God’s word gives life. Jesus is described as the Word (John 1:1, 14), and in the Word there is life (John 1:4). The instruction in God’s word brings life. The Hebrew word that is translated “law,” is Torah, which means instruction. God’s instruction, when obeyed, brings life. God says to obey His instruction “that you may live” (Deut. 4:1; 5:33; 8:1; etc.). We live, not by bread alone, but by the words that come from God (Deut. 8:3). The word of God is no meaningless thing, “it is your life” (Deut. 32:46-47).
To be living within the bounds of Scripture is to truly live. To be outside of God’s word is to be in the realm of death. The life lived in violation of God’s instruction is really not life at all, but rather, a living death. The day that Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they died spiritually and began dying physically as well. When they obeyed the instruction that God had given them, they lived. When they disobeyed, they entered the realm of death. Lest you think this principle only applied to Adam and Eve, we see this same idea in the New Testament. The unbelieving (carnal) mind is not obedient to the law of God (Rom. 8:7). Therefore, “to be carnally minded is death” (Rom. 8:6).
Satan told Adam and Eve that disobeying God’s instruction would lead to freedom. Many today believe the same thing. But disobedience didn’t bring freedom, it brought death.
Theologian R. J. Rushdoony writes in his book Law & Liberty:
God’s law is the condition of life. The condition of a fish’s life, its environment, is water; take a fish out of water, and it dies. The condition of a tree’s life, its health and its environment, is the soil; uproot a tree, and you kill it. It is no act of liberation to take a fish out of water, or a tree out of the ground. Similarly, the condition of a man’s life, the ground of man’s moral, spiritual, and physical health, is the law of God. To take men and societies out of the world of God’s law is to sentence them to decline, fall, and death. Instead of liberation, it is execution. (p. 13)
Are you living in the realm of death? Does your life not seem so “alive”? There is a reason for that. Because of your sin (disobedience), you are spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1,5; Col. 2:13). The only one who can fix your “dead” condition is Jesus Christ. He is the only one that can give you new life and eternal life.
People are not the only things that can exist in the realm of death. Families either walk in obedience to God’s word, or they will be in the process of dying. The death of the family has happened slowly over several generations. Many sociologists have given their opinion as to what happened to the family, but really it isn’t that difficult to figure out. If the family strays outside of God’s instruction, it will inevitably die, because it has now wandered into the realm of death.
Many churches exist in this realm as well. For well over a hundred years, the majority of “conservative” churches have abandoned God’s instruction for new, “creative” methods for evangelism, discipleship, and worship. These methods have brought about the slow and steady death of the American church. “But,” some may argue, “I know of many churches that have seen tremendous growth using these creative, man-made methods.” The fact that many churches trade the Bible’s methods for man’s innovations and yet still see a lot of growth should not surprise us; dead things do have a tendency to bloat.
The unfortunate thing about those who live in the realm of death, is that they often like living there. In Proverbs 8:36, wisdom (i.e. biblical instruction) says “All those who hate me love death.” The picture that the Bible gives of sinful human nature isn’t a pretty one. Unless and until we are born again, we love our sin more than we love God. When given a choice between death and loving God through obedience, the unbelieving world would rather embrace death. This is also true for societies and governments.
Governments either love God or love death. The Nazi and Communist governments of the 1900’s killed over 169 million people combined (some believe this is a low estimate). Most of these were their own citizens. Governments in the ancient world engaged in and promoted human sacrifice. Modern governments do the same, only we have more “civilized” ways of doing it.
Modern societies also reject God’s law, and therefore, love death. In a society that loves God, people won’t think of skulls as decoration for their trucks, motorcycles, and T-shirts. A society that loves death will. I remember, as a teenager, being surprised to learn that one of the more popular series that could be rented from the video store (remember those?), was a collection of videos that contained hours and hours of live footage of people being tortured and murdered. Watching people die was considered entertainment to the Christ-hating Romans. Our society is not much different.
Christianity is a religion of life and our Lord gives life in abundance (John 10:10). Mankind has always tried to create an abundant life for himself and his world. The problem is that he tries to live his life and build his utopias apart from God’s word. In doing so, he always finds himself in the realm of death. Life is only found in Christ and His word.