For centuries, humanity has been obsessed with finding the fountain of youth, cheat death, and ward off aging. What they’ve done would seem crazy to rational thinkers. Many of the experiments waged by those wanting immortality actually contributed to their deaths.
Qin Shi Huang was the first emperor of China. His quest for immortality led him on great expeditions in search for the miracle elixir that would keep him from aging or dying. As he got older, he became fascinated with the fact that people who died of mercury poisoning had a slower rate of body decay. It only seemed logical (really?) that if he consumed large doses of mercury that it would keep his body from degenerating with age and eventually dying. His physicians and the alchemist created a potion rich in mercury for the emperor to drink. Qin Shi Huang dies soon afterward at the ripe old age of – 49 — and he served only 11 years as emperor.
The story of Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Báthory of Ecsed (1560-1640) is one to make you shudder. Some say it’s just a legend but the courts that accused her had the testimony of over 300 witnesses. Allegedly, Báthory believed that bathing in the blood of young virgins would keep her complexion looking young and stave off death. Three of her servants did the dirty work of finding young peasant virgin girls, killing them, and filling a tub with their blood so that Báthory could “soak in their youth.” Once the village ran out of peasants, she turned her murderous attention to the young of nobility. Eventually, she was convicted along with her servants. She was given life in prison, and her servants were executed.
Alchemist and chemist Abu Musa Jabir Ibn Hayyan Al-Azdi took gold, dissolved it, and formed it into gold chloride. His drink would now give people immortality. However, all it accomplished was the destruction of their kidneys, two organs that are vital!
“In 2013, a 35-year-old Russian college professor…believed he could become immortal if he exposed himself to radiation.”1 Never mind all those pesky radiation danger labels, the medical profession that advises against too many x-rays and CT scans, or the evidence from his own backyard in a place named Chernobyl.
Today, attempts at immortality introduce us to words that sound like they are out of the latest sci-fi thriller. Gene editing, targeted gene therapy, cryogenics, biohacking, and nanobots are just a few of the things currently being tested in order to extend life, potentially (they say) indefinitely.
Well, I know something that all these brainiacs obviously don’t know. You know it, too. 
Hebrews 9:27 says, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” This simple verse tells us two things:
- We are all going to die. In fact, we are in the process of dying right now. And, since God says that death is appointed to all, all are going to die. Science cannot stop that. What science might be able to do is help us live healthier and have a better quality of life as we enter the golden years.
- Since there is a judgment after death, we become immortal when we enter eternity. Now, for those of us who are born again, we look forward to this immortality and eternity in Heaven. Ephesians 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” Death takes nothing from the Christian. Rather, it’s the door through which we must go in order to inherit it all.
This blessing of death and eternity is missing for the lost person. Yes, they will still experience death and immortality beyond the grave. But it’s not something they will enjoy. Mark 16:16 says, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” And 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 says, “In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: (9) Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.”
I’m sure none of you reading this are scammed by promises of immortality this side of eternity through genetic engineering or nutritional supplements. Instead, we anxiously look forward to the day 1 Corinthians 15:52-54 is fulfilled. “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (53) For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. (54) So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” (Revelation 22:20)
1https://www.grunge.com/1940903/immortality-live-forever-death-wild-attempts/
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