When Elon Musk says humans are “pre-programmed to die,” he is not making a casual observation about biology. He is declaring death to be a design flaw rather than a divine judgment.
“You’re pre-programmed to die. And so if you change the program, you will live longer,” Musk said during a recent interview, as reported by Fortune.
That statement strikes at the heart of the biblical understanding of life, death and the fall of man. Death is not presented in Scripture as a glitch in creation, but as the direct result of sin entering the world. By framing mortality as software that can be edited, Musk seemingly rejects the premise that death exists because humanity rebelled against God.
Longevity, in this view, is not something to be redeemed. It is something to be engineered.
Undoing the Curse Without Redemption
Musk insists the solution to aging is not especially complex.
Longevity, he said, is a problem that is not “particularly hard” to solve.
That confidence assumes death is a technical obstacle rather than a spiritual consequence. Scripture teaches that the curse placed on creation was not accidental and cannot be undone through human innovation. The curse was imposed by God Himself and is only lifted through redemption found in Jesus Christ, not redesign.
By treating death as an engineering challenge, Musk’s vision offers life extension without repentance, healing without reconciliation and renewal without submission to our Creator.
Synchronization as Proof the Clock Can Be Hacked
Musk argues that the body’s synchronized aging reveals an obvious biological clock that can be altered.
“When you consider the fact that your body is extremely synchronized in its age, the clock must be incredibly obvious,” he said. “Nobody has an old left arm and a young right arm. Why is that? What’s keeping them all in sync?”
This reasoning assumes that because aging is orderly, it is therefore editable. Scripture teaches the opposite. Order in creation reflects God’s design, not humanity’s authority over it. The exact synchronization Musk points to as evidence of hackable biology also testifies to a Creator who set boundaries that mankind was never meant to cross.
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A False Promise of Salvation Through Technology
Musk’s vision of the future of medicine goes far beyond treating disease. He predicts a complete transfer of trust from human skill to machines.
“I wouldn’t want the best ophthalmologist with the steadiest hand out there with a hand laser on my eyeball,” Musk said. “It’s going to be like that.”
He claims robotic surgeons will outperform humans and eliminate error, declaring, “Everyone will have access to medical care that is better than what the president receives right now.”
This is not simply optimism about medical advancement. It is a promise of universal deliverance through technology. In Scripture, salvation is never universal, never automatic and never distributed by systems. It is personal, costly and rooted in submission to God.
Immortality Without God Produces Permanent Power
Musk himself acknowledges the danger of extended life, even as he promotes the technology that would make it possible.
“If we live for too long, I think it ossifies society—there’s no changing of the leadership because leadership never dies,” he said.
That warning reveals the actual consequence of engineered longevity: power that never relinquishes control. According to Scripture, death restrains evil by limiting human dominion. Remove it, and corruption becomes permanent (Eccl. 8:8; Job 14:1-5).
The Bible consistently warns against systems that promise life while consolidating authority. A world where leaders do not die is a world where accountability disappears.
The Old Lie, Repackaged for a Digital Age
Musk has previously said he would “prefer to be dead” than live to 100 with dementia or as a burden to society, exposing the contradiction at the center of the longevity movement. The same worldview that seeks to defeat death also recoils at the reality of prolonged life without purpose.
The pursuit of immortality without God is not new. It is the oldest lie in Scripture, now framed in the language of AI, robotics and biology. Where the serpent once said, “You will not surely die,” modern technologists say death is merely a program waiting to be rewritten.
The problem is not aging. The problem is sin. And no amount of reprogramming can erase the curse humanity brought upon itself.
James Lasher, a seasoned writer and editor at Charisma Media, combines faith and storytelling with a background in journalism from Otterbein University and ministry experience in Guatemala and the LA Dream Center. A Marine Corps and Air Force veteran, he is the author of The Revelation of Jesus: A Common Man’s Commentary and a contributor to Charisma magazine.
