During a conversation a few years ago, a friend of mine made a passing comment that has stuck with me ever since:

“I measure a culture according to its ability to create and sustain life.”

In other words, a culture in which children, animals, and plants flourish is superior to one in which they don’t.

This comment really resonated with me and I’ve been thinking about it a lot since our conversation. Since it has been such a blessing for me to reflect on it and to make the connections to what the Bible has to say about life, I decided to write my thoughts down in case it might bless someone else as well.

Connections to the Bible

The Bible has a very high and positive view of life, and ties it inextricably to God. God is the author of life, and in Genesis He creates both the environment that could sustain life (days 1-4), and He creates life itself (days 3, 5 and 6). Not only does He create life, but He creates life that creates more life. In a sense you could say that God’s intent with creation was a multiplication of life.

Since we were created in God’s image, it makes sense that we should follow in His example. This is reflected in the original command given to Adam, in which he is told (1) to multiply and fill the earth and (2) to keep and guard the garden. If Adam succeeds as these commands, life will surely flourish.

Taking the principle deeper

If our Creator brings forth life, and our original command was to produce and guard life, it makes sense that wherever we see life flourish under the hands of people we see in some way God’s image being honored. In a way you could say that more alignment to God’s character leads to more life.

This principle of conformity to God bringing forth life is alluded to in Deuteronomy 30:

“19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20 loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

~ Deut 30:19-20 ESV (emphasis mine)

In God’s Word, the ultimate alignment to His character happens in the processes of regeneration and sanctification. There are also some other ways, such as external obedience to the Word, or through common grace by which people discover life-giving principles outside of the Scriptures, such as monogamy or caring for the elderly.

Rejecting God leads to death

Since conformity to God brings forth life, death occurs wherever God is rejected. Those who reject God will find themselves conforming to Satan in various degrees, and will replicate his intent to “steal, kill, and destroy.” An example of this are the murderous regimes of the 20th century, where certain nations rejected God to elevate the state as the supreme authority and consequently killed millions of people.

Modern examples of the rejection of God leading to death are seen in abortion and homosexuality: the first destroys life whilst the latter can’t produce it. They represent direct rejections of our first command to “keep and guard (preserve) life” and “to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth”.

Alive outside but dead inside

At this point I want to make a distinction: We can have a thriving garden and a happy family and still be dead in God’s sight.

When God told Adam that He will die if he eats of the forbidden fruit, He wasn’t talking just about biological death. Death in the Bible is a broader concept than the biological cessation of life. By eating the fruit Adam died in that moment, but the death was primarily spiritual and therefore of much greater consequence.

It is therefore possible to see communities that have good looking plants, animals, and children, but who are still spiritually dead.

Life is a Person

Just as death is a broader concept than the biological cessation of life, so life in the Bible is broader than being biologically alive. When Jesus proclaimed that He Himself is the life, this radically challenges the common understanding of what it means to be alive.

Jesus taught that whoever is not joined to Him is dead, even though that person is alive biologically. At the same time, He taught that those who are joined to Him are alive even though they die biologically:

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.

~ John 11:25-26 (emphasis mine)

Last thoughts

In light of the principles of God’s Word, here is a sample of questions that can be used to evaluate how aligned a culture is to God’s character:

  • Do their laws protect life?
  • Do they create and maintain monogamous marriages?
  • Do they see children as a blessing or a burden?
  • Do they care for their animals?
  • Do they plant trees and create flourishing gardens?

Many more can be added, but this might be a good starting point to evaluate how different cultures weigh up against others.

All the biological life a culture creates still amounts to nothing if it is not borne from a vital connection to Christ (John 15).