Let Us Die Young or Let Us Live Forever 

**This article was originally published for Stellae Zaphon on Substack.**

As I write this, I’m nearly 28 years old.

To some, I’m a young Millennial. Technically, I’m among the eldest of Gen Z. The label is hardly relevant.

What is relevant is that I and many my age are looking at the state of the world with conflicted thoughts and feelings.

We don’t have the luxury of looking back on WWII or the Cold War to temper our anxieties about geopolitical tension, nuclear escalation, global pandemic, and the acceleration of AI. Some of us remember 9/11, but being so young, it’s only the fallout that affects us.

I was a fifth grader, and the oldest Millennials were 20 when the iPhone started appearing in the hands of our peers. The great conversion to digital everything wasn’t much of a hurdle for us.

It’s easy for us to hide behind confident takes about where things are going and how to react. But when we’re honest, much of what dominates popular discussion is stretching the limits of what we believe about ourselves, about God, and about the cosmos.

What Kind of Strength Do We Need?

Solomon said the “glory” of a young man is his strength.

There are several kinds of strength, but I’m guessing he had physical strength in mind.

It’s not that young men don’t have inner strength, but Solomon is showcasing their glory—the most powerful reputation that proceeds from someone or something. Generally speaking, physical strength makes sense as the glory of young men.

Inner strength? Not as much.

Inner strength and fortitude usually come with time and endurance, a scarce combination in youth.

“Strength and dignity,” says King Lemuel, prepare the proverbial woman to “laugh at the time to come.” But what gives my generation the poise to laugh with her?

COVID? Maybe.

Still, I get the sense that many my age are winging it—hoping they have the right outlook on AI, nationalism, war overseas, Elon, colonizing Mars, health, etc.

So what is a young person to do? Without the inner strength that comes from years of endurance, where do we get the confidence to face the times? Is there anywhere else that inner strength can be found? Is there any other source of confidence?

Thankfully, there is.

In his first letter, the apostle John acknowledges young men because of their strength and because the word of God lives in them. Maybe the natural glory of young men is their bodily strength, but this is not what John perceives in the young men to whom he writes.

No, he has his finger on a more glorious strength—an inner strength of spirit, available to them not by life experience, but supernaturally by the word of God spoken to them by spiritual fathers.

As it follows, bodily strength contributes little to the battle for the mind, but spiritual strength creates confidence to face the times.

So, what kind of times are we facing?

Speaking of Youth…

In 1984, Alphaville released what is now considered their magnum opus, the song Forever Young.

It’s a time capsule of sorts, written during the height of the Cold War, when techno-optimism and fear of nuclear catastrophe came together in a strange mixture—

Hoping for the best but expecting the worst

—in what appeared to be a cosmic flip of the coin: either the missiles will start flying or everlasting youth will prevail (a false dilemma, as it turns out).

It’s hard to miss the relevance of the lyrics almost half a century later. The nuclear threat is even more complex today, even if the warhead count has decreased. Global competition over AI is the new space race, with fear of “super-intelligence” steadily building.

Then there’s the cherry on top: a renewed vision for so-called anti-aging technology has found a place of power in the health science domain. And now it’s beginning to capture the imagination of the general public.

Let us die young or let us live forever

—and the outcome feels like another coin flip.

Since AI panic has received the lion’s share of attention lately, I’d like to focus on the “live forever” side of the coin. In light of building inner strength to face the times, do the scriptures have any insight into man’s desire to conquer entropy and live forever?

They do. But first, let me show you why anti-aging is causing such a stir.

Golden Faces in the Sun

If you’re not familiar with the name Bryan Johnson, you should make yourself aware of him, his vision, and his following.

Back in 2007, the ex-LDS member started an e-commerce company called Braintree. In 2012, Braintree bought Venmo, and the following year, PayPal bought the combined entity for $800 million.

As you could imagine, Johnson became a very wealthy man.

He began turning heads in 2021 when he went public with his anti-aging initiative called Blueprint, an expression of his overall philosophy “Don’t Die.”

Johnson has just under 3 million followers on Instagram and 2 million followers/subs. on X and YouTube. He’s no small sensation and his influence has grown dramatically in a short, five-year span.

This year, the “most measured man in history” (as he refers to himself) published a manifesto. Here’s the opening paragraph:

For most of the history of life on Earth, death has been treated as inevitable. Every organism is born, struggles briefly against decay, and eventually dissolves back into the disorder from which it emerged. Civilizations have accepted this pattern as a law of existence. Bodies age. Systems fail. Entropy wins. Yet humanity has never truly accepted this conclusion. Across thousands of years and across nearly every civilization, the idea of immortality has appeared again and again. The dream that life might continue indefinitely has haunted the imagination of our species since the beginning of recorded history.

Here’s a bit from the middle:

Humanity now faces a choice that no previous species has confronted. We can continue organizing civilization around the short-term incentives that dominate modern economies, consumption, status, and financial accumulation. Or we can begin directing our intelligence toward the long project of survival. For the first time in the history of life on Earth, a species has emerged that understands the physical laws governing its own survival. The same intelligence that allowed humanity to harness fire, electricity, and computation may eventually allow us to stabilize the biological processes that produce aging and death.

The dream of immortality has existed for thousands of years. The difference now is that we may finally be capable of building it. The question is no longer whether death is inevitable. The question is whether intelligence will accept it or begin constructing a future in which life can endure indefinitely.

And his closing thought:

The next stage of life will not be written by natural selection alone. It will be written by deliberate choice. If humanity chooses wisely, the ancient promise that once lived only in temples and scripture may finally find expression in the physical world.

Although Johnson has attracted critique from the scientific and medical establishment, the general idea that anti-aging technology is well within reach is becoming more mainstream.

Harvard geneticist Dr. David Sinclair and “technopreneur” David Friedberg have been appearing independently on top-30 podcasts such as

• The Joe Rogan Experience
• Diary of a CEO (Steven Bartlett)
• Huberman Lab (Andrew Huberman)
• Modern Wisdom (Chris Williamson)
• Armchair Expert (Dax Shepard)

expressing optimism toward anti-aging technologies and the reachability of their applications. From Dr. Sinclair’s vantage point, there is real potential for erasing disease and extending human lifespan into the 300–400-year range. He recently told Chris Williamson,

When we show—and it’s a matter of when, not if—that aging is reversible in humans—because it works in all these other animals…it’ll work in us. We’re basically just slightly more intelligent monkeys and it works fine in the monkeys—that’s going to be a turning point, I believe, for humanity. There’s already billions of dollars put into this, but it’s going to be big like AI when that happens. Ultimately, where this is going, obviously, is the whole body reset.

This is a far cry from the immortality that Bryan Johnson envisions, but they’re both relying on a similar set of assumptions.

The point is that these men (and the podcasts they’re appearing on) have MASSIVE influence. This isn’t back-of-the-pantry stuff. This is why health science has become such a compelling voice in the cultural moment.

Regardless of how long it takes for the average person to significantly extend their lifespan (if this becomes a reality at all!), Christian young men, of all men, need to be equipped to tackle the following questions:

1. If you had the opportunity and the ability to live, say 300 years, would you?
2. Why or why not?

This isn’t a question of living several centuries in an elderly state. It’s a question of reaching 200 with the mental and physical vigor of a 50-year-old.

But why this question?

Well, I figure that for most Christians, the choice between Johnson’s immortality in bodies of dust and Christ’s immortality in bodies of glory is a no-brainer (It was certainly a no-brainer for God). What honest Christian would agree to living forever without the new body?

More difficult, however, is the question of what we do within this life before the life of the age to come: Are we content with 80 years, or will we accept the anti-aging mentality?

This isn’t only a dilemma for older guys. It matters for guys my age because maximizing lifespan begins now. If we say Yes to anti-aging, it requires a particular approach to life now. Every year I age without answering Yes to anti-aging is answering Yes to the 80-year average.

Followers of Christ know better than to look for immortality on earth, but what about a lifespan of 300 years?

There’s enough in the scriptures to build a confident answer, so let’s start at the beginning.

A Good Old Age and Full of Years

The first man, Adam, is said to have lived a total of 930 years. Within Adam’s genealogy, the longest lifespan belongs to Methuselah, outliving Adam by 39 years.

Following the flood, Noah lives another 350 years and outlives Adam by 20 with a total of 950 years. But Noah’s post-flood world doesn’t appear to support the near-millennial lifespans of the world it replaced. The genealogy of Noah’s son Shem shows a steadily decreasing lifespan until it reaches what we would consider “reasonable” from today’s standards.

When taken literally, these ages suggest that a 300–400-year lifespan (as Dr. Sinclair foresees) is no superhuman feat. It may be well within the natural ability of the human body.

Moreover, there is nothing inherently godly about the current 80-year lifespan. In fact, this is almost double the average lifespan during the Middle Ages and Renaissance—for those of the upper class…and those who made it to age 21.

For any of us who make it to 80 years, we will have done so relying on medical and lifestyle decisions that were not available to our predecessors. If we laugh at the idea of raising the average lifespan to something like 300, let us first see that we are the ones living a doubled lifespan when compared to much of human history.¹

Now, if there isn’t any moral value assigned to lifespans of 900 years or 50 years or 80 years or 300 years, then we should direct the bulk of attention to the second question I posed earlier:

Why or why not?

Hypothetically, if you accept the opportunity to live 300 years, why? If you don’t, why not?

This is where the scriptures are most piercing. Any consideration of lifespan, especially extending lifespan, needs to be guarded by four basic convictions.

God and His Scrolls

There are countless reasons for wanting to live 300 years, but how many would follow from the belief that God determines lifespan?

Listen to David:

Your eyes saw my unformedness
and in your scroll were written all my days—
planned when not one among them existed.²
Ps 139:16

Look, you have made my days a few hand-breadths,
and my lifespan is like nothing before you.
Surely all humanity stands as a mere breath.
Selah.
Ps 39:5

Listen to Job (frustrated):

If his days are determined
and his number of months you know,
If you set his limits [lifespan]
that he cannot surpass,
Look away from him so he can relax
until he enjoys his day like a hired hand.³
Job 14:5-6

Listen to Israel’s king:

…for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.
Ecc. 8:15

So we begin with the conviction that God gives life. God plans our days. We don’t have the power to manufacture what isn’t already sealed in the records of heaven. Those who disregard this conviction deserve correction from the Lord’s brother:

What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
James 4:14-16

Knowing that God determines lifespan is helpful for fostering a humble attitude and conquering anxiety, but it’s never treated as an excuse to care less about our health.

Since we are not permitted to study the scrolls of God’s sovereign will to know how long we have to live, we are stuck believing two paradoxical things:

1. Our days were numbered long ago.
2. Our actions still (somehow) impact our lifespan.

We are not responsible for reconciling these two—only holding them tightly in balance. If we elevate 1 over 2, we get apathy and laziness. If we elevate 2 over 1, we get anxiety and arrogance. But together, in balance, they create the humble, contented passion for getting as much out of this life as God has allowed.

So, we acknowledge God’s authority over lifespan as we consider the future. The ink of his scrolls is permanent.

Long Life Minus the Secularism

Again, there are countless reasons for wanting to live 300 years. But how many would align with the belief that lifespan is not dependent upon the health of the body alone?

Everyone in the Western world, Christians included, face the real challenge of believing (and remembering) that the health of the spirit directly affects the health of the body. Recent studies demonstrate that habits of the body often lead to what we would call ailments of the spirit—discouragement, distress, and depression.

But it’s harder for us to believe that the reverse is equally true, that unhealthy habits of the spirit can lead to bodily wear and tear.

If we approach the anti-aging question with our eyes only on the benefits of medical and technological advancement, we fall into the trap of materialism. We forget that the body and spirit are like a married couple—when one struggles, both struggle.

The book of Proverbs offers general patterns rather than promises, but hear how tightly and how often the sage ties spiritual activity to lifespan:

…let your heart keep my commandments,
for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you.
Prov 3:1

…fear Yahweh and turn away from evil.
It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.
Prov 3:7-8

My son, be attentive to my words…
For they are life to those who find them,
and healing to all their flesh.
Prov 4:20-22

A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh,
but envy makes the bones rot.
Prov 14:30

A joyful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
Prov 17:22

…he who hates unjust gain will prolong his days.
Prov 28:16

Without the spirit, the body can do nothing. But a present spirit isn’t always a healthy one. These proverbs suggest that an ill spirit threatens a flourishing body.⁴

Biblical wisdom prevents us from becoming materialists.

So does the biblical storyline…

Why Don’t They Stay Young?

Once more, there are countless reasons for wanting to live 300 years, but how many would align with the belief that our mortality problem is no less than a sin problem?

Then Yahweh God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
Gen 2:7

This is the basis for the sovereignty of God over human lifespan we looked at previously.

If it is true, our relationships to the world and other creatures is not the highest priority. Achieving world peace, reducing carbon footprint, curing diseases, and developing healthy habits will never unlock immortality.

No, if the biblical story is true, it’s our relationship to the Breather that matters most. Not Big Pharma, not Big Food, not Big Energy, not Big Tech. Men such as Johnson, Friedberg, and Sinclair have no commitments to such a theological story. For them, solving the mortality problem is a matter of piecing together a medical, technological, and economic puzzle.

Christians understand that the greatest challenge facing humanity isn’t mortality but sin and the distance it creates between us and the God who breathes life.

Sin is the cause of this game of survival. Sin threatens eternal life.

Therefore, whatever decisions we make about anti-aging must submit to the story of reality, that the mortality problem is a sin problem.

Getting Old Without a Cause

Finally, there are countless reasons for wanting to live 300 years, but how many are born from the desire to see God’s kingdom come and his will be done on earth as it is in heaven?

It’s easy to look at the whole issue of anti-aging and scoff—

“God determines my lifespan. He’ll take me when he sees fit. Why waste time and resources living as long as I can in a world destined for destruction?”

I can sympathize with these sentiments. If the goal is to have more time to build notoriety and to accumulate stuff, there’s a problem. But if the goal is to magnify the notoriety of Christ and to store up treasures in heaven, this is another story. I would even go so far as to say this is why every Christian should work to live as long as he reasonably can.

The one fact that makes all the difference is this:

You have responsibilities now, in this life, that you will not have in the life to come. There is building to do in this age,only suitable for this age, that contributes to who you will be in the age to come.

But what are these responsibilities, what is this building, and how does it matter for the life to come?

Remember the famous parable of Jesus that begins like this:

For [the kingdom of heaven] will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property…
Matt 25:14

This is the story of servants who are judged upon the master’s return according to their faithfulness while he was away on a journey. And the moral of the story is that greater productivity for the Master in his absence yields greater responsibility over his property in the day of his return.

If this isn’t enough to make my point, read the more detailed version in Luke 19:11-27, the parable of faithful servants in Luke 12:35-48, or the parable of the crafty manager in Luke 16:1-13.

And this is how the Apostle Paul viewed the Christian life. Comparing the work of the apostles to the foundation of a building, he declares that if anyone builds upon it,

…each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.
1 Cor 3:10-14

Paul lived this way too, saying,

For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus.
Phil 1:21-26

So why would you want to maximize your lifespan?

Because Jesus is advancing his kingdom on earth and you are his servant, entrusted with good news for a captive world. When he returns, the time for trampling the kingdom of his enemies will be no more. And what you have done to despoil the kingdom of the enemy and build the kingdom of Christ will contribute to who you will be in the age to come.

Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes.
Lk 12:37

Truly, I say to you, he will set [them] over all his possessions.
Lk 12:44

Who else but these are like the faithful and wise manager,

…whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time?
Lk 12:42

But that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will will receive a severe beating.
Lk 12:47

From beginning to end, this is the confidence that the scriptures afford the young man facing the anti-aging question.

1. The God who breathes life determines its span.
2. Lifespan is not impacted by the health of the body alone.
3. The greatest challenge we face isn’t mortality, but sin, and the distance it creates between us and the God who gives life.
4. Our present orders have an unknown deadline and what we accomplish now matters for the age to come.

We still must become indignant in the presence of death, as Jesus did before the tomb of Lazarus. We still must hate the rending of body and soul and we must strive to be found working when the King returns.

If we die, let us die as sleepers who long for the morning.

If we live, let us get old for the cause of God’s kingdom and see it come to earth as it is in heaven.

Alphaville asks, “Do you really want to live forever?”

Yes. Let us live forever.

Endnotes

---

1. By human history, I’m referring to the period of recorded history, not what is sometimes called pre-history. The question of lifespan in the pre-historic periods, especially as it relates to the biblical record, is complex and beside the point. ↩︎
2. This is my translation. Compare ESV at the link in the verse reference. ↩︎
3. See note 2. ↩︎
4. Job and several psalms seem to limit this principle as they observe “the prosperity of the wicked,” but these are meant to offer a balanced view of reality, not to contradict the proverbs. ↩︎