HUMAN LIFE | Part 1

HEBREWS 9:27 – Just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that to face judgment.

This is another truth from the Bible that people often deliberately choose to forget. Those outside the faith may regard the mere mention of “death” as a bad omen—especially during the first days of a new year. Christians, meanwhile, often avoid the subject, as if failing to speak of it or bring it up might somehow prevent it from happening. Yet whether we like it or not, it remains an undeniable reality—an event that will surely come to pass for everyone, except Enoch and Elijah.

In this verse, the Word of God uses the phrase “it is appointed.” These words reveal God’s will. They signify that God has decreed that all human beings must experience physical death—once, and only once—and that no one can escape it. It is a path everyone must tread, a door everyone must pass through; no one can refuse. As Christians, we understand that when God has made a decision, no power exists that can alter His will. The question remains: how each person will face this reality and how they will choose to respond.

First and foremost, Christians can take comfort in the fact that human beings are appointed to experience physical death only once—not twice, nor many times over. For this reason, the Lord Jesus taught His followers not to fear those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul. The human soul cannot die, for it is the very breath of life from God.

A second source of comfort for Christians is the realization that death comes to everyone; it is merely a matter of whether it happens sooner or later. Given this, fear and anxiety are entirely superfluous. The best approach is to learn how to face it.

We know a Christian who suffered a heart attack in October 2015. By the time he arrived at the hospital, he had already stopped breathing—it was around 3:00 a.m. He was resuscitated a few hours later. The medical staff at the hospital called it a miracle, as he suffered no brain damage despite such a prolonged period of clinical death. He experienced a profound sense of peace—so immense that words cannot describe it—to the point that, even today, he regrets not having passed on completely, rather than returning to this world. Yet he understands that, because he still had responsibilities and duties—tasks left unfinished—the Lord willed that he return. Nevertheless, his longing to have departed for good has never faded.