How Can God Die?
The Bible teaches that Jesus is Deity (John 1:1, 14; 8:58) and that Jesus died on the cross (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Philippians 2:4). If Jesus is God, how could God die, especially in light of the fact that God is eternal and unchanging (Psalm 90:2; Malachi 3:6) ? Muslims often will pose this question since they believe there is only one Person that is Divine - Allah (and not three Persons who share the Divine nature). They believe this is a legitimate contradiction of the Christian religion.
One Muslim apologist wrot e: "Who Can Kill God? God is Holy. Nobody can kill God. God is eternal and immortal, free from the suffering of death. He is always alive. He is out of the approach of the human hands. Sinners' hands cannot reach Him or harm Him. If Jesus died for three days and three nights, then he is no longer eternal and hence not co-equal to God the Father." (www.themuslimtimes.org/2012/04/religion/christianity/65-reasons-to-believe-jesus-did-not-die-on-the-cross )
The Muslims believe their book, the Qu'ran, is the true word of God and the Bible has been corrupted through its transmission and therefore cannot be trusted.
The Bible (which has not been corrupted) teaches that Jesus (the eternal Word) entered into His creation by being miraculously conceived into a young virgin named Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. Is God capable of entering into His creation? Even in the Qu'ran, it agrees that God can enter into His creation.
In Surah 27:7-9, the immediate context is relating to when Moses approached the burning bush, the Qu'ran states in verse 8, " So when he came to it, he was called by a voice, `Blessed is he who is in the fire and also those around it, and glorified be ALLAH, the Lord of the worlds.'" (Sher Ali translation)
If God can enter His creation and speak out of a fire, how much more out of human flesh? If we think about the Muslim's view of the Qu'ran, they believe that it is made up of two parts: (1) the eternal, spiritual component and (2) the physical component - paper, ink, and binding. We have seen news stories that show people burning Qu'rans. The Muslim would claim that the physical component of the Qu'ran (the paper, ink, and binding) was destroyed, but the eternal component - the eternal words - remained unharmed.
Jesus is the eternal, spiritual God who came into a physical body which was perishable and capable of dying. His physical body was killed, yet His eternal Spirit remained unharmed , left His fleshly body and went to Paradise (Luke 23:43). Three days later Jesus' Spirit re-entered His fleshly body and He was raised from the dead in an immortal body ( John 21:14; Acts 2:22-32; Romans 8:11; etc.).
We should be thankful and grateful that the Creator of the universe in showing true love came into human flesh to offer the ultimate sacrifice for sin.
Compare Islam 's god (Allah's attributes are limited and flawed as well as Allah's love - Surahs 2:190, 276; 3:37; 4:36; 7:31; 57:23 ) to the God of the Bible's love (Romans 5:6-8). Would Allah enter into His creation to save sinners?
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