From Whence Death
By John Gavazzoni
The common understanding of how, and from whence, death entered the world is that it entered by one man's (Adam's) sin: period, no need, it would seem, for further reflection. But if we're inspired to give due attention to the end of Paul's statement, it gives a student of scripture...or at least one would be inclined to think so...pause to consider further the relationship between sin and death. For purposes of familiarity with the text, I'll work from the KJV: "Wherefore, by one man sin entered the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:"
While working from the KJV text, we must right up front make one important adjustment. The Greek reads instead of "for that all have sinned," rather, "upon which all have sinned," or "upon that all have sinned." Very important difference! Reading Paul's statement as found in the KJV text, one easily comes to the conclusion, without further reflection, that is, that we all die for we all have sinned. Rather, what Paul is saying is that death having entered into the world by one man, it is death upon which we all sin and go on sinning. Death is the mal-dynamic at work at the core of universal sinning.
Here's the progression according to Paul: by one man sin enters the world, and death by sin, so that from then on, all men sin because they're dead... death, that is, understood as having suffered a disconnect from the Reality of, and which is, God, and therefore suffering from that disconnect also, as it would follow, alienation from God (being out of sync with who and what God is, and where, as it were, He's coming from in His relationship with mankind). But the question arises, "from whence came death?" For the issue re: the ongoing, universal pervasiveness of sin, is the issue of death. If we don't continue to be dead toward God, sin loses its source and power. It is, after all, death that is the last enemy that is defeated, and, by death Jesus destroyed him who had the power of death.
It seems pretty clear that it is not sin that is the enemy; it is not sin that Jesus destroyed by His death, it was death that He defeated, leaving sin no longer with its energy-source. That's why I'm dealing with where, from whence, came death, for since it entered the world, it must have come from somewhere. "From whence?" is an important question. If I come from a dysfunctional family, for instance, any dysfunctionality I suffer from stems, most certainly in part, from the family's condition. Dysfunctionality breeds dysfunctionality. Something's at work in the family that continues to work in me. By analogy, I'm not dead because I choose to sin; I choose to sin because I'm dead. It's not sin upon which we die; it's death upon which we sin.
Here's a bold assertion: death was present within creation, within the creature, before Adam sinned. That's from whence it came. It was present latently in the form of mankind's creaturely mortality. Adam was mortal before he sinned. He didn't become mortal after he sinned. If he had been created immortal, death would have been an impossibility for him. Do you get that? Immortality means to be incapable of dying. Mortal means to be capable of dying. How fruitless it is to try to defeat sin. Defeat death, and you deny sin its sinning-capability.
Have you ever thought about Eve being set up for her seduction by having watched the mystery of a seed going into the ground, and watching something strange and foreign to her understanding occur? She saw death at work without knowing really what it was, and she saw new life come forth out from with that alien process. We don't fully appreciate how, on one hand, creation, our own creaturehood, is a wonderful thing, good, and very good, but on the other hand, it's a place, a land, suffering a disconnect from home. Don't be too spiritual, or think yourself to be beyond appreciating the thought found in such simple lyrics as: "This world is not my home, I'm just a-passing through; my treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. The angels beckon me from heaven's open door, and I can't feel at home in this world anymore. Oh Lord, you know, I have no friend like you. If heaven's not my home, then Lord, what will I do? The angels beckon me from heaven's open door, and I can't feel at home in this world anymore."
The answer to sin is life that has passed through death to resurrection, leaving death behind forever. When sin is confronted by that life, it throws up its hands and surrenders. When death is confronted by life that has passed through death to resurrection, it's defeat is so complete that it, yes IT, death itself, is converted from enmity to devotion. The enemy is incorporated into becoming integral to the friendship between God and man. "The Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death." Death's every attempt to defeat life brings it one step closer to the realization that it was destined from the beginning to be life's best friend.
The devil was a liar from the beginning and the father of lies, and the more lies "he" tells, the more life rises up to swallow him up into friendship. Have you considered that it is written that death is SWALLOWED UP in victory. Not simply done away with, but swallowed up. It is swallowed, digested, and made integral to that life-victory that swallowed it.
