OCTOBER 2008 Dear Ones, Many belief systems embrace the immortality of the soul but only Christianity believes that the material body and the whole of human personality will survive the end of this present life. The bodies we inhabit today will see decay, but as Christians we hold to a hope of a new body, a body that will never die, never grow old, and never suffer illness. God did not create us to die. God created us to live and to live in a right relationship with Him. The consequence of rebellion against God was death but God has provided a way to eternal life and not just eternal life as a spirit being but in body, soul, and spirit. Jesus came in body, soul, and spirit that He might redeem us in body, soul, and spirit. Our soul is immortal. We will never, in the sense of annihilation, die. The soul continues after death but longs for the time when it will once again exist in a body, an indestructible body that will never age and never see decay. I. God’s Intention “God created people in his own image; God patterned them after Himself; male and female He created them,” Genesis 1: 27 We are God’s creation, His handiwork. He created us for a purpose and this purpose is in part revealed in the phrase, “in His own image.” We are patterned after God. While there has been a great deal of theological speculation about what this means, I believe the scriptures themselves reveal a significant element of it. “Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is born of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God for God is love,” 1st John 4: 7 – 8 That we were made in God’s image means that we were made with the capacity to love. The scripture says, “God is love.” To love Him and to love others is part of our purpose. It is in this way that we resemble Him and it is in failing to love that we sin. But we did fail Him and we continue to fail Him. Sin entered the world through Adam and Eve and it continues through the choices we make every day. “We were created for life not for mortality.” – James Orr God’s intention was that we should live eternally with Him, to love Him and to love each other. But when we turned out back on this intention, the consequence was death. II. The Consequences of Sin Relationships are damaged. Sin damages our relationships with each other and with our maker, God. In biblical times death meant separation. Sin separates us from each other and from God. This relationship is restored when we “walk in the light” and the “blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin,” see 1st John 1. “The LORD God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and care for it. But the LORD God gave him this warning: "You may freely eat any fruit in the garden except fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat of its fruit, you will surely die,” Genesis 2: 15 – 17 One of the consequences of rebellion against God or sin is death. In fact, this is the primary focus of God’s warning to His children. “When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. Adam's sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned,” Romans 5: 12 Death is not natural. We instinctively know this. Death brings with it suffering and pain. God wants to heal that suffering and deliver us from the pain and sting of death. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord,” Romans 6:23 God died that we might live. The reality of this gift is present with us. It is both a present reality and a future hope. When we return to Him in obedience, when we lay our lives before Him, we have the assurance of His abiding presence in our lives. We know that we shall live and yet we suffer and die. “The frustration of this original destiny comes through sin.” – James Orr Adam and Eve suffered some immediate consequence to sin. They were embarrassed and ashamed and they hid from God, in a sense they “separated” themselves from Him. But death, the separation of the soul from the body, was a lingering process. The seed was sown when the sin was committed. “Temptation comes from the lure of our own evil desires. These evil desires lead to evil actions, and evil actions lead to death,” James 1: 14 – 15 Death is a process. The effects of aging are a part of that process. God did not intend that our bodies would decay. We fight and resist it; we suffer and grieve when a loved one dies because in our hearts we know this was never meant to be. III. The Intermediate State “The state into which the surviving part is supposed to enter at death is anything but a state which can be described as life. It is a state peculiar to death. This disembodied state is never viewed as one of complete life.” – James Orr In scripture, this state is sometimes referred to as “sleep.” But by sleep the Bible does not mean a loss of consciousness, only a loss of our physical body. Our consciousness survives. The intermediate state is necessary because our present bodies are sinful and sin limits our level of intimacy with God. This is why God’s priests were often killed in His presence. God’s holiness came into contact with a sinful body and the result was the destruction of the sinful body. God wants us to live and to live in union with Him so He has devised a way to rid us of our sinful bodies and restore us to bodies that are not tainted by sin, that will never decay and that can survive in His presence. “The LORD has done this because you did not obey his instructions concerning the Amalekites. What's more, the LORD will hand you and the army of Israel over to the Philistines tomorrow, and you and your sons will be here with me. The LORD will bring the entire army of Israel down in defeat,” 1 Samuel 28: 18 – 19 This verse quoted above indicates that when death occurs, the soul will “be here with me.” The story of Lazarus and the rich man tells us a great deal about the intermediate state. “Jesus said, "There was a certain rich man who was splendidly clothed and who lived each day in luxury. At his door lay a diseased beggar named Lazarus. As Lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man's table, the dogs would come and lick his open sores. Finally, the beggar died and was carried by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, and his soul went to the place of the dead. There, in torment, he saw Lazarus in the far distance with Abraham. The rich man shouted, `Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in anguish in these flames.’ Then the rich man said, `Please, Father Abraham, send him to my father's home. For I have five brothers, and I want him to warn them about this place of torment so they won't have to come here when they die.’ But Abraham said, `Moses and the prophets have warned them. Your brothers can read their writings anytime they want to.’ The rich man replied, `No, Father Abraham! But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will turn from their sins.' But Abraham said, `If they won't listen to Moses and the prophets, they won't listen even if someone rises from the dead,” Luke 16: 19 – 31 The fact is someone did rise from the dead. He appeared to many people and those people testified about what they saw. And still people do not believe. “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from His love. Death can't, and life can't. The angels can't, and the demons can't. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can't keep God's love away. Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord,” Romans 8: 38 – 39 God’s promise is that death will not separate us from His love. It may separate us from our body for a time but it will never separate us from God. “We would rather be away from these bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord,” 2nd Corinthians 5:8 We will go immediately to be with Him upon death. It is the promise of God and it is our hope. “Just as the body is dead without a spirit, so also faith is dead without good deeds,” James 2: 26 The spirit is the animating force of the body. The body dies when the spirit leaves but the spirit lives on. Jesus replied, "I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise." Jesus said this to the robber that was crucified next to Him. The assurance Jesus offers is that on that very day, the robber would join Jesus in paradise. “For to me, living is for Christ, and dying is even better. Yet if I live, that means fruitful service for Christ. I really don't know which is better. I'm torn between two desires: Sometimes I want to live, and sometimes I long to go and be with Christ. That would be far better for me,” Philippians 1: 21 – 23 For Paul, life was about service to Christ. Death, the separation of the spirit form the body, was about going to be with Christ. He wants to be in His service but he longs also to be with Him where he is. IV. Life Everlasting Unless the Lord returns and we are translated with Him in the air, we will all die. Our spirits will leave our bodies and our bodies will decay in the earth, but that which is essentially us; our essence, our personality, our emotions, our spirit, will live on. We will go directly to Christ. We will be with Him. But our story will not end there. God did not create us to be immaterial beings. He made us to be material and immaterial and He will restore to us what sin has destroyed. "But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that he will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God. I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought,” Job 19: 25 – 27 “And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God.” This promise is to each and everyone who believes. “We have this assurance: Those who belong to God will live; their bodies will rise again! Those who sleep in the earth will rise up and sing for joy! For God's light of life will fall like dew on his people,” Isaiah 26:19 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life,” John 3:16 “Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will give us later. For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, everything on earth was subjected to God's curse. All creation anticipates the day when it will join God's children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as his children, including the new bodies he has promised us,” Romans 8: 18 – 23 “What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These perishable bodies of ours are not able to live forever. But let me tell you a wonderful secret God has revealed to us. Not all of us will die, but we will all be transformed. It will happen in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown, for when the trumpet sounds, the Christians who have died will be raised with transformed bodies. And then we who are living will be transformed so that we will never die: for our perishable earthly bodies must be transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die. When this happens--when our perishable earthly bodies have been transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die--then at last the Scriptures will come true: "Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. How we thank God, who gives us victory over sin and death through Jesus Christ our Lord,” 1st Corinthians 15: 50 – 58 “But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. He will take these weak mortal bodies of ours and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same mighty power that he will use to conquer everything, everywhere,” Philippians 3: 20 – 21 “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a beautiful bride prepared for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, "Look, the home of God is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will remove all of their sorrows, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. For the old world and its evils are gone forever,” Revelation 21: 1 – 4 This is the promise and hope of Christianity. Much love, |