Articles

February 10, 2010

What Happens at Death?

Paul the apostle said in 2 Cor 5:8 “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from
the body, and to be present with the Lord.” We know when Jesus died on the cross, according to
Luke 23:46 he said, “... Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he
gave up the ghost.” We also know that before he died, according to Luke 23:43 he told one of the
thieves on the cross beside him, “To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” We have more
insight on the subject with the words of Paul in Phil 1:23 “For I am in a strait betwixt two,
having a desire to depart (Paul is speaking of death here, based on vs.21), and to be with Christ;
which is far better:”

With these passages, it seems evident that on the day a person dies, he or she is immediately with
the Lord. Keep in mind, they put the physical body of Christ in the tomb for three days and
nights, yet his spirit went to heaven immediately upon taking his last breath on this earth. It is
also important to remember that man is made of three parts. He has a soul, a spirit, and a physical
body, as clarified in 1 Th 5:23, “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God
your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ.” (This is how man was made in the image of God. God is a triune being, or a trinity. That
is why you find him saying in Genesis 1:26, “Let US make man in OUR image.” The trinity as a
Bible doctrine is confirmed in 1John 5:7.)

So a man has a soul, spirit, and body. When I die, someone will put my body in the ground, or
dispose of it some other way. But the part of me that’s eternal is the spirit and soul. That part of
me will be with Jesus! A study of Luke 16 reveals that a lost man’s soul goes to hell. But that
soul can speak, hear, remember, etc.... That soul has a mouth, tongue, eyes, etc... In other words,
the soul of man is shaped like his body, but is an eternal soul that lives somewhere, forever. So,
when a saved man dies, his soul goes to be with Christ, when a lost man dies, his soul goes to a
place called hell.

Now, with this in mind, let’s look at 1 Th 4:13-17 “But I would not have you to be ignorant,
brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no
hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus
will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are
alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the
Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with
the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we
ever be with the Lord.”

Before I comment on this passage, let me remind you again of the body of Christ. His spirit went
to heaven, his body went to the grave. (By the way, most refuse to accept the facts, but where his
soul was for three days and nights is clear in Acts 2:31; Ps.16:10.) So, was Jesus Christ’s soul,
spirit, and body separated for eternity? Definitely not. When he came up out of the tomb, he was
once again body, soul, and spirit. (See Luke 24:39)

Have you ever considered the “seed” that produces a child? Like the seed of Gen.4:25 and
throughout the Bible. That seed is “planted” and then produces fruit - The fruit of the womb
according to Ps.127:3. Jesus said in John 12:24 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of
wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.”
This is the “seed” we plant in the ground, and then it comes up! Notice the wording of Rom 6:5,
“For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness
of his resurrection:” I suspect the human body has a “seed” of some kind that is eternal. Listen to
Paul in 1 Cor 15:35-39, “But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what
body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: And that
which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of
wheat, or of some other grain: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed
his own body. All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh
of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.” (You can read the rest of 1Cor.15 for some
real interesting study on the subject of “bodies” and in particular how our body is going to be
CHANGED, from corruptible to incorruptible.)

In conclusion, it looks like a man is born into this world as the fruit of a seed. When he dies, the
“seed” is planted in the ground, while his soul and spirit goes to heaven (if saved). When the
Lord comes back to get the church, he brings the saints with him (that would be their soul and
spirit) and raises up their body in a “new fashion” or incorruptible fashion.

Job said something very interesting on this subject. Job 19:25-27 “For 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.”

One of these days, and only God knows when, Jesus Christ is going to take us out of this world.
The Bible says, “For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour,
the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his
glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto
himself. Ph.3:20-21

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!!!

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