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Resurrection
or life immediately after death?
In this as well as
in a series of other articles, we will touch a very serious topic that
has been the source of long discussions and many questions. This topic
refers to what happens after death and it will be approached from the
point of view of the Bible, which we honestly believe that, being what
God has said, is the only source that can give us reliable information.
1. Death: God
does not want us ignorant
Starting the research on our subject, we
will go to I Thessalonians 4:13 where we read:
I Thessalonians 4:13
"But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning
those who have fallen asleep..."
As it is obvious
from this passage, God does not want us ignorant about those "who
have fallen asleep" i.e. the dead ones. In contrast, He wants us
informed, which in turn means that He has also provided all the
information that is necessary for the elimination of any ignorance or
misunderstanding. The only that is needed from our part to receive this
information is simply to continue reading on the same passage. Really,
verses 13-18 of the same chapter tell us:
I Thessalonians 4:13-18
"But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning
those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no
hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will
bring with him those that sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the
word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the
coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For
the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice
of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ
will rise first: Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught
up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air: And
thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another
with these words."
As it can be seen,
this passage refers to the "dead in Christ" or those that
"sleep in Jesus" i.e. to those that died believing in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Though these are only a category of the total of the dead
ones, the conclusions drawn from the above passage regarding the state
of the dead have general application1.
Moving now to what the above passage tells us,
i.e. to the information that God gave us, to eliminate our ignorance and
misunderstanding about the dead ones, we can see that no reference is
made to a supposed life immediately after death. In contrast, what this
passage clearly points out is the resurrection as the ONLY exit from the
death state and the only way to enter again into life. Really according
to the above passage, the dead in Christ will be raised in the day of
the Lord's coming, while the alive Christians will be caught up that day
with them in heaven to meet the Lord in the air. "AND THUS WE (all
Christians, dead and alive) SHALL EVER BE WITH THE LORD",
which in turn means that since we SHALL (future tense) be with the Lord,
no dead is with the Lord now nor if we will die, will we be immediately
with the Lord. Instead, we SHALL be with him at his coming.
Apart from the above passage of I Thessalonians
4:13-18 that was given to us so that we may be fully aware about the
dead in Christ, God's Word contains more passages that corroborate what
I Thessalonians 4:13-18 told us. Such a passage is I Corinthians
15:20-24, where starting from verses 20-22, we read:
I Corinthians 15:20-22
"But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the
firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came
death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in
Adam all die, even so in Christ ALL SHALL be made alive."
From this passage
two things are made clear. The first is that ALL will be made alive,
though, as verse 23 that follow tells us, "every man in his own
order" i.e. not all simultaneously. Apart from this, something else
that the above passage makes also clear is that the dead SHALL be made
alive, which in turn means that THEY ARE NOT alive now, and thus
the doctrine that teaches the contrary i.e. that they are alive now,
cannot be correct. When now shall the dead be made alive is something
that is answered in verses 23-24 of the same chapter, where we read:
I Corinthians 15:23-24
"But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits,
afterward those who are Christ's at his coming. Then comes
the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father; when he puts an
end to all rule and all authority and power."
The first - and the
only one till now - that was raised from the dead is Christ. However,
his resurrection will not be unique for ever, for in the future it will
be followed: in a first place by the resurrection of those that are
Christ's i.e. those that died believing in the Lord Jesus Christ and
then, by the resurrection of the remaining ones. The time that the first
of these resurrections, i.e. the resurrection of those that are
Christ's, will happen is defined as the time of Christ's coming, which
is what I Thessalonians 4 also told us. From this, it can be concluded
that since, according to the "timetable" of the above passage,
the dead in Christ will be the first that will be made alive and since
the day that this will happen will be the day of Christ's coming, which
is still future, apart from the Lord Jesus, there is NO dead that is
alive now. In contrast, all SHALL be made alive in the future, and each
one in his own order.
2. "With
what body will the dead come"?
The Bible not only tells us that those that
died believing in Christ will be raised in the day of his coming, but it
also tells us with what body they will be raised. Really, starting from
I Corinthians 15:35-41 we read:
I Corinthians 15:35-41
"But someone will say, "How are the dead raised up? And with
what body do they come? Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive
unless it dies. And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall
be, but bare grain - perhaps wheat, or some other grain. But God
gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body. All flesh is
not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men,
another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds. There
are also celestial bodies, and terrestrial bodies: but the glory of
the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is
another. There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the
moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differs from another
star in glory."
The reason that Paul
makes all these references to the seed that grows to something
different, a plant, and to the differences among bodies and
"fleshes" etc. is shown in the beginning of the passage, where
we are explicitly told that all these are said with reference to
"how the dead are raised up, and with what body they come", as
well as in verse 42 where we read:
I Corinthians 15:42
"SO ALSO is the resurrection of the dead....."
The phrase "so
also" connects what precedes it (verses 35-41) with what follows it
("the resurrection of the dead"). In other words, as a seed,
though it "dies" it gives a whole plant, so also though this
earthly body will die another body will succeed it in the resurrection.
And as the bodies are not all the same, so also the resurrected body
will not be the same with this earthly body. Moreover, as the celestial
and the terrestrial bodies differ in glory so also the resurrection body
will differ from the earthly body. As verses 42-45 tell us:
I Corinthians 15:42-45
"So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in
corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonor; it is
raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is
sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. THERE IS A NATURAL
BODY, AND THERE IS A SPIRITUAL BODY. And so it is written,
The first man Adam was made a living soul. The last Adam a life-giving
spirit."
(NKJV-KJV)
In this passage, the
phrase "natural body" is a translation of the Greek phrase
"soma psuchikon, where the word "psuchikon"
is the adjective form of the noun "psuche" that means
"soul". Thus, "soma psuchikon" means
"soul body" i.e. a body whose life is based on
soul2. This is the
body that we have now, the body that "is sown" (I Corinthians
15:44). However, this body is inappropriate for the eternal life that
God has promised us. Really as I Corinthians 15:50 tells us:
I Corinthians 15:50
"Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit
the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption."
This body of flesh
and blood, being corruptible, is unable to inherit incorruption, and
thus it has to be changed. As verses 53-55 say:
I Corinthians 15:53-55
"this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must
put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on
incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall
be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in
victory."
Only when the mortal
and corruptible body we have now will put on immortality and
incorruption, death will have been swallowed up in victory. For the new
body - the body that is raised (I Corinthians 15:44) - that will take
the place of the present corruptible soul body - the body that is sown
(I Corinthians 15:44) - will be incorruptible, death will have no power
over it. It will not be a soul body i.e. a body whose life is based on
soul, but a spiritual body i.e. a body with the same properties and
abilities as the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, the only one that till
now has a body like this. As verses 44-49 of I Corinthians 15 tell us:
I Corinthians 15:44-49
"There is a natural body (soma psuchikon), and there is
a spiritual body (soma pneumatikon). And so it is written, The
first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a
quickening spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural;
and afterward the spiritual. The first man was of the earth,
earthly: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As was
the earthly, so also are they that are earthy: and as is
the heavenly, so also are they that are heavenly. And as we have
borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the
heavenly." (NKJV-KJV)
Any man that has
passed from the face of the earth, Adam and Christ included, had a soul
body. However, Jesus is the only one that went further than this, for
though he died, he didn't remain dead as all the others, but he was
raised, after three days and three nights, with an incorruptible,
spiritual, body. Thus, the spiritual body is not a theoretical concept,
but a reality since it is the body that the Lord Jesus Christ
has now3. And as we
now wear Adam's "uniform", the soul body - "the image of
the earthly" - so one day, the day of Christ's coming, we will also
wear his "uniform", the spiritual body, - "the image of
the heavenly". When will this happen is something that is answered
in verses 51-52 of the same chapter of I Corinthians, where we read:
I Corinthians 15:51-52
"Behold, I tell you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the
last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised
incorruptible, and we shall be changed."
And as I Thessalonians 4:15-18 also
told us:
I Thessalonians 4:15-18
"For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who
are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no
means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord himself will descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the
trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first: Then we who are
alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the
clouds to meet the Lord in the air: And thus we shall always be with the
Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words."
Concluding therefore, from what we have
seen by now:
God does not want us ignorant about those that
died and for this reason, He has supplied in His Word all the relevant
information for our benefit. Thus, according to this information, Christ
is the first and the only one that though he died he is alive NOW, as
God raised him from the dead. As I Corinthians 15:23 characteristically
told us, he is the FIRSTfruits, the FIRST one. Following him, the next
that will be made alive will be those that are Christ's i.e. the dead
Christians, while in a later time the remaining dead will follow (I
Corinthians 15:23).
Regarding now the time that the dead in Christ
will be made alive, the Word defines it as the time of the Lord's
coming. In turn, this means that since the Lord's coming is still a
future event, the dead can by no means be alive now. Instead, they SHALL
be made alive that day. However, this will not be the only event that
will happen that day, as along with the raising of the dead Christians,
those Christians that will be alive that day will be caught up with the
raised ones in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air (I Thessalonians
4:17). And as I Thessalonians 4:17 tells us: "AND THUS WE (all
Christians) SHALL ALWAYS BE WITH THE LORD".
Regarding now the body that the dead will have
that day, this will be what the Bible calls "spiritual body"
i.e. an incorruptible, immortal body like the body that Jesus Christ has
now. This will also be the body that the alive Christians that will be
caught up in the clouds that day will get, in substitution of the
present corruptible soul body. According to the Word, all this will take
just "a twinkling of an eye" (I Corinthians 15:52), and can
happen anytime, even in the next moment from now. The exact time is not
something that God has revealed in His Word and therefore no-one can
know it (see I Thessalonians 5:1-2, Mark 13:32, II Peter 3:4-13)
3. Some
further analysis regarding the dead
Despite the fact that the Word of God
states very clearly the truth about the dead ones, a look at what most
Christians believe shows great differences. Really, for many Christians
when one dies his soul continues to live and after it is judged, it goes
to heaven where it is with the Lord and its loved ones, having full
consciousness and praising the Lord in a blissful state. Thus, according
to this "common view", death is actually a friend by which we
obtain a better life in "the other side". A comparison of this
view to what we saw that God revealed for our benefit, makes its
faultiness obvious. However, apart from the passages we have seen by
now, the Word contains even more that make the wrong of the "common
view" and its claims more than evident. Below, the main claims of
this view will be examined and put against the Word of
God4.
3.1. Is heaven
the place where the dead go after death?
As we saw in part 1, the first group of
dead that will go to heaven will be the raised Christians, in the day of
the Lord's coming. From this, it can be easily concluded that no dead is
in heaven now - apart of course from the raised Christ - and no-one goes
there after his death. Where therefore do the dead go after death? The
answer that the Bible gives is in the gravedom, as this is the meaning
of the words "Sheol" and "Hades" that the Bible uses
to denote the place of the dead. A complete understanding of the
characteristics of the gravedom can be obtained by a word study of these
two words. For this purpose appendix 2 contains a complete list of their
occurrences in the Bible.
3.2 Do the
dead have consciousness and knowledge?
Another claim of tradition is that after death, the
dead continue living, having full knowledge and consciousness and
helping the living ones. Again, from what God told us so that we may no
longer be ignorant it is obvious that a claim like this cannot be right.
Really, according to what we saw, the dead are not alive now which in
turn means that they cannot do things that can be assigned to and
characterize the living ones only. Ecclesiastes 9:4-6, 9 truly leaves no
space for any different opinion. Thus there we read:
Ecclesiastes 9:4-6, 9
"But for him who is joined to all the living there is hope, for
a living dog is better than a dead lion. For the living KNOW that they
will die; BUT THE DEAD KNOW NOTHING, and they have no more reward,
for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, their hatred, and
their envy have now perished; NEVERMORE WILL THEY HAVE A SHARE IN
ANYTHING DONE UNDER THE SUN. ....... Whatever your
hand finds top do, do it with your might FOR THERE IS NO WORK OR
DEVICE OR KNOWLEDGE OR WISDOM IN THE GRAVE (Sheol) WHERE YOU ARE GOING."
As it is obvious
from this passage, the dead are not conscious, and "nevermore will
they have a share in anything done under the sun" i.e. in anything
done in life. This not only refutes the claim of consciousness and
knowledge after death but it also refutes the claim of many
denominations that "holy" dead men appeared to other
"holy" men and spoke to them, or that such persons as Mary
hear and answer prayers. As we saw, according to the Bible, with the
exception of the raised Christ there is no man that died and is alive
now. Thus there is no dead that can appear to alive people or hear and
answer prayers for, being dead, he has no consciousness and cannot
"have a share in anything done under the sun."
3.3 Do the
dead praise God?
Another claim of tradition regarding the
dead, is that when one dies he goes to heaven where he praises God.
Though from the examination of the information that God gave us so that
we may be informed and not ignorant, it is obvious that this claim is
again false, as the dead are neither in heaven nor they are alive so
that they can praise, the Word answers this claim directly as well. Thus
Psalms 6:5 tells us:
Psalms 6:5
"For in death there is no remembrance
of You [God]. In the grave [Sheol] who
shall give you thanks?"
Contrary to the
tradition's ideas, the Word makes clear that "in death there is NO
remembrance" of God. In Sheol, the gravedom, no one will give Him
thanks for no one is alive there so that he can do that. In contrast, it
is the LIVING and only they that will praise God and give Him thanks.
Really, Isaiah 38:18-19 tells us:
Isaiah 38:18-19
"For SHEOL CANNOT THANK YOU [God], DEATH CANNOT PRAISE YOU;
Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your truth. THE LIVING, THE
LIVING MAN, HE SHALL PRAISE YOU...."
It is the living and
not the dead that will thank and glorify God. It is now that we will
thank Him and praise Him and not when we will die.
3.4 Is death a friend sent by
God?
In addition to the
above, another claim of tradition is that death is a friend sent by God
to bring us nearer to Him. Again, what we have seen in parts 1 and 2, is
enough to show that this claim is again false. Really, if death was a
friend sent by God then there would be no reason for God to cancel its
effects with the resurrection. This shows that death cannot be a friend,
as tradition supports. Really, in I Corinthians 15:26 we read:
I Corinthians 15:26
"The last ENEMY that will be destroyed is death"
Death is not a
friend, as many present it, but an enemy and as such it will be
destroyed5. From this we
can additionally conclude that death being an enemy that God will
destroy, cannot have God as originator. Who is then the real originator
of death? The answer is given in Hebrews 2:14 where we read:
Hebrews 2:14
"He himself (Jesus) likewise shared in the same that through
death he might destroy him WHO HAD THE POWER OF DEATH THAT IS THE
DEVIL"
It is the devil therefore that has the power of death. As John 8:44
characteristically tells us:
John 8:44
"You (He means the Jews with whom he was speaking) are of your
father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He (the
devil) was MURDERER FROM THE BEGINNING"
Devil was a murderer
from the beginning. In contrast, God not only He never desired death,
but working to exactly the contrary direction, supplied a complete
solution to the death problem. What is this solution? The believing in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Really as Jesus said in John 11:25
John 11:25
"Jesus said to her, "I'm the RESURRECTION and the life. He
who believes in me, though he may die, HE SHALL LIVE"
When shall he live?
We have already seen it: in the day of the coming of the Lord when
"the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be
changed" (I Corinthians 15:52).
4. Conclusion
In this article, we studied the subject of
what happens after death. As we saw, apart from the Lord Jesus Christ
that was raised from the dead, there is no other dead that is alive now.
The next ones that will be made alive, will be those that are Christ's
i.e. the dead Christians, in the day of the Lord's coming. The body they
will have that day, will not be a soul body, like the one they used to
have up to their death, but a spiritual body, like the body that the
Lord Jesus has now. The resurrection of the dead Christians will be
followed by the catching up of those Christians that will be alive that
day, and whose body will also be changed from soul to spiritual. After
all this, "WE (all Christians, dead and alive) SHALL ALWAYS BE WITH
THE LORD" (I Thessalonians 4:17).
Having examined what the Bible says about the
dead, we moved on and examined some common claims of tradition in the
light of what God's Word says. Thus, we saw that the dead:
i) do not go to heaven but to
gravedom.
ii) have no consciousness and no share
to what happens in life
iii) do not praise God neither give Him
thanks.
Moreover, we saw that:
iv) death is not a friend that brings
us nearer to God, but an enemy that will be destroyed and that
v) it does not have God as originator
but the devil.
From all the above,
it should be clear that death is not a hope that as Christians we should
have. Instead, our hope is the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, by
which, if we are dead we will be risen, and if we are alive will be
caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air (I Thessalonians
4:17). As Christians therefore, we should not wait for the day of our
death but for the day of the Lord's coming. As Philippians 3:20-21
characteristically tells us:
Philippians 3:20-21
"For our citizenship is IN HEAVEN, FROM WHICH WE ALSO EAGERLY
WAIT FOR THE SAVIOUR, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, WHO WILL TRANSFORM OUR
LOWLY BODY (the soul body) THAT IT MAY BE CONFORMED TO HIS GLORIOUS BODY
(the spiritual body), according to the working by which he is able even
to subdue all things to himself."
May we therefore
open our ears and hearts not to the false "comfort" of the
religion but to the true comfort of the Word, so that we may wait not
for the day of the miserable event of death but for the day of the
glorious coming of the Lord, in which our present corruptible soul body
will be transformed "that it may be conformed to his glorious
body" and after which "we shall always be with the Lord".
Tassos Kioulachoglou
Appendix
Body,
soul, spirit
Occurrences of the words "Sheol"
and "Hades" in the Bible
Examination
of Scriptures used to back up the doctrine of life immedialy after
death
1.
"Absent
with the body, present with the Lord"
2. Lazarus
and the rich man
3. Moses
and Elias in the Lord's transfiguration
Footnotes
1.
Really, as we will see though there are differences regarding the time
that each category of dead (believers, unbelievers, people lived under
other administrations) will be raised as well as what will follow these
resurrections (eternal life, condemnation, judgment according to the
law) there is no difference among them regarding the present state of
the dead that compose them (press here to return where
you stopped).
2. For
more about soul, see: The
Journal of Biblical Accuracy, Vol.1, Issue 5, May 1996 (press
here to return where you stopped).
3.
Since after his resurrection Jesus Christ has a spiritual body, a
reasonable way to get more information about the properties and
abilities of this body would be through a study of the post-resurrection
gospel references. By doing this we can see that: the spiritual body is
a body with supernatural abilities since the raised Christ could
automatically and suddenly appear and disappear (see Luke 24:31, 37).
Moreover, it is a body with variable form (Mark 16:12), though it has
both flesh and bones and it can be touched, i.e. it is a literal body
(Luke 24:39) (press here to return where you stopped).
4. For the
examination of what the Bible defines as soul, and the relative
claim of "soul's immortality" the reader is referred to: The
Journal of Biblical Accuracy, Vol.1, Issue 5, May 1996 (press
here to return where you stopped).
5. See
Revelation 20:14 for the exact record of its destruction (press
here to return where you stopped).
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