What was Daniel told he would do after he
died? Daniel 12:13 When would Daniel be resurrected? Daniel 12:13
At the
NOTE: Daniel is clearly told that he is to rest
from his labors until the end of the days. At the end of all of these
prophetic time periods, at the second coming of Jesus, he would receive
his inheritance at the resurrection. Clearly Daniel did not expect to
go to heaven until the second coming of Jesus.
What word does Daniel use to describe people
who have died? Daniel 12:2
Multitudes who
NOTE: To Daniel death is like going to bed at
night and sleeping. The next thing you know after dying is the morning
of the resurrection.
According to Daniel, when do the righteous
and the wicked receive their reward or punishment? Daniel 12:2
Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth
will
NOTE: Daniel's point is that people awaken (are
resurrected), to either eternal life or eternal damnation at the
resurrection, not when they die.
THE
RESURRECTION HOPE How important is the resurrection hope to
Christianity? 1 Corinthians 15:13-17 If there is no resurrection, what has
happened to people who have died? 1 Corinthians 15:18
Then those also who have fallen
NOTE: If there is no resurrection, there is no
afterlife. The only way to life everlasting is through the
resurrection. Paul knows of no everlasting life, except through the
resurrection. It is one of the most essential, pivotal doctrines of the
Christian faith. Without it there could virtually be no Christianity.
The doctrine of the resurrection is one of the unique doctrines of the
Christian faith. No religion but Christianity teaches the resurrection
of the dead. The removal of this teaching from the Christian faith
would virtually destroy Christianity.
If people went to heaven at
death, why would there have to be a resurrection?
The teaching that suggests that when people die
they go straight to heaven destroys the need for the most essential of
Christian doctrines, the doctrine of the resurrection.
Why is Jesus coming the second time? John 14:1-3
I will come back and take you to be with
NOTE: The reason Jesus comes back the second
time is to take His people to His Father's house. Why would Jesus come
back the second time to take His people to His Father's house if they
immediately went there when they died?
So, not only does the teaching of consciousness
immediately after death destroy the doctrine of the resurrection, but
it also destroy any need for the doctrine of the second coming of
Jesus.
IS THE SOUL
MORTAL Proponents of the teaching that when people die
they go straight to heaven suggest the every person is born with an
immortal soul. They teach that while the body dies and goes into the
ground, the soul goes back to God, and the resurrection is necessary to
reunite the soul with the body. Therefore the question must be very
clear in our minds: does man have an immortal soul?
The term "immortal soul" was very popular in
the ancient world. The pagan Egyptians, the pagan Greeks, and the pagan
Romans all taught the concept and used the terminology "immortal soul."
The only religious literature from the ancient world that does not use
the terminology and concept of the immortal soul is the Bible!
If the Bible teaches the immortality of the
soul, why does the Bible never use the term or the concept of the
immortal soul.
The adjective "immortal" is used only one
time in the KJV Bible. Who does this text describe as immortal? 1 Timothy 1:17
Eternal,
NOTE: This is the ONLY time in the entire Bible
that the adjective "immortal" is used, and it refers to God.
Who does the bible say is the only one who
possesses immortality? 1 Timothy 6:15, 16
God, .... who alone is
NOTE: If God is the only one possessing
immortality, how can any person claim to have an immortal soul?
How does the Bible define the soul? Genesis 2:7
God formed man from the
NOTE: The word "being" is translated from a
Hebrew word that is elsewhere in the NIV translated as "soul." In the
King James Version it is "soul."
This is the ONLY Biblical definition of the
soul. When God created man, He united the body, (the dust of the
ground), with the breath of life (spirit). When these two elements
became united, man BECAME a living soul.
Please note that the bible says the body is
part of the soul. The soul is not a part of the body. The soul is the
whole being of a person, rather than a separate entity entombed in the
body.
To illustrate:
An electrical light consists of two parts.
a filament in a bulb that is connected to a power source.
As long as the power is connected to the
filament in the bulb, you have light. When you disconnect the power
source, does the light travel back through the wires to the electric
company? No! The light just ceases to exist. The light only has
existence when the filament is united with the power source. Likewise,
the living soul (being) only has existence when the body is connected
to the breath of life given by God, the power source.
Can the soul die? Ezekiel 18:20
The soul who sins is the one
NOTE: Since all souls have sinned ( Romans 3:23 ), all souls must die.
Therefore, there can be no such thing as an immortal soul.
The word "immortal" means "not subject to
death." When do Christians receive immortality? 1 Corinthians 15:51-54
At the
NOTE: The righteous do not receive immortality
when they die. They are not born with it. They receive it from God at
the second coming.
Why did God send His Son? John 3:16
To give us
NOTE: The reason Jesus died on the cross was to
give us everlasting life and immortality. If every person were born
with an immortal soul, there would be no need for Jesus to come and die
on the cross. If people went straight to heaven when they died because
their soul was eternal and immortal, there would be absolutely no need
for the cross of Jesus. But, Jesus died so we could receive immortality
at His second coming.
Amazing! Think of it! This one teaching, saying
that when a person dies he goes straight to heaven, eliminates the need
for the doctrines of the cross, the resurrection, and the second coming
of Jesus. Once these three great pillars of the Christian faith are
destroyed, there is simply no need of Christianity. Infiltrating the
concept of the immortal soul into the Christian church from pagan
religions has undermined Christianity.
WHERE ARE
THE DEAD NOW? What happens to the people in the interval
between dying and the resurrection? Let's discover what the Bible says
about this period of time.
How did Jesus refer to death? John 11:11
Our friend Lazarus has fallen
NOTE: The Biblical term for death is "sleep,"
and is used 66 times in the KJV of the bible. The concept is obvious in the NIV [click
here] also. Jesus never tried to assure them
that Lazarus was enjoying the bliss of heaven while he was dead,
instead He held out to Mary and Martha the great resurrection hope ( John 11:25, 26 ).
Do people praise God when they are dead? Psalm 6:5
No one remembers
NOTE: Could you imagine people in heaven not
remembering nor praising God?
How much does a person know when he is dead? Ecclesiastes 9:5
For the living know that they will die,
NOTE: Could anything be more clear than this
verse? Solomon, The wisest man who ever lived, declares that the DEAD
KNOW NOTHING. Nowhere does the bible say anything about people going to
heaven at death. ( This
includes the thief on the cross [click here] ). Instead, the Bible is unquestionably clear that when
people die, they know nothing until the glorious moment of the
resurrection. They sleep in the tomb until that glorious day.
But Paul says he would rather be absent from
the Body and present with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:8) Doesn't this
mean that when we die we leave the body in the grave and go into the
Lord's presence as spirits? ( click
here for an up-close look at this text )
THE
CHRISTIAN'S HOPE Who goes to heaven first, the righteous
living or the righteous dead? 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17
We will be caught up with them (the resurrected
righteous) in the
NOTE: The resurrected righteous meet Jesus at
the same time as the translated righteous in the clouds of the sky.
How should believers comfort one another when
they lose a loved one? 1 Thessalonians 4:18
With these
NOTE: It is the hope of the resurrection at the
second coming of Jesus that is the Christian's comfort when loved ones
die.
When does the apostle Paul say that both the
resurrected and the translated are given immortality and meet Jesus? 1 Corinthians 15:51-52
At the last
NOTE: Paul again uses the Biblical term "sleep"
for death. What glorious hope the apostle Paul holds out to believers.
Death will be swallowed up in victory. Death is not something wonderful
to transport us to the realms of bliss. According to the Bible, death
is an enemy that shall be destroyed ( 1 Corinthians 15:26 ).
What will be eliminated in the new earth? Revelation 21:4
There will be no more
Note: Thank God, death is forever eliminated
from God's universe!
What kind of bodies will we have in the
resurrection? Philippians 3:21
who...will transform our
NOTE: Our bodies will be like Jesus' glorified
resurrected body.
What was Jesus' glorified resurrected body
like? Luke 24:36-42
A ghost does not have
NOTE: Jesus' resurrected body was not a spirit
body, but He possessed flesh and bones. He even ate with the disciples.
Jesus had a real physical body in the resurrection. So will the
righteous. Our hope in the resurrection indicates that for the
Christian, life after death is not a spooky, spirit existence, but a
real existence with a real body where individuals do real things in a
real world.
Is this resurrection hope of the Bible real
to you?
