How Can God Die?

The Question Behind the Question

A question most commonly asked by Muslims is how can God die? Since we claim Jesus to be God, how can he die, who can kill God? And I say this is a very brilliant question and of course they are very right, no one can kill God.

The Power of God: Why No One Can Kill Him

In fact if God was to come down on earth in all his power, the world would melt, in fact the brightness of himself would blind the eyes of men or even kill them not because he wants to but because of his power. Let’s take electricity as an example, because of the power of an electric cable/wire it can kill a person if it is tampered — not because it chooses who to kill but because of its power — same with God.

And the Quran would agree with me on this; Surah 7:143:

“When Moses came at the appointed time and his Lord spoke to him, he asked, ‘My Lord! Reveal Yourself to me so I may see You.’ Allah answered, ‘You cannot see Me! But look at the mountain. If it remains firm in its place, only then will you see Me.’ When his Lord appeared to the mountain, He levelled it to dust and Moses collapsed unconscious. When he recovered, he cried, ‘Glory be to You! I turn to You in repentance and I am the first of the believers.’”

Although this story of Moses is not exactly the same with the one in the Bible but anyways, we still get the point that no man can kill God. And that is why when Jesus came to this world he didn’t come as God, he came as a human being.

John 1:1–3 (NKJV) says:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”

And then John 1:14 (NKJV) says:

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

So Jesus is God who became man, now since he became man they could then kill him because what they killed was the human body and that is why he could resurrect (now resurrection is not reincarnation). Jesus literally died and came back to life and he dies no longer because he is God.

The Quranic Analogy: Allah’s Eternal Word and the Physical Mushaf

Okay let me use something more understandable to Muslims in order to help you get this concept. Now Muslims say that the Quran is the eternal word of Allah (eternal meaning that it doesn’t cease to exist), now a question came up and the question was that if someone got a hard copy of the Quran and burnt it, then that Quran can not be said to be eternal because it just stopped existing.

Then Muslim scholars — particularly Sunni theologians like Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ibn Taymiyyah and others — replied in this way. The key idea is: Allah’s speech (kalam) is an eternal attribute of Allah. The Qur’an as Allah’s speech is uncreated. But the physical mushaf — the ink, paper, binding, and printed letters in your hands — is created. So if someone burns a printed copy of the Qur’an, they have destroyed only the physical object, not Allah’s eternal speech itself. Burning paper does not extinguish an attribute of God any more than smashing a mirror destroys the sun it reflects.

This distinction is stated very clearly in a fatwa from Darul Uloom Deoband:

“The Word of Allah Almighty is eternal… So far as written and recited words of Quran are concerned, these are created… but they indicate to the Words of Allah.”

Jesus as the Eternal Word Made Flesh

So this is exactly the same thing with Jesus. We just saw in John 1:1 (NKJV) that Jesus is referred to as the Word. Same thing in Revelation 19:13 (NKJV):

“He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.”

And that Word came in form of a man (or came as a human being) and he could be killed because they killed the human body. His God nature didn’t cease to exist.

Why Would God Become a Man?

Another question would then be okay, let’s assume we get what you are saying but why would God even want to be a man? Seeing that the Quran says in Surah 42:11: “There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.” In Arabic: لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ (Laysa kamithlihi shay’) — “Nothing whatsoever is like Him.” And in Surah 112:4: “And there is none comparable to Him.”

So then Muslims would insist that Allah cannot be a creature, cannot be contained within creation, and cannot be identical with any created thing.

Is It Impossible or Just Illogical?

And I would say I get you but we know that if we say God is God and nothing is impossible for him, then it means that it is not impossible for God to become a human being — however it would be illogical (and when I say it is illogical, it’s illogical to us as human beings but not to God). Take for example, imagine you turn on the television and you hear that Elon Musk is cleaning the restroom/washroom of his company. I don’t know about you but for me it would be illogical because I consider him above that. Now it doesn’t mean that it is impossible for him to do that but it would be illogical.

Someone can then say, oh but that is Elon Musk — we are talking of God here. And that is true, but it brings us back to what I said: it is not impossible for God to become a human being because if it was then he would be limited. However, to our human mind it would be foolishness for him to do that.

The Answer Is Love

The Muslim might then say, okay yes God is not limited but why would he even do that? And then I say it is because of LOVE.

The reason God would become man is because God created us to have a relationship with us. And of course this is different in Islam in that Allah only wants to be worshipped.

Surah 51:56: “I did not create jinn and humans except to worship Me.”

Surah 2:21: “O mankind, worship your Lord, who created you and those before you, that you may become righteous.”

Worship Versus Relationship

And I usually tell the Muslims that I approach that there is a difference between worship and relationship. Relationship includes worship but on the other hand worship is worship. For example if a king/president comes to someone and says “I want to have a relationship with you” (in this instance, the relationship is a friendship) — now in that relationship with the king/president, as much as you guys can laugh and joke about things, you would still honour and respect him as king. But if a king came and said “I want you to worship me,” you wouldn’t think of trying to joke around or even trying to be close with the king — all that would be in your mind is let me behave properly so I do not offend the king or do something that would bring punishment. So worship is different from relationship, but relationship also includes worship because as much as God loves us and he is a father to us, he is also king and a just Judge.

Why Sin Required God to Come in Person

Anyways, back to what I was saying: because God actually created us to have a relationship, that is why he gave us free will, so we can pick him freely because he doesn’t want a compelled relationship. But the first people God created sinned and as a result of their sin (disobedience), then sin entered the world. And what do I mean by sin entered the world? Let’s use a baby as an example. We see that when a baby is born, by 2–3 years they start lying, stealing. No one taught them these things but they started doing it — how? Because sin is dominating the world. And when they do those things they become sinners (so I am not talking about inherited sin).

And the consequences of sin is death. When I say death, I do not mean physical death but separation from God eternally and ultimately Hell. But then because God created us for a relationship and sin was separating us from God, and on our own we cannot be holy enough by ourselves to approach God without the feeling of judgment — that is why God came to pay the price for us.

Romans 4:25 (NKJV), speaking of Jesus, says:

“He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God.”

So Jesus didn’t just die for our sins but he rose back up for us to be right with God, and all these things he did is so he can have a relationship with us.

Power Over Sin, Not Permission to Sin

Some Muslims might then ask, so Jesus died for your sins, so you can continue to live in sin? And I say No. Jesus died for our sins but he didn’t only pay for the consequences of our sins, he also gave us power to say no to sin. And I will use my life as an example: in 2025, I was tempted to go online and watch something bad, so then I picked up my phone to do it but then the Holy Spirit (the spirit of God/the spirit of Christ Jesus — who live in anyone that has accepted Jesus) said to me that “no that is not you” and then I dropped my phone. So I could say No to that temptation because Jesus has given me power to say no to it but without Jesus, human beings do not have power over sin.

And that’s why I love a verse in the Bible, 1 John 3:9 (AMP) says:

“No one who is born of God [deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] practices sin, because God’s seed [His principle of life, the essence of His righteous character] remains [permanently] in him [who is born again — who is reborn from above — spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose]; and he [who is born again] cannot habitually [live a life characterized by] sin, because he is born of God and longs to please Him.”

So Jesus (God) didn’t just pay the price for our sins but he has made us right and given us the power to say No to sin. I usually say that without Jesus every human being can just do good deeds (actions) but they cannot be truly good from inside-out. Because as much as you give to the poor, you stand up for old people etc — these are just good acts. Many people even after and while doing these good acts are still hating someone in their heart, or jealous, or comparing themselves with others, or thinking bad thoughts and a lot of them.

But Jesus actually transforms us from inside out. So it wouldn’t only be the outside that is good but inside also would be good.

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life].”
— 2 Corinthians 5:17 (AMP)