The Last Enemy

On the Biblical worldview, there is no reason to expect scientific progress to lead to anything more than the delay of death.  Death may be postponed, but it cannot be avoided entirely by natural means.  With the exception of a handful of figures like Elijah, there is no indication in the Bible that anyone has escaped or will escape from the inevitability of death.  Still, there is more to the Bible's theology of death than death's near-universality.

The possibility of death may be a constant shadow over human life, but it will one day lose its power over humankind according to Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:26, for death itself is referred as the last enemy that will be destroyed.  According to Biblical eschatology, there will come a time when the unsaved (at least the vast majority of them [1]) will perish, the souls of those subject to the second death passing out of existence [2].  The saved will enjoy an eternal life free from the specter of death.

The last enemy to be destroyed is one of the most potent humanity has ever faced.  It is nonetheless promised that this final enemy will be destroyed forever by God, permanently dispelling its power.  Eternal nonexistence and eternal life are the two grand fates that await at least most created beings within the framework of Biblical Christianity, and both fates necessitate a cessation of death's power.  If one has suffered the second death, annihilation requires that death has no power over oneself.  If one has eternal life, how could death pose any threat whatsoever?

In either case, the power of death is limited: its power cannot extend forever precisely because the second death and eternal life both do away with death in their own ways.  The defeat of death in Biblical eschatology is total.  Moreover, the saved will no longer have to contend even with pain, whether that pain is lesser or more severe than death itself.  The familiar trials of the present life will be omitted from the existences of those who enjoy a restored relationship to God.

That pain and hardship themselves will cease to exist for the saved (Revelation 21:3-4) means that the saved will not only have eternal life, but also eternal peace.  Without the latter, the former would merely be an endless continuation of the turmoils of this life, so it is no small thing for the New Testament to include references to both.  Perhaps no one would want to live eternally if they would not be able to transcend the trials of human existence--according to Revelation, the saved will not have to choose between the two.

[1].  https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2020/03/revelation-149-11.html

[2].  https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2017/02/the-truth-of-annihilationism.html