Decay

As a consequence of the fall, all created things have a tendency to waste away and spoil. Jesus Christ brings deliverance from this.

Decay was decreed as a result of the fall

In human beings

Genesis 2:17

but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”

In the world

Genesis 3:17–19 See also Romans 8:20

And to Adam He said: “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat, cursed is the ground because of you; through toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it will yield for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground — because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”

Decay is the common experience of humanity

Psalm 90:3–10 See also Psalm 49:8–9

You return man to dust, saying, “Return, O sons of mortals.” For in Your sight a thousand years are but a day that passes, or a watch of the night. You sweep them away in their sleep; they are like the new grass of the morning— in the morning it springs up new, but by evening it fades and withers. For we are consumed by Your anger and terrified by Your wrath. You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your presence. For all our days decline in Your fury; we finish our years with a sigh. The length of our days is seventy years — or eighty if we are strong — yet their pride is but labor and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

A decaying world is not worth clinging to

Matthew 6:19–20 See also Psalm 102:26; Luke 12:33; 1 John 2:15–17

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

Jesus Christ is free from decay

Acts 2:24–31 See also Psalm 16:8–11; Acts 13:34–37; Hebrews 7:26, Hebrews 13:8

But God raised Him from the dead, releasing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep Him in its grip. David says about Him: ‘I saw the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will dwell in hope, because You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the paths of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence.’ Brothers, I can tell you with confidence that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that He would place one of his descendants on his throne. Foreseeing this, David spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that He was not abandoned to Hades, nor did His body see decay.

Believers are redeemed from decay

2 Corinthians 4:16 See also Job 19:26; John 3:16

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, yet our inner self is being renewed day by day.

Christians are ``salt'' in a decaying world

Matthew 5:13 See also Mark 9:50; Luke 14:34

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its savor, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

The world to come is free from decay

1 Peter 1:3–5 See also Romans 8:21; 1 Corinthians 15:42; Hebrews 12:28, Hebrews 13:14; Revelation 21:4

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

Examples of the link between sin and decay

Leviticus 26:14–16, Leviticus 26:39; Numbers 5:20–22, Numbers 5:27; Deuteronomy 28:22, Deuteronomy 32:24; Job 18:13; Psalm 32:3, Psalm 49:13–14, Psalm 106:15, Psalm 106:43, Psalm 112:10; Isaiah 5:24, Isaiah 10:16, Isaiah 17:4, Isaiah 24:16, Isaiah 64:7; Jeremiah 49:7; Lamentations 2:6, Lamentations 2:8; Ezekiel 4:17, Ezekiel 24:23, Ezekiel 33:10; Hosea 4:3, Hosea 8:10; Habakkuk 3:16; James 5:2