Three kinds of death

After the death of Ahab, Moab rebelled against Israel. Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria, and lay sick; so he sent messengers, telling them, “Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this sickness.” But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Now therefore thus says the Lord, You shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’ ” So Elijah went. (2 Kings 1:1–4)

In the Bible, there are three kinds of death. One is the physical death, usually first thought of for this word;

By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:19) 

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, (Hebrews 9:27)

As my hubby often says, we are all terminal. This thought helps us make decisions in daily life. For instance, the accumulation of useless stuff is meaningless because we cannot take it with us. Unless our stuff has meaning for the time we are here, or can be helpful for others, possessing it has no meaning. Pragmatic thinking comes from recognizing this kind of death.

This physical death is the separation of the soul from the body yet the second one is of greater significance, spiritual death. This is the separation of the soul from God. In Genesis 2:17, God tells Adam that in the day he eats of the forbidden fruit he will “surely die.” Adam does fall, but his physical death does not happen at that point. However, he is separated from God. Because of that sin, all who have not been redeemed and regenerated are alienated from God by sin. 

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:1–7)

By faith in Jesus Christ, anyone who is dead in sin passes from that death into spiritual life, a life that is no longer lived apart from God. 

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8–9)

The third death mentioned is really the second one. It is eternal death or eternal separation from God after physical death. This is true for those who reject God’s gift of forgiveness of sin and eternal life. They remain eternally separate from the One who loves them and died for them.

Jesus, You died for a brief time and then were raised from the dead because You didn’t want me to remain separated from You. I shake my head in amazed wonder at the sacrifice You made for me and millions more. How utterly wonderful that Christians cannot be killed! I will live forever with You. 

 

 

He is my righteousness

God created the human race in His own image that His glory, the glory of the God who is invisible, might be seen in this world. At that time, He could have insisted on obedience and ensured that humanity would live according to that lofty purpose. Instead, God obliged Himself by a covenant with one condition: humans could have eternal life by obedience to one command.

It was a simple command. They could eat from every tree in the garden but one. He told them to stay away from that tree, “For when you eat of it you will surely die.” (Genesis 2:17) From that, He inferred that as long as they were obedient and did not eat from it, they would surely live.

Genesis 3 tells how the first human beings broke this covenant. At that point, they fell into sin and needed a better righteousness than their own which was now ruined. Because of their sinful disobedience, that sin was imputed to the rest of humanity and we cannot make ourselves acceptable to God. We need something more than we have. Throughout the Old Testament, God promises to make that available to us . . . 

Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’ (Jeremiah 23:5–6)

The grand story of Scripture is the love of God to humanity, for what we could not do, Jesus Christ does it for us. As the New Testament says, in order that God might be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus, Jesus took the nature of a servant, even human nature. In that nature he obeyed, doing everything that God wanted of us. He displayed to the world the glory of God in human flesh. By His sinless life, Jesus fulfilled all of the moral law and that covenant in our stead.

But this sinless life angered the religious leaders and they determined to destroy Him. They had no idea that His death on the cross was part of God’s plan for sinners. He took our sin to that cross and died for it, taking the punishment we deserve upon Himself. As fully God and fully human in one person, He satisfied both the plan of God and the wrath of God. He worked out a full and perfect righteousness for us, a righteousness He offers as a gift.

How do we get it? Gifts are not earned. Rather they are given, and the Bible says this is an imputed gift. It means God attributes (righteousness, guilt, etc.) to a person or persons vicariously, ascribing it as derived from another. Just as the disobedience of Adam and Eve was imputed on the entire human race (for we all have sinned) so also is the righteousness of Christ made available for sinners. As the New Testament says, we become in Christ the righteousness of God because He became to us our righteousness.

God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:28–31)

What touches my heart today is the reminder of what this righteousness means. It is not only the passive obedience of Jesus dying on the cross, but the active obedience of His life. Christ not only died for me, but also lived for me. He not only suffered for my sin, but obeyed God for me. Both His life and death jointly make up that complete righteousness that God imputed to me.

I tend to dwell on the negative, on my sinfulness and therefore on His death for sin as my substitute. This is good, but it is not all that the Gospel means. As I struggle to live for Him, I need this reminder that Jesus is also my substitute for that life that I am unable to live on my own.

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

Because the Lord is my righteousness, and because this righteousness is imputed to me, I don’t need to flounder or fret over my weaknesses and inabilities. By the power of God and the gracious gift of His righteousness, He has given me all that I need to live.