Understanding death gives us hope!

Have you ever wondered why people die? I'm sure everyone does at some point. You could take it from a physical perspective and say we die because our heart stops pumping and so on. But that's only a secondary cause.  I'm talking about the primary reason people die.  Sure, people die because the heart stops beating, but why does the heart ever have to stop beating?

If you've grown up in church your immediate response may be "because of sin."  And yeah, that's true, we die because we sin, but that answer actually begs another question which is why then do babies and those in utero who have no opportunity to actively sin still die sometimes?  The Bible says some amazing things about sin and how it relates to death and ultimately our hope.

"Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—" (Romans 5:12).  This verse basically supports our first supposition which is all people die because all people sinned and death is the penalty for sin.  Notice it says sin entered the world through one man, which is referring to Adam.  For some context, if you read the account in Genesis you'll see the first sin occurred when Adam disobeyed a command from God not to eat fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

There was a span of time, at least several hundred years--maybe even several thousand--between Adam and Moses where people had no direct command from God. During this span of time between Adam and Moses people still sinned but their sin was not charged against them since there was no law to obey: "To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law." (Rom 5:13)  Adam's sin was charged against him because God expressly commanded him not to do something and then Adam did it anyway.  But after Adam lots of people prior to Moses sinned by doing things counter to God's unexpressed will yet their sin was not counted against them because they had no command telling them to do otherwise.  Still, even though their own sin was not counted against them they all died!  As Paul says, "Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come." (Rom 5:14)  So why did all of these people whose sins were not counted against them still die?  Because of Adam's sin.  That is, the people who died between the time of Adam and Moses did so not because they sinned by breaking God's commands, but because Adam sinned and Adam represented them.  This reality is repeated 5 times by Paul:

• Verse 15: "By the transgression of the one [Adam] the many died."
• Verse 16: "The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation."
• Verse 17: "By the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one."
• Verse 18: "Through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men."
• Verse 19: "Through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners."

You may be wondering how one person's sin can affect all of humanity.  It seems so unfair, doesn't it?  Yet, a similar question should be asked.  Namely, how can one person's sacrifice benefit all who are in Him?  Notice in verse 14 Paul calls Adam "a pattern of the one to come", meaning Christ.  So Adam, our representative, follows the pattern of Christ, who is the representative of all who are in Him.  It would be quite odd to accept one representative and not the other.  Paul's goal in these verses is not actually to explain why death occurs, but rather why Christ's death and resurrection can effectively give us new life.  To help us understand Christ, Paul explains Adam.  "For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!  Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people." (Romans 5:17-18)

So, why do we die?  Because Adam sinned (as do we).  Why can we live?  Because Christ died and lived again.