In the past 5 years, the world has unfortunately seen an uptick in mortality. Covid, the Ukraine war, the Israel-Hamas conflict, Hurricane Milton, you name it. Whichever side of the political spectrum you are on, we are all united on one front – everyone dies someday. I could die before this post comes out and nobody would never know. As the author of Ecclesiastes poetically puts it:

Everything that confronts them is vanity, since the same fate comes to all, to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil, to the clean and the unclean, to those who sacrifice and those who do not sacrifice. As are the good, so are the sinners; those who swear are like those who shun an oath. This is an evil in all that happens under the sun, that the same fate comes to everyone. Moreover, the hearts of humans are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. (Ecclesiastes 9:2-3 NRSVUE)

What if death could go away for good?

Promises of eternal life and restoration

One of the central doctrines and sources of hope for all Christians is the promise of eternal life when the Son of Man, Jesus, returns. For two millenniums, we believers have held on to this hope that one day, He will return and make things right. Traditionally, His crucifixion signifies the perfect sacrifice to atone for the sins of the world, while His resurrection marks the defeat of the enemy boss of life – death itself. Very few (if any!) church denominations today stray away from these core tenets.

If death has been defeated by the Lord’s sacrifice, surely those who eventually call upon His name will be saved from death’s jaws, right? We are promised an eternal inheritance that lets us bask in the Lord’s presence forever. Death will wield no power over us! What’s the issue? Why am I even writing about this basic spiritual milk?

Ecology without death?

I do ecological research, which entails the study of life interacting with the ecosystems around them. To be even more specific, my area of expertise lies in biogeochemistry, which is a branch of earth sciences that studies how elements flow and cycle through ecosystems, sustaining life in the process. Simply put, when things die, their bodies decay and the nutrients within them are released back into the ecosystem. In other words, I think about death, decay and decomposition A LOT.

When I mean “think”, I don’t mean pondering philosophically on the implications of death. I consider the mortality of plants, how long till they decompose and the processes that govern the release and flow of nutrients from the death into the living. It was only recently that I started thinking harder on reconciling my faith with my work that I realized just how weird a world without death is.

For a start, death is absolutely necessary to keep any ecosystem (as we know it) going. We can’t let stuff grow and persist forever – something must die to make space for new life. Dead carcasses can’t simply remain lying there – they must be broken down by bacteria, fungi, plant roots, scavengers, or some other organism for their nutrients to circulate back into the environment to sustain other lifeforms. Ecosystems that lack or strongly limit this process possess less life than expected. For example, waterlogged soils of peat swamps typically lack oxygen to sustain microbial life – this makes decomposition far slower and nutrients remain trapped in organic matter, inaccessible to most plant life. Predation is what keeps any animal life fueled – something has to die to become a meal for something else. Heck, all of us kill something directly or indirectly daily, simply by being human and eating (even vegans – plants are life too!).

“Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55 NRSVUE)

Now, imagine a world without death, assuming Paul is correct in his words in 1 Corin 15:55. What would such a world look like? If birth continues ceteris paribus, it would only be a matter of time before our world is overcrowded with life. All these diverse, sardine-packed lifeforms will need something to eat, but they can’t eat one another in this world. No more steak for you − better start learning how to photosynthesize if you want to “eat”! The cycle of life literally breaks down as fundamental ecosystem processes such as predation and nutrient cycling disappears entirely. The world will be so packed of immortal life that it’ll make the crowd in Times Square at the New Year countdown look tame.

Ok, so perhaps Paul meant only we humans get to enjoy eternal life. Human death is defeated but the rest of Creation continues to march on. Nevertheless, such a world still wouldn’t function. Assuming you need to get your energy from somewhere, you’ll need to eat and drink. So does your neighbor. And your ancestors 500 years ago (remember, nobody dies!). The combined demand for food by the immortal, forever-growing human race will place an infinite burden on global food production, never to be satisfied. Even if you could get the food you need, space is also a finite resource. Resources such as metal ores, oil, nutrients, wood and other building materials remain finite. God will need to create all these things ex nihilo daily to sustain His own image-bearers.

What does Scripture say about life at the end?

The idea that believers will be united with God somewhere above in “Heaven” seems to be so ingrained in us that I don’t think many of us even considered whether that idea came from Scripture. In fact, one could easily start from the position of a heavenly destination awaiting us, and then search the Scriptures to find evidence in support of said position (e.g. 1 Thess 4:17).

Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will be with the Lord forever. (1 Thessalonians 4:17 NRSVUE)

I don’t find that line of argument convincing nor appropriate. Is there Scripture that supports a different view?

Yes! For example, in the entirety of the Old Testament prior to the Babylonian exile, the concept of the dead entering a new destination called “heaven” had not existed. Jews simply accepted that the dead went to a place called sheol, where there is nothing there – no god, no fiery lakes of torment, no light, nothing (Ecc 9:10; Ps 6:5). God told King David he will eventually “lie down with his ancestors” (2 Sam 7:12), even though his kingdom will last forever (2 Sam 7:16). Even in the Genesis accounts, it is implied that Adam and Eve, prior to the first sin, were not immortal as well (they had yet to eat from the Tree of Life, which fruit gives immortality). Only much later did authors started considering the possibility of an afterlife (e.g. Daniel 12:2-3). For a full treatment of the concept of Heaven, I recommend watching one of Bart Ehrman’s lectures here.

Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. (Daniel 12:2-3 NRSVUE)

In contrast, the NT is choke-full of references to an eternal life in the future kingdom of God. However, each gospel/Pauline epistle also depicts how this eternal life will be lived differently. John is very explicit about believers inheriting eternal life (e.g. John 3:16 – I don’t think I need to cite this…); a view enthusiastically shared by Paul (e.g. Rom 6:23; Gal 6:8). Paul goes a step further and declares that believers will be shipped to a different realm outside of earth to live out this future life (2 Cor 5:1). Several denominations subscribe to the idea of a rapture based on 1 Thess 4:17 (here’s why this view isn’t biblical). These views are greatly dimmed in the synoptics. For example, Mark and Matthew portrays Jesus as proclaiming “the kingdom of God is at hand” (Matthew 4:17; Mark 1:15) and “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). The “kingdom of God/Heaven”, in these authors’ eyes, is a real place on earth.

If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh, but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. (Gal 6:8 NRSVUE)

For we know that, if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (2 Corinthians 5:1 NRSVUE)

If we take a broader view and look at how eternal life relates to the rest of life on Earth, several passages imply that the rest of Creation will be “renewed” (Rom 8:20-21) or “restored” (Rev 21:5) or even set into purifying flames by God (2 Peter 3:10-13) to make way for a “new heaven”. In other words, some authors thought that Creation will not be annihilated but restored, potentially towards an Eden-like state where God first declared everything is good. Will human life in this Eden-like state be immortal? Even less certain is the state of life for the rest of Creation. Will they continue to experience the cycle of birth and death, or will they be freed from death, decay and suffering? We just can’t know for sure.

For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its enslavement to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. (Romans 8:20-21 NRSVUE)

And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” (Revelations 21:5 NRSVUE)

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be destroyed with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and destroyed and the elements will melt with fire? But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home. (2 Peter 3:10-13 NRSVUE).

Why does eternal life even matter?

Many pastors often advice their congregation to have “an eternal perspective” (2 Corin 4:18) or to focus on “heavenly things which lasts, unlike earthly things” (Col 3:2). But what if that promise of eternal life was unfounded in the first place? What does that mean for the faith of all believers if that promise of eternity was suddenly revamped? Will we still have an incentive to live a holy life for God then?

I don’t really find it meaningful or interesting to debate whether we really will inherit eternal life (in my view, there is just no way to know for sure). In fact, focusing too much on the eternity prospects of the Christian faith can be dangerous by misguiding one into valuing things based on their transience. Doctors continue to save lives even though their patients might not make it. Social workers help the poor and needy even though there is no promise that they will stay above the poverty line. We love our loved ones daily even when they will not be us forever. There remains much value in these things, however transient they may be.

What I find more interesting, and far more important is how we can live out our lives here and now. That is the power of the gospel, to help us realize the value of things that a selfish world will never care about, regardless of their transience. And we can do all of these because we are under the care of the Lord of Most High, whose providence, grace and mercy allows us to live fulfilling lives however short it may be and however much we mess up. May we use that gift of life wisely to please and bring glory to Him.