Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
- Where Did Death Start?
Death started in a garden. God said this to Adam in Genesis chapter 2
Gen 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
As you know Adam & Eve both ate off the tree. They both died that day spiritually. If they would have obeyed God they would still be alive in the garden. Although they didn’t die that day physically ...in God’s eyes they did because a day with the Lord is as a thousand years. This sin that Adam and Evecommited caused every man to be born with a sin nature.
Everyone is now born in the image of Adam and not the image of God. Until you get born again you are still in Adam.
1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Everyone who dies in their sins will not only face a physical death but also a second death.
Jas 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
You will die physically and then one day face a second death in a lake of fire.
Rev 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
Next we will go into “How Does God Look At Death.”
Eze 33:11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
So when a lost person dies in their sin God doesn’t get pleasure out of it.
2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
On the other hand when a saved person dies this is how the LORD feels
Psa 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
It is precious to GOD when a saint passes on. At this time the saint will no longer face sin and sorrow and pain.
2Co 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
Next we will look at “How Sure Is Death?” Life is short and death is sure. Death comes suddenly. We will see from the Bible not only is it sure but it comes quickly.
Pro 27:1 Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
Don’t ever say “I’ll get saved tomorrow.” You could die in your sins today and open your eyes in hell next to the rich man.
Jas 4:14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
Compared to eternity your life is like spraying a vapor out of a bottle it only appears for a moment. You don’t know how much time you have left. It would be foolish to care more about this present life than to care about where you will spend eternity.
Job 7:7 O remember that my life is wind: mine eye shall no more see good.
Your life will pass as quick as the wind blows by.
Psa 144:4 Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.
Psa 102:11 My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass.
1Ch 29:15 For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding.
Job 8:9 (For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow:)
Ecc 6:12 For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?
2Sa 14:14 For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again;
The next time that you spill milk or water on the ground remember , that is your life. You go through this life and live 70 years and all those years that are past cannot be brought back. Do today what you will wish you did in 20 years. One day you will wake up an old person wishing you had served the Lord.
Psa 102:3 For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearth.
The same way smokes goes up and you won’t ever see it again…your short life is the same way.
Psa 39:5 Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.
Do you think 120 years old is an old age? That age is nothing to God. To God a day is a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. Not even Methusaluh had a long life in the eyes of God. (969 years old)
Psa 89:47 Remember how short my time is: wherefore hast thou made all men in vain?
Psa 89:48 What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah.
The devil isn’t the only one who knows he has “but a short time.” He will redeem the time but he will do evil work. We need to redeem the time. Our time is short and we need to produce good works with what time we have.
Job 14:1 Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.
Since our days are few and full of trouble we need to stay right with God and then he is more likely to answer our prayers when we come to him with all our tribulation. Job knew a lot about our days being few and troublesome.
Job 9:25 Now my days are swifter than a post: they flee away, they see no good.
Psa 78:39 For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.
We are but flesh. Peter says all flesh is as grass. The same way the wind blows and you never see that same wind again is the way our life passes us by.
Psa 90:9 For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told.
When we die a person could literally sum up our short life in a tale. I could sit right now and start as far back as I can remember and tell you my short life in like 30 mins. You read biography’s about people and all the exciting things from their life are explained in a short book and most of it isn’t exciting. Time is precious and we need to do something with it.
So Death is sure and can come at any moment and as a general rule it will happen to almost every person. But there will come a time when there is “no more death.”
Rev 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
How great it will be one day when we never have to go to a funeral again. You won’t have to go to the graveyard anymore. There will be no hearses in eternity. There will never be police officers coming to a mothers door and informing them their children have been killed. No more phone calls in the middle of the night. No more flat lines. No more electric chairs. One day death will be no more.
There have been exceptions to the rule of Heb 9:27. There are some people who have not died or have died more than ONCE. Or died and came back to life. Let’s look at some of these exceptions.
Jesus Christ died, He died for us, he was buried and rose again the third day as the apostle Paul says in 1 cor 15:3. He conquered death hell and the grave. Death couldn’t hold him down. Now he is the one who says “I am he that liveth and was dead and behold I am alive forever more and have the Keys of hell and of death.”
Since he conquered death, all those who get in the body of Christ by believing on his name will one day no longer be affected by death. All the saved people who died in Christ will raise up from the dead and get an incorruptible body. Paul says on 1 cor 15 “oh death where is thy sting, oh grave where is thy victory.” Those who are alive and remain at the rapture will go up to meet the Lord in the air and NEVER FACE DEATH. ENOCH is translated and taken somewhere else and never sees death. He is a picture of those who are alive when the rapture happens. They will be translated and never see death.
In the Old Testament there was a man named Elijah who was taken up in a whirlwind in a chariot of fire. It is a good possibility he never saw death. And it is also a good possibility that he will come back as one of the two witnesses in Revelation 11. He will finally die there and be beheaded. So he would be a type of the tribulation saint who doesn’t die in the tribulation but rather is raptured out in a post tribulation rapture of Matthew 24:31, only to later die in the millennium because they wont have a glorified body like those who were in the body of Christ and got raptured before the tribulation started. So the tribulation saints who don’t die in the tribulation, and get raptured out, but then die later because they don’t have a glorified body, are similar to how Elijah doesn’t die, gets raptured, and then dies later.
Then you have Moses who doesn’t just die once, but actually dies twice. He died the first time when he was here in Deuteronomy and he will die again when he is beheaded in Revelation chapter 11. So he would picture the tribulation saint who dies in the tribulation, gets resurrected, and then dies again in the millennium because he the tribulation saints won’t have a glorified body.
So you have people who don’t just die once but die twice. You have people who escape death completely but as a general rule most people die once.
The word “Death” in Revelation 6:8 is capitalized. I sometimes wonder if there is a being named death. Some type of death angel. The beggar Lazarus was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom when he died. All the movies you see with the Grim Reaper waiting on someone to die could have a tad bit of truth to them.
