From the moment we are conceived we start dying. Our very first day of existence begins the countdown to death. It’s inevitable, we’re all going to die. But it hasn’t always been this way. In the very beginning, when God was finished with his creation, nothing had died, nothing was dying, death wasn’t even on the horizon, or so it seemed. So where did death come from?

This deathless world didn’t last long and in the chapter immediately following the creation of man and woman sin, death and mortality are introduced as a present reality. Death is the natural result of sin. Where there is sin there is death. When God gave the very first law (Genesis 2:16-17) the result of not obeying was death. Adam and Eve (our first parents) didn’t follow that law. The appeal the serpent made to Adam and Eve is the same appeal that he makes to us in our day and age, “you will not surely die”.

Our culture desperately tries to deny the reality of death. Youngsters try to deny death and the elderly try to avoid it. But on this first day of Lent we need to focus our minds on the beginning of death, the curse, because until we realize the truth of death and face it we will be blinded to our need of salvation from the curse and blinded the hope of salvation God has provided.

The curse that we are under (Genesis 3:14-19) is marked with pain, suffering and death. It is the law of the universe that we now live under; pain in childbearing, family disfunction (Gen. 3:16), hard painful work, turmoil in all creation (Gen. 3:18) and death (Gen. 3:19). Thus the curse of sin and death is upon us.

Most of us live by these laws of the universe without even acknowledging their existence, but no matter how much we try to ignore, surpress or avoid the curse of sin and death it is here. Thankfully the curse doesn’t leave us hopeless; rather, there is hope built into the curse in Genesis 3:15.

The offspring is referring to the God-man Jesus. There is hope that the serpents head will be crushed. We get another look at hope of redemption from the curse in Galatians when when Paul writes,

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us (Galatians 3:13)

That is the purpose of reflecting on death and mortality. It is so that we are reminded that God is immortal and we are mortal. It is so that we are reminded that we can’t escape suffering or death, which leads us to the hope we have in the person and work of Jesus. He absorbed the curse and died in our place defeating sin and death and gave us hope for resurrection when he rose on the third day (Easter).

Do you observe Ash Wednesday/Lent?
How are you reminded to reflect on your mortality regularly?
What do you do that evidences your fear, denial and avoidance of death?

I am 23 years old and my life has been radically transformed by the power of the gospel. I have been married to my beautiful wife, Jessica, since July 11, 2009. Jess is currently pregnant with our first child and we await the arrival in the middle of July this year. I am originally from Northwest Indiana but God lead us to pick up and move to Louisville, KY where we joined Sojourn Community Church. We serve as Community Group Leaders and I am currently an intern for the Sojourn Network. Our desire is to start a new church in a new city to make much of God through the calling of children to himself. We are passionate about this mission because we believe that the hope of the world is Jesus changing people in and through the local church.

This blog will hopefully be one way that God uses me to make him famous. Whether it be me writing about theological topics, contraversies, current events, media, or even just daily life, my purpose is to point you to the glory of God made public in Jesus and his church.

How did you find my blog? Let me know in the comments section…