In the beginning, God created everything, excluding death…correct me if I’m wrong about that. Why do we have to die first to get to heaven?
The Lord Jesus Christ is spoken of as the Creator in Colossians 1:16. This verse says, “For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him.” There is no Bible verse that clearly states that “God created death” or “God did not create death.” We know that it was not God’s fault that death arrived. Romans 5:12 says, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” We also know that God was the first one to mention death. We read in Genesis 2:16-17, “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 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.”
Since God created all things, was the first one to mention death, and had the authority to enforce death as a punishment for sin, it would appear that God did create death. When we remember that creating is the ability to make something from nothing, mankind does not have the power to create anything, including death. However, God takes no delight in death. We read in Ezekiel 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?” As the Sovereign God of the universe, He has the authority to decide the consequences of rebellion against Him. We read in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” We all choose to sin and so we will all physically die someday if the Lord does not first return for us. Hebrews 9:27 says, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”
It is possible that the Lord will return during our lifetimes and we will not die physically. We read in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” It could be today that we will hear that shout and be forever with the Lord!
As we noticed in Romans 6:23, God offers the free gift of eternal life through repentance and faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. The Lord Jesus “bore our sins in His body on the cross” (1 Peter 2:24, NASB). He took the punishment for our sins that we deserved. “He loved me, and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). Today is the day of grace when the good news of the gospel is being preached. We read in 2 Corinthians 6:2, “now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” However, eventually the day of grace will end, and Christ will come to judge the world. We read in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10, “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power; When He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.”
The first verse that we considered was Colossians 1:16. The end of that verse says that “all things were created by Him, and for Him.” Even though God does not take delight in death, He uses it for His purposes and for our blessing. We read in Hebrews 2:14-15, “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Ultimately God will destroy death. We read in 1 Corinthians 15:26, “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” This will happen after the Great White Throne Judgment of unbelievers at the end of the millennium. We read in Revelation 20:14-15, “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”
Returning now to the original questions, God created death as a righteous punishment for sin. Unless the Lord first returns for us at the rapture of believers, we must die first to get to heaven because we have all sinned. However, the believer does not need to fear death. Death is our servant to take us to heaven and begin an eternity of “fulness of joy and pleasures for evermore” (Psalm 16:11) with our precious Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. (432.6) (DJ)