we die, God warns us repeatedly:
We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due to him for the things done in the body, whether good or bad. 2 Co. 5:10
Throughout the New Testament the Holy Spirit speaks of the resurrection of those who die. The resurrection of the dead is an awesome scene to contemplate:
I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened... The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. See Rev. 20:11-15
Pay no heed to those who say that death is the end, listen to God who warns us of the resurrection and Judgment that comes after death.
