What is the First Death?

All of us have stood there at one point or another. We have all seen their lifeless bodies being lowered into the ground only to have dirt shoveled on top of them. We stand there in silence and pay our respects. After such an experience who could blame us for thinking this was the first death?

 

The Bible refers to several different forms of death: physical, spiritual and eternal. It even talks about death to self and sin. Something that is intriguing is found in Revelation 20:14 which says, "Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire."

 

It references the lake of fire as being the second  death. This is a future death that all unrepentant sinners will face one day. Unbelievers have been earning their place in Hell for the last six thousand years, but this is their future judgment and final end. It is here that those who have rejected God will suffer for all of eternity.

However, if there is a second, there must be a first. If the second death is the lake of fire and that has not happened yet, then the first must take place sometime beforehand.

What is the First Death?

What if the first death means something different than mere physical death? What if it's not what we have been taught? 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 says:

 

"...that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf."

In the passage above, Paul tells us that Christ died for all of mankind past, present and future. He died for you and for me. However, the passage doesn't stop there. It continues by saying that because Christ died for all mankind, all mankind died.

This is difficult to convey, but what Paul is saying is that when Christ died on the Cross, so did all of mankind. This death for us was not a physical experience, but one of position. Every single person throughout all of human history was represented by the Lord Jesus Christ on that Roman Cross.

Here's the key: everyone died, but not everyone lives. Verse fourteen states that all died which means that every man and woman from the beginning of creation to the end is included in that group. Verse fifteen says, "so that they who live..." which indicates a different group of people.

Not everyone truly lives. Not everyone has been raised to life with Christ. Many are positionally still in the grave unwilling to experience the new life of Christ's resurrection.

Conclusion

Our death is not the first death. Christ's is. He's the Hero and that is the point of His death being the first death because He took the first blow. He paid the ultimate price on our behalf and through His resurrection He destroyed death for those who trust in Him. Those who refuse will experience the second death.

Adam represented all of mankind when he sinned and because of his rebellion we all became enemies of God. Christ came to be the ultimate and final representative of mankind so that when He died and rose from the grave He made it possible for us to have peace with Him.

In some crazy sense, we all have died with Him. However, because of the hardness of our hearts, many will never positionally live with Him because they do not acknowledge what He has done for them. They are still dead in their sins.

Not everyone is saved. The only people who are saved are those who, because of God's leading, place their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. They are the ones who will be spared from the second death because of Him who suffered the first!