Why is there death in the world?
It's plain and simple. Death is a result of sin. Death is the punishment for sin. Before Adam and Eve had sinned there was no death. I think we can all agree that we don't like thinking about the pain and suffering associated with death. Everything about it is bad. We have a strong feeling inside that this isn't the way things ought to be. And that's because we have eternity written on our hearts. We were made to live forever. It was only because of our disobedience that death entered the world.
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
What was the first death?
Because of Adam and Eve's sin, God made a covering for them by killing an animal to make them clothes. This sacrificial death was the first moment when something in God's creation had to die.
What do evolutionists say about death?
Before man ever existed, there had to be lots of other things that came before him. You had neanderthal man, homo erectus and all the rest. So if evolution is correct then all of these "not-yet-men" had to die over and over again before you finally have man. Evolution supposedly takes so long that species after species would die along the way before you ever get to the first fully formed human. One obvious problem is... where are all those fossils? We simply don't have them. Evolution is a system based on death. The Bible is about God breathing life into the dirt and creating man.
What does the Bible say?
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.
Romans 5:12
God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23
For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.
1 Corinthians 15:21
Jesus came to solve the problem of sin and death in the world. If evolution is right and death is just part of the process then Jesus didn't have to come. But we know the truth that Jesus did come and died the death we deserved. If we believe in him, then we receive life.
Family Discussion
How does the Gospel conflict with evolution?
Why is there so much death in the world?
What are you doing to share the message of Jesus with people who think that death is the end?