Death: Man’s Fault

The title of this article is provocative and deliberately so. Often opponents of the Bible and young-earth creation point to death as evidence against a loving God. However, the Bible makes it very clear that death is not God’s fault. In fact, the very ones accusing Him of being unjust for allowing death, are the same ones who truly deserve the blame for death: humans.

In the Garden of Eden, the world was perfect. This is so universally acknowledged that the word “edenic” has made it into English language meaning unspoiled and idyllic.  Now obviously, many people do not acknowledge the existence of the Garden of Eden, but they do implicitly acknowledge that, if it existed, it was perfect.  Being that God describes His creation as “very good” in Genesis 1:31, this leads to the fairly obvious observation that death was not present in this world when God made it.

In fact, in Genesis 3, when the serpent tempts Eve, he makes it clear he is challenging God’s statement that death would be the result of sin.  “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:4-5.  God gave man exactly one “do not” in the beginning, and made it very clear that there was a consequence for breaking this one rule.  Because God is just, when man broke the one rule, as Eve did by eating of the fruit, God had no choice but to keep His Word.

Later, in the New Testament, the Bible repeatedly confirms that man, through his sin, brought death into the world. ” Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” Romans 5:12.  This is not the only verse where man is faulted for death. “For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ” Romans 5:17 tells us. 1 Corinthians 15:21 tells us the same. “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.”

Some might argue that the curse of death in Genesis 3 was only meant to apply to Adam and Eve and the rest of humanity. Others might argue animals had been dying for millennia when Adam fell.  Both arguments are Biblically invalid. “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now” Romans 8:22 tells us. Note the phrase “whole creation” and word “together”. This verse is clearly teaching us that the whole creation became subject to the curse at the same time.  Since part of the curse was death,  this implies very strongly that death came upon all creation at the same time.

Since we have established that, Biblically, all creation had death thrust upon it at the same time, and that man choosing to sin was responsible for his death, then we can logically establish that, Biblically, man brought death upon all creation.  This conclusion completely undermines the argument that death and suffering is somehow God’s fault. It is not. Man brought death and suffering into the world. The blame for every single death in the history of humanity falls squarely on the shoulders of man himself.

Other may ask why God did not intervene and stop Adam from making that choice, or why He does not intervene now and stop the death. The answer is in two parts.  Man was created with a free will. He had a choice to love and serve God, or serve self. He chose self.  Realistically, free will was a must if there was to be true love, because all love is a choice. Therfore, in order for man to be able to love God, he had to be able to choose to fall.  As for why God has not yet intervened, we are promised that He will.  However, His great love for humanity means that He wants everyone to accept His Son before He brings judgment on the wicked and restores a pre-fall state. Therefore He waits to end the death, so that whosoever will may come to Him.

Death is not a natural state. It was not the creative force God used. It is an invader, brought by man’s sin, and one day, it will be defeated and a pre-fall state placed upon the world.

Do you know what’s going to happen when you die? Are you completely sure? If you aren’t, please read this or listen to this. You can know where you will spend eternity. If you have questions, please feel free to contact us, we’d love to talk to you.