A Secular Obsession—Escaping Death?
Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI
Biblical Authority Ministries, September 26, 2025 (Donate)
From a Christian perspective, life has value, and human life
has eternal value. This is why Christians share the good
news of Jesus Christ—so others can have eternal life. Being made in the
image of an eternal God means our souls go on forever, and we look forward to a
general resurrection of all people, where we will receive new bodies when
Christ returns (e.g., 1 Corinthians 15:42-44).
Yet, the secular world has an obsession with wanting to live longer in this sin-cursed and broken world. For instance, they have studied the genetics of death with progeria (a genetic point mutation where a single glitch leads to aging and dying of old age by the time one is a teenager).
In the NewScientist magazine (September 20–26, 2025; pp. 30–34), there is a cover article on how to live to 100. This article looks at food and exercise considerations and how the body reacts to internal maintenance and repair. The following article (ibid., pp. 34–35) examines tech millionaire Bryan Johnson’s quest for longer life.
Over and over again in secular literature, there is an
obsession with escaping death—even for just a little while. But goals of
immortality remain elusive. Meanwhile, the secular world dwells on abortion
(forced death of the preborn) and euthanasia (forced death of the elderly)
while praising “millions of years of death” as the hero that drives evolution.
The point is that in the heart of hearts of unbelievers,
like these secularists, they know death is bad and that it is coming for them.
The problem is that their worldview offers no solution. It is a “dead end” with
no hope.
Have you ever stopped to think about a secular humanistic
worldview? Everything came from nothing, life is an accident, and everything is
going to die—without any ultimate meaning or hope.
You can see why so many give up and have no desire to do
great things. Others try to gain temporary sanity and fight death for a while,
only to succumb sooner or later.
The fact is that death is an enemy—and the secularists
realize this deep down. As a Christian, I actually commend them on this
realization! That might surprise you.
Death is an enemy, but not in a secular mindset. In the
secular worldview, death is a natural part of life and is vital and necessary
for evolution to “hopefully” move forward for a little while—until the universe
eventually dies of a heat death. Then it was all pointless again.
The secular view cannot explain why death is an enemy, but
the biblical worldview does. Death is the punishment for sin, and we’ve all
sinned—both when our life was wrapped up in Adam and his first sin, and through
our own personal sins (Genesis 2:17; Romans 5:12). So, when secularists realize
death is bad and want to escape it, that’s good! But this recognition comes
from a Christian worldview, not a secular one.
This provides a perfect springboard to share the gospel of
Jesus Christ, who took the death we deserve to satisfy God’s punishment for
sin. This is how we receive everlasting life—not by exercise, diet, or other
experiments, but by having the death we deserve taken for us. The God of life,
who created and sustains life, will grant us eternal life when we believe in
Jesus Christ, who suffered, died, and rose again to save us.
Then Christ’s perfect righteousness (because He committed no
sin per 1 Peter 2:22 and Hebrews 4:15) is credited to us, and we are seen as
spotless for all eternity—enjoying God’s blessings forever. There is no fear of
a heat death, only hope and eternal purpose.
Christians have recently been reminded in several ways that
death comes for us all because of sin. But God has made a way of escape through
His Son, Jesus.
With the recent passing into glory of great men of God—John
MacArthur (who once walked into my office because he wanted to meet me!), James
Dobson, Charlie Kirk, and my friend Voddie Baucham (just yesterday)—we are
reminded of the power and promises of God. They are now comforted and will rise
again with new glorified bodies, just like Jesus did.
Yes, our hope is in Christ, not the world. Our hope is in
God, not diet, exercise, or scientific experiments. These things may offer
temporary help and benefits, but death is coming for us all. The question is:
on which side of the grave will you stand? The side standing with Christ, or
the one standing opposed to Him, awaiting eternal judgment?
□
Bodie Hodge, Ken Ham's son in law, has been an apologist
since 1998 helping out in various churches and running an apologetics website.
He spent 21 years working at Answers in Genesis as a speaker,
writer, and researcher as well as a founding news anchor for Answers
News. He was also head of the Oversight Council.
Bodie launched Biblical Authority Ministries in
2015 as a personal website and it was organized officially in 2025 as a
501(c)(3). He has spoken on multiple continents and hosts of US states in
churches, colleges, and universities. He is married with four children.
