How did death and decay begin in our universe?
There are two interesting hypotheses put forward to answer this question.
One argument is that sin and evil did not exist until Satan rebelled in heaven.
Until Satan rebelled, the universe operated on a different principle that it does now.
We’re talking about a universe that did NOT have the dimension of time since death and decay did not exist at the beginning of creation.
Another argument made is that evil and sin existed sometime BEFORE God created mankind.
The idea is that since Satan rebelled against God BEFORE the creation of mankind, the universe began its descent towards gradual death BEFORE God created Adam.
To put it simply, it was Lucifer’s fall that started the whole decaying process of the universe.
Afterwards, it was man’s fall that introduced death and decay to mankind.
At my current level of understanding, the position I hold to (which could change at any time) is that the fall of Satan established a pattern that shows us how Adam and Eve fell.
Just as Satan’s fall affected the whole universe by introducing decay into it at a time when there was no physical life yet in the universe, Adam and Eve’s affected all living creatures both animals and humans by introducing death and decay into the human race.
I believe Satan’s fall could have occurred many billions of years before the fall of Adam and Eve and the devil may have been residing on this planet while it was still dark and void.
However, I must admit that the Bible does not specifically say anything about a connection between Adam’s sin and the decaying of the universe.
The main point I want to make is that in the beginning God created a PERFECT universe and He created a PERFECT environment for His creation to live in.
In the beginning, there was no death and decay!
Death is an abnormality that entered this universe because of sin and rebellion against the most High.
And now, nothing in the universe is free from the effects of sin.
This is why from God’s perspective, death and decay is such an abomination.
We should never resign ourselves to the point where we are comfortable with death.
It is NOT a natural part of life.
While inhabiting these mortal shells of flesh that are slowly but surely decaying, we can comfort ourselves with the knowledge that our eternal spirits will survive and the hope we have through our resurrection faith in Yeshua.
But we must never think it was God’s intention for His creation to have to go through the awful process of aging, gradual deterioration and then a final cold and cruel end to our physical existence.
That was NOT God’s Plan for His people!
Thank God for the resurrection hope He has given us.
May the Lord’s SHALOM be with you.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“If it is only for this life that we have
put our hope in the Messiah,
we are more pitiable than anyone.
But the fact is that the Messiah
has been raised from the dead,
the firstfruits of those who have died.
For since death came through a man,
also the resurrection of the dead
has come through a man.”
-1 Corinthians 15:19-21
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