Living Isn’t Dying: The Biblical Definition of Life

The 1994 Disney cartoon, The Lion King, opens with a sunrise silhouetting a desolate savannah. The iconic music swells to the forefront of the audience’s attention as Tim Rice’s lyrics resound, “It’s the circle of life! And it moves us all. Through despair and hope…through faith and love” [1]. The movie goes on to explore this theme of life and death as a normative and even positive cycle. While the iconic characters and musical numbers from this film have captured the hearts of many, the idea that the death of one organism is no more than a simple transfer of life to another is one of the most deceptive ideologies that plagues culture. If the “circle of life” tells us that death is normal, then why does Simba weep at the sight of his father’s death? Why is it that being near death brings us to tears and that we are afraid to die? 

Thankfully, this article does not assume that Tim Rice and Elton John are the arbiters of absolute Truth, and though Disney movies shape worldview early on, the opportunity to deconstruct childhood paradigms always remains. One cannot underestimate the impact of phrases like “You only live once!” as they permeate mind, body, and soul both collectively and individually. We operate out of our assumptions, and these deceptive cries about death have led humanity to desperation and despair. 

Merriam-Webster defines life as “the period from birth to death.” Another definition states that life is “the quality that distinguishes a vital and functional being from a dead body” [2]. It seems that even the dictionary, a reflection of society’s understanding of words, has trouble defining life without mentioning death. These definitions are certainly accurate descriptors of our current state of being, but why do we call it “living” if our existence has an inevitable endpoint? Isn’t that just “dying?”  Perhaps we call our dying existence “life” because we are all extreme optimists who are just thrilled for the few years we have in this “amazing” world. Maybe you have reasoned that the finite nature of existence encourages you to take advantage of every moment and to work to leave behind some sort of legacy. Or, maybe you have always seen your existence as dying and, in so doing, have lost the joys of little moments to the inevitable end that awaits. The cloud of death is a darkness with which we are far too comfortable. We have given death a Darwinian makeover to try and come to terms with it as an understandable and even natural phenomena. But, when we actually encounter death, weeping is the only proper response. Sadness is the natural reaction to that which should not be. 

Consider this world that we know but without those tears of sadness and devoid of death altogether. If you open up to the first page of The Tanakh (the Old Testament as some call it), you will find that exact innocent cosmos created by a singular God by the power of his Word. His articulation of existence is final and ultimate, bringing all things into a state of perfect goodness. This God creates life, and He instills humans with his own animating breath. The people in this Creation enjoy perfect relationships with each other and with their Creator as they actively eat of the Tree of Life. This tree represents God’s own life, which does not end. As they eat of this tree, humans are partaking of life as defined by its Creator. What you will find in the Bible is a personal God who defines life as neverending existence with Him.

Humanity’s desire to live on their own terms leads them to death, though perhaps not in the way we currently define it. God presents a warning that if the Eden people choose their own conception of being over His declaration, they will “surely die” [3]. But, the people do not instantly drop to the ground upon their first disobedience. Though man was still breathing air and eating forbidden fruit (alive by our standard), it was at that critical juncture of Biblical history when God defined man as “surely dead.” It was at that moment, that God lost the people He created and loved. Though He was completely satisfied without them, when humanity rejected Him, God lost His beloved and they lost His life. The Eden people introduced death to a world without end; a fair consequence for their sin and a total trespasser on God’s property. They unleashed disease and sadness onto the Creation while also entangling themselves and their progeny in unbelief and disobedience. Knowing the destruction they had released, God barricades access to the tree of life and creates a boundary of pure grace. Natalie Babbitt explores this idea in Tuck Everlasting, a novel about a family who accidentally receives everlasting life in a broken world. The book shows that to forever exist in a world of suffering is a horror worse than physical death. The moral of the story: Self-actualized morality leads to an unsustainable existence. This is why the “wages of sin is death” because life cannot be sustained away from its Divine source, in the same way a branch withers once broken from the tree [4]. The Bible posits that our current existence of decay is the result of forsaking actual life and choosing something finite and lesser; namely death. In the eyes of the God of the Bible, the loss of life is equivalent to the loss of Himself.

While Merriam-Webster may say life is simply the duration of time between birth and death, the Bible displays to us a God who refuses to back down on His definition of life. Though we have taken it upon ourselves to define living as dying, the eternal Word that decided the cosmos remains in stark contrast. In the first century A.D., a Jew named John would boldly equate the Divine Word of Genesis to his refugee rabbi, Jesus of Nazareth. John’s gospel describes Jesus’ ministry and teachings while also recounting his journey toward death on a Roman cross. John specifically highlights Jesus’ definition of life and often uses the words “life” and “eternal life” interchangeably. For Jesus, life is inherently neverending; His mission is to give abundant life to a humanity who, He assumes, are not yet alive.

In a late night conversation with a Jewish leader named Nicodemus, Jesus says, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless someone is born again, they cannot see the kingdom of God” [5]. Nicodemus, an expert in Torah, may have suggested that “seeing the kingdom” could be achieved through religious efforts and devotion, but Jesus uses the language of birth—a passive experience. One cannot birth themself. The beginning of life is a mysterious and complex chain of biological processes of which Jesus understands God to be the first uncaused cause. We do not bring ourselves to physical life, and this rabbi suggests that an equivalent Divine causation is required to experience God’s kingdom or society. For Jesus, making it out of the womb is not a relevant requisite for actual life. Since the fall from Eden, physical birth is just the genesis of our death, the start of an inevitable end. But, this rabbi is actively opposed to death. Unlike us, He refuses to define our existence in relation to its termination. He claims that individuals must be reborn to actual life which, by His definition, can’t and won’t end. 

John sees Jesus as the only way of rebirth into actual life. In a letter written after John witnesses the death and resurrection of Jesus he writes, “And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” [6]. Notice how John refers to life and eternal life interchangeably. Recall that God’s own neverending and abundant life was freely given to the first humans through the Tree of Life which they forfeited by rebellion, introducing finality to an infinite world. Here Jesus offers Himself (the Son) as a new tree of life; to have the Son is to have life, and to be exiled from Him is to “surely die.” The Bible’s Edenic offer of actual, forever life still stands for a humanity who has accepted death as a normal part of the “life” cycle. 

Perhaps Jesus’ gospel (that is the good news he claimed to bring) seems outdated or irrelevant to our present scientific age, but what comfort is scientific ideology offering us? How does science explain the feeling of despair that we experience in this land of death? The gospel of science can only speak of death in reference to the legacy of life left behind. Jesus’ gospel says that you are eternal, apart from anything you can or have produced. The science gospel says decay is normative and the end of your life is necessary  for the “circle of life” to continue. Jesus’ message says that death is the deconstruction of nature itself and an imposter in God’s realm of abundant life. An early first century pastor writes about Jesus’ mission saying “…that through death he (Jesus) might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery” [7]. Jesus affirms the universal human discomfort with death (an affirmation that modern science cannot provide). He not only acknowledges the enslaving power of fearing death, but he also faces this ancient nemesis head on. Knowing that His ultimate mission was to kill death for them, Jesus constantly and confidently offers people life. As Jonathan Edwards writes, “When death slew him, it slew itself” [8]. Jesus’ victory over death would be accomplished through His own sacrifice of life on a wooden cross: “He himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness” [9]. As a symbol, the cross tree reminds Christians that, though they deserve death, Jesus died as them and for them. Though Jesus deserved eternity, He willingly took the punishment for His people’s rebellion. In exchange, they received the life earned by His perfection: eternally sustainable and infinitely free. Jesus’ tree of death is humanity’s final tree of life. Exercise, diets, or prescriptions are inadequate trees of life. Your legacy will fade. Your progeny will die. According to the Bible, life is found in a man standing beside his grave.  The God of the Bible went through death so that He could offer humanity a resurrection world where death is untrue and decay is impossible. The offer of Jesus is a world without end.

1. Allers, Roger, and Rob Minkoff. 1994. The Lion King. United States: Buena Vista Pictures.
2. Merriam-webster Dictionaries, s.v. “life (n.),” accessed April 4th, 2024.
3. Genesis 2:17 ESV.
4. Romans 6:23 ESV.
5. John 3:3 ESV.
6. 1 John 5:11-12 ESV.
7. Hebrews 2:14-15 ESV.
8. Edwards, Jonathan. “Christ Exalted.” Accessed April 11, 2024. https://www.biblebb.com/files/edwards/exalted.htm. 
9. 1 Peter 2:24 ESV.