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The question of why humans grow old and die is one that scientists have been trying to answer for decades. The Bible also has much to say on the subject. By examining what science has learned about it in light of the Bible we can get a much better understanding of the cause of aging and death.
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The human body was designed to live forever |
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Why Do We Grow Old and Die?
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What Do Scientists Say? Its All In The Genes. Scientists have long suspected that many things could be explained if they could just be able to look more closely into the human cell's chromosomes. In the 1930’s, geneticists found that at the tip of each chromosome is a short sequence of DNA that helps to stabilize the chromosome. Named telomeres, from the Greek te′los (end) and me′ros (part), these snippets of DNA act much like the protective end cap on a shoelace. Without telomeres, our chromosomes would tend to unravel and break into short segments, stick to one another, or otherwise become unstable. They later learned that with each cell division the telomere got shorter until nothing was left but a nub which, once gone, would enable the DNA to unravel causing the death of the cell. Thus, after 50 to 100 divisions, the cells' telomeres were whittled down to tiny nubs, and all the cells stopped dividing and died. The observation that cells appear to be limited to a finite number of divisions before they die was first reported in the 1960’s by Dr. Leonard Hayflick. Hence, the phenomenon is now referred to by many scientists as the Hayflick limit. In 1975 the Nature/Science Annual said that the avant-garde in the field of aging believed that “all living creatures carry around within themselves a precisely timed self-destruct mechanism, a clock of aging that ticks away vitality.” Some scientists, however, weren't convinced that this was the end of the line. They kept looking for what they called a missing mechanism that would keep cells dividing indefinitely. What Does The Bible Say? In walks the villain. Had Adam and Eve remained obedient to Jehovah they would still be alive today. However the Bible account shows that this was not the case.
We have all heard the story. Let’s look at the scriptural account before discussing its far-reaching consequenses.
The Bible says: “The sting producing death is sin.” —1 Corinthians 15:56 But just what is sin? To understand this word, let us consider the meaning it carried in the original languages of the Bible. The Hebrew and Greek verbs commonly translated “to sin” mean “to miss” in the sense of missing a mark or not reaching a goal. What mark do all of us miss? The mark of human perfection. Adam and Eve were no longer perfect. Sin was now dwelling in them. As perfect humans they were designed to live forever. That was a gift they could have passed on to their offspring, but you can’t pass on what you no longer have. For example, let’s say that you have a perfect tin for baking a bunt cake. Every bunt cake you bake in it comes out perfect. But if it becomes dented it will no longer produce perfect cakes. Every one you bake from that point on will have a dent in it. Here’s how Paul explained why we all die: · (Romans 5:12) That is why, just as through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because they had all sinned Also noteworthy is something else he'd said earlier in this same letter to the Roman Christians:
Here we have the idea of falling short as though something were missing. We tend to think of sin as something that had been put into our bodies that is killing us, but might it mean instead that something was taken out? Think about this: if you wanted to plant a tree in your yard you would need a hole. Would you go to the hardware store to buy one? No, you would take out some dirt to get one. Might that be the missing mechanism those scientists are trying to find? How is that search now progressing? Will Perfect Human Life Ever Be Restored?
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