3 minute read
The Enemy: Death
By Mr. Michael Fieberkorn
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You’ve heard the story since you read your first dinosaur book in kindergarten: “It is a scientific fact that dinosaurs lived millions of years ago and died out long before man was around.” Wait a minute. How can anyone know this? Was anyone there millions of years ago to observe whether or not this so-called fact is a true statement? Or do scientists just think this? Quite obviously, no one can possibly know this. The statement above is grounded in a worldview based on evolutionary theory (not fact), which never agrees with the Bible. Very simply, what evolution teaches and what the Bible teaches are at odds with each other, especially when we consider the topic of death. Evolution teaches that death preceded sin, but the Bible clearly teaches that death was a consequence of sin. There is a difference; it does matter.
To understand this difference, it’s best to go back to the beginning and better understand what the Bible teaches. In the Genesis creation account, we learn that God made the heavens and earth and all that are in them in six days.The first three days were spent creating the environment, and the last three filling it with the heavenly array and His creatures. God created everything that lives on the land on Day 6, the same day He breathed the breath of life into the pinnacle of His creation: human beings. It wasn’t until then that God proclaimed His creation “very good.” And then, on the seventh day, satisfied, God rested. That’s right. According to the Bible, both dinosaurs and man were created on Day 6. And the best part of all is that neither of them were ever supposed to die.
Enter the snake. In Genesis chapter three, Satan deceives Eve into eating forbidden fruit, and Adam follows; they give in to temptation and fail to trust God. Enter sin into the world and all of its consequences. Enter death. Death is not natural; it is the result of sin, just like thorns and briars, toiling in labor for our food, and pain in childbearing. Death is the enemy. After the first sin, both man and dinosaur would begin to die.
Understanding the origin of death, that it is a consequence of sin, helps us understand our Savior. Jesus Christ is the promised One who has come to defeat sin, the devil, and death itself. Christ paid the penalty for our sin and defeated the devil on the cross, and then He died. Dead saviors, however, don’t do anyone any good. But the grave did not hold Jesus Christ. On the third day, Christ was resurrected and conquered death. He was the first man to rise again from the dead, and because He is risen, all believers in Christ Jesus have the hope of eternal life beyond the grave. We believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting; it is the inheritance of all the saints who trust in Jesus.
Now, if there is death before sin, if it is a natural part of God’s creation, then just what is Jesus Christ rescuing us from? What is our hope? If dinosaurs faced death millions of years ago before man came along and sinned, then this completely undermines the Gospel message that Jesus has come to conquer the death that was caused by sin. Did you know that scientists find dinosaur bones with evidence of cancer in them? Did you know fossils have been found showing dinosaurs killing one another in the act? Millions of years of death, disease, and bloodshed don’t exactly agree with the biblical account that says God pronounced His creation “very good” on Day 6.
Good Christians, don’t lose hope.Trust in God who is the Creator of all things, not an evolutionary theory. Trust in His infallible Word, not your science textbook that is based on man’s fallible opinion. Cling to what Scripture teaches you about your Savior, Jesus Christ, and put your trust in Him.Your faith in Christ, given to you at your Baptism, assures you of victory beyond your own grave. Cling to what Scripture teaches about death. It is unnatural. It is the enemy. Death is not how God intended life to be. That is why He sent His Son to conquer death. And that is why, on the Last Day, the last enemy to be defeated—death—will be defeated for all believers as well. Our physical bodies will inherit the kingdom of heaven, never to face death again.
Michael Fieberkorn is a Captain in the United States Air Force stationed at Hanscom AFB near Boston, Massachusetts. Mike is a member of Lutheran Church of the Savior in Bedford, Massachusetts, and will attend Concordia Seminary in the fall. Contact Mike at fieberkorn@yahoo.com.
