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DO
THE DEAD DIE? Part 1.
By Peter Hitchens. PART ONE: In part 1 of our study, "DO THE DEAD DIE?" we are going to be addressing the following questions: What happens when a man dies? Does he go straight to heaven upon death? Is the soul immortal? What is the spirit? and other questions about the state of the dead. PART TWO: In part 2, we will answer questions like: What and where is hell? What happens to the lost upon death? Is the story of the rich man and Lazarus a real event? etc.......
WHAT
OF THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS?
WHY
IS IT SO IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND CORRECTLY? With the earliest history of man, Satan began his efforts to deceive our race. He who had incited rebellion in heaven desired to bring the inhabitants of the Earth to unite with him in his warfare against the government of God. Adam and Eve had been perfectly happy in obedience to the Law of God, and this fact was a constant testimony against the claim which Satan had urged in heaven, that God's Law was oppressive and opposed to the good of His creatures. And furthermore, Satan's envy was excited as he looked upon the beautiful home prepared for the sinless pair. He determined to cause their fall, that, having separated them from God and brought them under his own power, he might gain possession of the Earth and here establish his kingdom in opposition to the Most High. Had Satan revealed himself in his real character, he would have been repulsed at once, for Adam and Eve had been warned against this dangerous foe; but he worked in the dark, concealing his purpose, that he might more effectually accomplish his object. Employing as his medium the serpent, then, a creature of fascinating appearance, he addressed himself to Eve: "Yea, Hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" Genesis 3:1. Had Eve refrained from entering into argument with the tempter, she would have been safe; but she ventured to parley with him and fell a victim to his wiles. It is thus that many are still overcome. They doubt and argue concerning the requirements of God; and instead of obeying the divine commands, they accept human theories, which but disguise the devices of Satan. The woman said unto the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die." And the serpent said unto the woman, "Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." Genesis 3:2-5. Here, Satan declared that they would become like God, possessing greater wisdom than before and being capable of a higher state of existence. Eve yielded to temptation; and through her influence, Adam was led to sin. They accepted the words of the serpent, that God did not mean what He said; they distrusted their Creator and imagined that He was restricting their liberty and that they might obtain great wisdom and exultation by transgressing His Law. But what did Adam, after his sin, find to be the meaning of the words, "In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die!" Did he find them to mean, as Satan had led him to believe, that he ushered into a more exalted state of existence? Then indeed there was great good to be gained by transgression, and Satan was proved to be a benefactor of the race. But Adam did not find this to be the meaning of the divine sentence. God declared that as a penalty for his sin, man should return to the ground from whence he was taken: "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Genesis 3:19. The words of Satan, "Your eyes shall be opened," proved to be true in this sense only: After Adam and Eve had disobeyed God, their eyes were opened to discern their folly; they did know evil, and they tasted the bitter fruit of transgression. In the midst of Eden grew the tree of life, whose fruit had the power of perpetuating life. Had Adam remained obedient to God, he would have continued to enjoy free access to this tree and would have lived forever. But when he sinned he was cut off from partaking of the tree of life, and he became subject to death. The divine sentence, "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return," points to the utter extinction of life. Immortality, promised to man on condition of obedience, had been forfeited by transgression. Adam could not transmit to his posterity that which he did not possess; and there could have been no hope for the fallen race had not God, by the sacrifice of His Son, brought immortality within their reach. While "death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned," Romans 5:12; Christ "hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." 2 Timothy 1:10. And only through Christ can immortality be obtained. Said Jesus: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: He that believeth not on the Son shall not see life." John 3:36. Every man may come into possession of this priceless blessing if he will comply with the conditions. All "who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honour and immortality," will receive "immortal life" Romans 2:7. The only one who promised life in disobedience was the great deceiver. And the declaration of the serpent to Eve in Eden—"Ye shall not surely die"—was the first sermon ever preached on the immortality of the soul. Yet this declaration, resting solely upon the authority of Satan, is echoed from the pulpits of Christendom and is received by the majority of mankind as readily as it was received by our first parents. The divine sentence, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die" Ezekiel 18:20, is made to mean: The soul that sinneth, it shall not die, but live forever in eternal torment in hell. We cannot but wonder at the strange infatuation which renders men and women so credulous concerning the words of Satan and so unbelieving in regard to the words of God. Had man after his fall been allowed free access to the tree of life, he would have lived forever, and thus sin would have been immortalized. But cherubim and a flaming sword kept "the way of the tree of life" Genesis 3:24, and not one of the human family of Adam has been permitted to pass that barrier and partake of the life-giving fruit. Therefore there is not an immortal sinner. There have long been two schools of thought on this question however. Some have maintained that man was created mortal, so far as his body was concerned, but that he possesses an immortal entity called either a "soul" or a "spirit." Others have felt equally certain that man was not in any sense created immortal. [The basis for such a conclusion is the statement of God to man in Eden: "In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Genesis 2:17. The fact that man was created with the possibility of dying should he sin, evidences the fact that he was not immortal.] They have been convinced that man was not in possession of an ethereal soul, or spirit, which survived death as a conscious entity, apart from the body. But before we talk about immortality, either innate or conditional, it would be best if we first define our terms; so let us examine the Bible and the original languages to find out their meanings and usages. In the Old Testament the word "soul" is translated from the Hebrew word 'NEPHESH,' a word that occurs 755 times in the Old Testament. It is most frequently translated "soul," but it is also translated in many other ways. 'NEPHESH' comes from the root word 'NAPHASH,' a verb occurring only 3 times in the Old Testament. (Exodus 23:12; 31:17; 2 Samuel 16:14), each time meaning "to revive oneself" or "to refresh oneself." The verb seems to go back to the basic meaning of breathing. A definition for 'NEPHESH' may be derived from the Bible account of the creation of man. Genesis 2:7. The record states that when God gave life to the body He had formed, the man literally "became a soul of life." The "soul" had not previously existed, but came into existence at the creation of Adam. A new soul comes into existence every time a child is born. Each birth represents a new unit of life uniquely different and separate from similar units. The new unit can never merge into another unit. It will always be itself. There will be countless individuals like it, but none that are exactly that unit. This uniqueness of individuality seems to be the idea emphasised in the Hebrew term 'NEPHESH.' 'NEPHESH' is applied not only to man but also to animals. The clause "let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life" Genesis 1:20, is literally, "let the waters swarm swarms of souls of life [individuals of life]." Hence animals as well as human beings are "souls." And as many of today's translations of the Bible correctly translate 'NEPHESH' to be "and man became a living being," so too, all of us are "beings," "souls" whom Christ died to save. As God said in Ezekiel 18:20, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die," if a sinning soul cannot die, what did Jesus die to save??? Now, which do I believe?? That, according to Ezekiel 18:20, that I am a soul who can die, or, according to the idea of others, my "soul" goes straight to heaven or hell, (upon death) which, by the way, isn't death at all, just a transporting from one place to another! Strange thing too, while I am sitting here typing this, the radio station has just announced that the president of the radio station has just died, and quoting: "Brother ___________ was called away to the LORD at ten past four this morning. Our sympathy goes to his wife and children... Sympathy? But according to the announcer, he has just been called to heaven! If this is true, they should be rejoicing! [However, we will be looking more closely at this later on...] The basic idea of "soul" being the individual rather than a constituent part of the individual, seems to underlie the various occurrences of 'NEPHESH.' It is therefore more accurate to say that a certain person IS a soul, than to say he HAS a soul. This fact is clearly expressed in Genesis 2:7, "Man became a living soul." From the basic idea of a 'NEPHESH' being an individual, or a person, springs the idiomatic use of 'NEPHESH' for the personal pronoun. Expressions such as "my soul" are idiomatic for "I", "me," "thy soul" for "you," "Their soul" for "they" or "them." Since each new 'NEPHESH' represents a new unit of life, 'NEPHESH' is often used synonymously with "life." In 119 instances the K. J. V. translates 'NEPHESH' by "life", and there are other instances where "life," and there are other instances where "life" would have been a more accurate translation. The majority of the occurrences of 'NEPHESH' may be appropriately translated by "person," "individual," "life," or by the appropriate personal pronoun. "The souls that they had gotten at Haran" Genesis 12:5, is simply "The persons that they had gotten in Haran." "That soul shall be cut off." Leviticus 19:8, is simply "he shall be cut off." When we turn to the New Testament, we find that the word "soul" is translated from the Greek word 'Psuche,' with the meanings "life," "breath" or "soul." 'Psuche' is translated 40 times in the New Testament as "life" or "lives," clearly with the meaning commonly attributed to the word "life," (Matthew 2:20; 6:25; 16:25). It is rendered 58 times as "soul" or "souls," (Matthew 10:28; 11:29; 12:18). In some of these instances it means simply "people," (Acts 7:14; 27:37; 1 Peter 3:20). In other instances it is translated as, or equivalent to, some personal pronoun, (Matthew 12:18; 2 Corinthians 12:15). At times it refers to the emotions, (Mark 14:34; Luke 2:35), to the natural appetites (Revelation 18:14), to the mind, (Acts 14:2; Philippians 1:27), or to the heart, (Ephesians 6:6). There is nothing in the word 'Psuche' itself that even remotely implies a conscious entity that is able to survive the death of the body. And there is nothing in the Bible use of the word indicating that the Bible writers held any such belief. Some Bible students,' recognising that the word "soul" as used in the Old Testament hardly supports the idea that man possesses a separate, component part that can survive the death of the body, have turned to Ecclesiastes 12:7 to support the doctrine that man has an immortal something that can exist apart from the body. The text reads:- "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." The word "spirit" in this text is translated from the Hebrew word 'RUACH,' which has the various meanings of "wind" or "breath," as in Job 27:3, "All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils." In the Old Testament 'RUACH' is translated "breath" 33 times, as in Job 27:3, or Ezekiel 37:5. "Wind" 117 times, as in Genesis 8:1, "spirit" 76 times in the sense of vitality, as in Judges 15:9, "courage" in Joshua 2:11, "temper" or "anger" in Judges 8:3, and in reference to the disposition, as in Isaiah 54:6. 'RUACH' is also used to describe the living principle in men and animals 25 times, as in Psalms 146:4, the seat of the emotions 3 times, as in Samuel 1:15, the "mind" 9 times, as in Ezekiel 11:5, and of the Spirit of God 94 times, as in Isaiah 63:10. In not one of the 379 instances of its use in the Old Testament does 'RUACH' denote that in man there is a separate entity capable of conscious existence apart from the physical body. Therefore, I believe that the "spirit" that returns to God upon death, as recorded in Ecclesiastes 12:7 is nothing more than the "breath" we have, the life principle imparted to man by God. When we turn to the New Testament, we find that the word "spirit" is translated 2 times from the Greek word 'PHANTASMA,' and 288 times from 'Pneuma.' The Greek word 'Pneuma' is translated from the K.J.V. 288 times as "spirit," 93 times as "ghost," (modern revisions have entirely abandoned the use of the word "ghost" in favour of "spirit," where the word 'pneuma' is being translated), 1 time as "life," 1 time as "wind" and 1 time as "spiritual." 'Pneuma' is used (1) of air in motion, such as "wind" in John 3:8, and "breath" in Rev. 11:11. (2) of the principle of life, as in Luke 8:55. (3) of the frame of mind, disposition, influence, or attitudes that govern man, the basis of his character, as in 1 Cor. 4:21; 2 Cor. 12:18. (4) of incorporeal beings, such as angels Hebrews 1:14, demons, or evil spirits, Matthew 8:16. (5) of the Holy Spirit, as in Matthew 1:18, etc.... There are also other shades of meaning related to the applications cited here.
There is nothing inherent in the word 'pneuma' by
which it may be taken to mean some supposed conscious entity of man capable of
existing apart from the body, nor does the usage of the word with respect to man
in the New Testament in any way imply such a concept.
As far as the Bible is concerned, the word "immortal" is
applied only to God:-
"Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise
God, be glory and honour for ever and ever."
1 Timothy 1:17.
This is the only occurrence of the word "immortal" in the
Scriptures. Innate immortality is
ascribed solely to DEITY:-
"I give thee charge in the sight of God... who is the
blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; who only hath
immortality." 1 Timothy
6:13-16.
The gift of immortality is promised to man, and he is urged to seek
for it, Romans 2:7. In fact
it is promised to the faithful at the second coming of Christ:-
"We shall not all sleep (die), but we shall be changed, in a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall
sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put
on immortality. 1 Corinthians 15:51-53. In 1 Thessalonians 4:16 Paul makes it very clear that the "last trump" and the raising of the dead are at the second coming of Christ. Now, if man is urged to seek for immortality, it is only too clear that he does not now possess it. At the creation of man in the beginning, death was set before him as the sure result of disobedience: "In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." Genesis 2:17. It is obvious that man was not created incapable of dying. It is equally clear from the account of the fall that man could have lived forever, if he had continued to partake of the fruit from the tree of life. But God made sure that sinful man could not partake of the life giving fruit, and set an angel baring the way, "Lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and live forever." Genesis 3:22. It is simple to deduce from this fact that man was created capable of eternal life only on the condition of obedience, or that of being separated from the tree of life and dying because of disobedience.
So then, what happens when a man dies??
Well, we will answer that by first looking at how man was created to
start with:-
"And the Lord God formed of the dust of the ground, and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." Genesis 2:7.
Here is a very simple mathematical statement: DUST
+ BREATH = LIVING SOUL.
Death is no more than a reversal of the above: LIVING
SOUL — BREATH = DUST.
It's that simple!!!
As God made the solemn announcement to Adam about the result of sin, Adam
saw how terrible death really is:-
"In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return
unto the ground; for out of it thou wast taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust
thou shalt return." Genesis
3:19.
Now, consider the following questions, how much did Adam know about
life or anything before he was created? Nothing
of course! Now, how much can you
remember before you were born?? Just
the same, NOTHING! We have no
memory of the past because we were not alive. Now, what about when you are dead? God told Adam that he was taken from the ground, and that he
would return there. How much would
Adam know after death? Nothing.
He didn't know anything before life.
What about us? How much do we know after death?
Nothing:-
"The dead know not anything neither have they any more a reward;
for the memory of them (their memory) is forgotten. (they no longer have a
memory) Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished;
neither have they anymore a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the
sun." Eccl. 9:5, 6. Isn't that clear enough? The Above texts describe wonderfully how we were before we were born. We didn't know anything. We had no memory. No emotions. Nor did we participate in anything done under the sun. Only the living can do such things.
"The grave cannot praise thee, death cannot
celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
The living.... shall praise thee."
Isaiah 38:18, 19.
How much praise and glory did you give to God
before you were born? None. You didn't
make one sound. And you won't when
you're dead either. Only the living
can do such things:-
"The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into
silence." Psalms 115:17.
"What profit is there... when I go down to the pit?
Shall the dust praise thee? Shall
it declare thy truth?" Psalms 30:9.
"In death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall
give thee thanks?" Psalms 6:5.
"Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead?
Shall the dead arise and praise thee?"
Psalms 88:10. If death is nothing more than a transition from Earth to Heaven, why is it an enemy? "The
last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."
1 Corinthians 15:26.
Just as before we were born we had no memory, neither will we in
death:-
"His breath goeth forth, he returned to his earth; in that very
day his thoughts perish." Psalms
146:4.
While Jesus was on Earth, He used the death of His friend Lazarus to
teach the disciples about death. He
likened death to sleep:-
"These things said He: and after that He saith unto them, Our
friend Lazarus sleepeth, but I go, that I may wake him out of sleep.
Then said His disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.
Howbeit Jesus spake of his death; but they thought that He had spoken of
taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus said unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead."
John 11:11-14.
Have you ever gone to bed, and as soon as your head hits the pillow,
your alarm clock wakes you up in the morning?
You had no dreams. No
thoughts. You have no memory of the
last 8 hours at all. You were
asleep. Death is just like that,
according to Jesus. A deep,
dreamless sleep. However, just in
case we have missed Christ's point, He says it again:-
"A all wept, and bewailed her: but He [Jesus] said, Weep not; she
is not dead, but sleepeth." Luke
8:52. (This is repeated in Matthew
9:24 & Mark 5:39).
Now why do you suppose that Jesus likened death to sleep?
The answer is because if someone is asleep, they can be awakened.
And Jesus called Himself the Resurrection and the Life.
While he was around, no one could stay dead if He chose to wake them up.
Praise the LORD! In fact,
Christ's own resurrection is the groundwork of the gospel message, for:-
"If Christ be not raised, your faith is in vain... Then they also
which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished." 1 Corinthians 15:17, 18.
Did you notice the phrase "fallen asleep?"
Because there is hope of a resurrection, death is likened to sleep, for
they who are asleep in Christ can be awakened, to live forever.
But what of those who die lost? We
will look at that in part two of this study.
The resurrection is called the hope of the Christian.
(Notice John 6:39, 40; Luke
20:37; compare with Matthew 11:5; Luke
7:22). Job said:-
"I know that my redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the
latter day upon the Earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet
in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I
shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my
reins be consumed within me." Job
19:25-27.
The Psalmist David, expressing his hope for the future, declared:-
"I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness." Psalm 17:15. Even in the days of Jesus, when the Pharisees were questioning Him about matters pertaining to the future, they did not discuss the question of death, but rather the resurrection. ( Matthew 22:28-30 ). Paul's hope was definitely fixed on this climactic event. Writing to the Philippian church, he expressed the longing of his soul when he exclaimed:-
"If by any means I might attain unto the
resurrection of the dead." Philippians
3:11. See also ( 1
Corinthians 15:18, 22, 23; 1
Thessalonians 4:14, 17.
In the New Testament, the resurrection of the
Christian is referred to as "the resurrection of life."
John 5:29, and "the resurrection of Jesus Christ."
1 Peter 3:21. The rewards are given to the saints, not at death
but at the second coming of Christ:-
"Behold I come quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give every
man according as his work shall be." Revelation
22:12.
Another important factor is that, at death, the saints go into the grave.
They will live again, but they come to life and live with Jesus after
they are raised from the dead. And
this takes place at the second coming of Christ. (See Matthew 16:27;
Isaiah 40:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18;
2 Timothy 4:8). But while asleep in the tomb, the child of God knows nothing. Time matters not to him. If he should be there 1000 years, the time would be but a moment. Have you ever been to hospital for an operation? You remember, they wheeled you on a bed into the surgery and gave you an anaesthetic, soon, you feel asleep. Deeply asleep. Next thing you know is you're waking up back in the recovery room.... then suddenly you're waking up in your own room. You haven't a clue as to how much time has passed. In fact, you don't even remember falling asleep! You had no dreams, nothing even passed through your head. Sounds a lot like Psalms 146:4, your thoughts perished. Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6, no memory, no emotions, no love, nothing. You felt absolutely nothing while you were in that deep sleep. It is no wonder that Jesus likened death to sleep! So then, when one who serves God closes his eyes in death, and whether one day or 2000 years elapse, the next instance of his consciousness will be when he opens his eyes and beholds his blessed LORD coming in the clouds. To him it is death --- then suddenly glory. In what way then, is death an enemy? It is no respecter of persons, rank, sex, age, ability, plans, goals, aims, nothing. It will take anyone, anywhere, anytime. It cuts down Kings, rulers, anyone. It does not consider any plans you may have, and once you're dead, you cannot continue with anything you wanted to do:-
"Whatever thy hand findeth to do, do it
with all thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom,
in the grave, wither thou goest." Ecclesiastes 9:10. The second death, [of which we will deal more with in the next study] is the real enemy, for from this "sleep" there will be NO resurrection. Ever. Eternal death is a terrible fate for the wicked. In talking with some Christians on the state of the dead, I have heard them say, "Oh, please don't tell me that my Mother isn't in heaven now, I just couldn't bear to think otherwise."
All right, what of the thought that death is simply
a transition from this life to the next, while we go on living down here on
Earth. If it is that, at death, a
conscious "soul" or "spirit" immediately leaves the body and
wings its way to heaven..... or if you haven't been so good, the other place
below, then what about those who have died and were raised back to life in the
Bible?? Did they have anything to
tell us???
There are at least 7 instances recorded of those who were raised from the
dead:
1} The widows son.
1 Kings 17:20-24.
2} The
Shunammites son. 2 Kings 4:20,
34, 35.
3} The
widows son of Nain. Luke
7:11-15.
4} The
daughter of Jairus. Luke 8:41,
42, 49-56.
5} Tabitha.
Acts 9:36-41. 6} Eutychus. Acts 20:9-12 and
7} Lazarus.
John 11:1-44; 12:1, 9.
Doubtless some of these were dead for but a short time, for according to
Jewish custom, burial took place on the same day as the death.
Lazarus had been dead longer, however, "four days" according to
Martha. The question that naturally arises is this: Did the souls of these individuals go immediately at death to either heaven or hell?? If so, it would surely be too bad to bring one back from heaven, where, having once arrived, he would naturally expect to remain forever. To bring one back from the realms of bliss to this vale of tears would be to run the risk of him sinning again, and so of losing eternal reward. On the other hand, if one were brought back from hell, as popularly conceived, he would doubtless be very glad to be released from punishment and would have another opportunity of accepting the gospel. If the soul goes to either heaven or hell at death, surely those who have been resurrected would talk of the glories of the heavenly land, or they would warn sinners in no uncertain tones of the torments of the damned. Yet there is no record of their having said a single word. How strange, if the soul or spirit survives death as a conscious entity, that we have no record at all from any of the above individuals concerning what happened during the period they were dead! Mention might well be made of one of the saints of ancient days. He died, in the regular course of events, and was buried as were his fathers before him. The divine record says:- "David.... is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day." Acts 2:29.
To say that it was David's body that was buried,
and that his soul went on to the realms of bliss, would certainly not be in
accordance with the teaching of the Word of God.
This might accord with popular theology, but the divine record definitely
declares that:- "David never went up to heaven." Verse 34 (Knox translation).
"For David is not ascended.
Better, ascended not. He
went down into the grave, and "slept with his fathers."
The Cambridge Bible. In fact, David is one of the many saints listed in Hebrews 11, having died, waiting for that "better resurrection." In talking with others on this topic, I have asked them, 'If it is true that your soul or spirit goes to heaven upon death, what does 1 Thessalonians 4:16 mean when it says that when the Lord comes back to Earth, that He will raise those who are "dead in Christ?" 'Oh,' they explain, 'that's only their bodies. You see, Jesus is going to give souls their bodies back again.' I ask, 'When Enoch and Elijah were taken to heaven, did their bodies stay here? "No... No, but they changed on the way up..." 'They did? But you give me no bible texts. Anyway, if that were so, what happened to their bodies?? And surely id their souls go to heaven upon death anyway, why didn't God just let them die?? But He didn't. He saved them physically. He took them with their bodies.' Let's suppose, however, that it's correct that you go straight to heaven upon death. In your non-bodied state you wing your way to the realms of bliss. (And your name by the way is Abel. The very first being ever to die in the universe). You begin to enjoy the fact that now you are forever free from that inhibiting "home" called the human body. Did I say "forever?" I'm sorry. That's quite wrong. For our friends tells us that at the second coming of Christ you are going to be reunited with your body. Oh, yes, it will be a perfect body, incorruptible, immortal, for it is made that way at the last trump, but this time you will be living in it for eternity. Is this really the way it is?? What does the Bible mean when it says:- That your body goes into the ground but your soul goes and lives in heaven until the second coming? No. God has said, "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Genesis 3:19. And no one can read that statement any other way. We go back to where we came from. And only God has the power to call us from our dusty beds at the second coming. Therefore, there are no immortal sinners. |
