Spirit Reside Until Christ Comes Again
The nowadays state is where you lot are now. You exist in this present state. From the moment of conception, y'all became a human being, that is, a "soul." Your soul is eternal. Scripture teaches us that we exist from formulation until death, from death until the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the General Resurrection from the dead, and and then, the New Heavens and the New World. This commodity will seek to answer what happens at decease to both your torso and soul.
What Happens After Death?
It is important to admit that the word "soul" is not just a disembodied entity. In the Bible, "soul" is who you are. Consider Genesis:
God "breathed the breath of life" into Adam, and he became a "living soul" (Genesis ii:seven; the New Revised Standard uses the give-and-take, "being"). Thus, in the biblical view, Adam does non have a soul; Adam is a soul (i.e., a person, a living being). The soul is, literally, ". . . that which breathes, the breathing substance or being.[1] In his article "Soul," One thousand.West. Moon says "In Christian theology the soul carries the further connotation of being that part of the individual that partakes of divinity and survives the decease of the trunk."
Augustine and Thomas Aquinas rejected Platonic dualism, which saw the soul as skilful and the body as corrupt. These 2 theological giants, separated by centuries, agreed the Bible teaches that the spirit is the eternal person, but will i twenty-four hour period accept an eternal trunk:
"Co-ordinate to Saint Thomas Aquinas, who follows Aristotle in his definition of the human soul, the soul is an private spiritual substance, the 'class' of the torso. Both, trunk and soul together, constitute the man unity, though the soul may be severed from the torso and atomic number 82 a separate beingness, every bit happens afterward death. The separation, still, is non final, as the soul, in this differing from the angels, was made for the body.[2]
The Psalmist spoke of our soul equally the very inmost being of our person: "Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost existence, praise his holy proper noun" (Psalm 103:1 NIV).
Jesus spoke of the inestimable value of the human soul (and simultaneously taught that soul and body volition be reunited for either eternal life with or, in that case, without God):
"Do not be agape of those who impale the body simply cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew x:28 NIV).
Your body and soul, like all of Creation, are marred by the Autumn and its consequences. Or, as John Milton titled the situation in his epic poem, Paradise Lost.The fallen soul must exist redeemed. This is the plan of God, the Covenant of Grace, that constitutes the single scarlet thread that binds the entire Bible together.
Therefore, we must admit:
Your Body and Soul Need Redeeming From the Fall
David wrote in Psalm 19 about the wonder of God's world, His cosmos. But in verse seven David makes a turn. The "general revelation" gives evidence of Almighty God, simply "special revelation," God's Word, is necessary to do this one thing: "revive" the human soul. Psalm xix:17 says "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul" (KJV).
Indeed, we are to be born again, the soul undergoing a supernatural transition, making it "fit" for heaven. Our souls are "lost" without redemption.
The Bible teaches that in that location is no other redemption available except that "mode" that Omnipotent God has provided through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ: "And in that location is salvation in no one else, for there is no other proper noun under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts iv:12 ESV).
Jesus Christ is the Redeemer According to the Covenant of Grace
When the Gospel is proclaimed and received by faith, the terms of the Covenant are imputed to you lot (the terms are expressed in "a great substitution:" the repentant and believing sinner receives Christ's righteousness and His atoning sacrifice on the Cross; Christ received the sinner'southward sin and penalisation for sin). Yous pass from death and judgment to forgiveness and eternal life. "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come up into judgment but has passed from death to life" (John five:24 ESV).Not and so the unrepentant. The soul remains in a fallen state, responsible for the terms of the Covenant of Works (the soul that sins must die). It is for this reason that the Psalmist, speaking in the vox of the Messiah to come, declares that God will not go out his soul to perish. This truth is as well picked up past Peter in his first sermon at Pentecost. The soul without God will undergo unimaginable loss that is described by Jesus with the near severe imagery (e.g., Matthew 25:46: "And these will get abroad into eternal penalisation, but the righteous into eternal life.").
My honey reader: your soul and mine must exist redeemed from the auction block of sin and the devil lest we — that is, our souls — face sure loss and punishment. And the only Redeemer of God'southward elect is the Lord Jesus Christ. Repent. Trust in the resurrected and living Christ while you are still reading this article. Stop what you lot are doing and turn to Jesus Christ by religion.
Our study leads us, then, to the place of the soul betwixt death and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
When we say, "the intermediate state," we are non speaking of "limbo" or "purgatory" or whatever such thing. Nosotros are speaking of that period in which the soul is in heaven and our remains expect resurrection. That is the "intermediate country" in our personal eschatology.
Where Practise Bodies Become After Death?
The redeemed are ushered into the eternal presence of the Lord, and those without an advocate (righteousness to meet God's Constabulary and sacrifice to atone for sin) are ushered into hell to await the New Heaven and New Globe.
The Bible teaches that the human spirit, upon departing the body, goes immediately into the presence of God for either His welcoming or His disapproval. Thus, our blessed Savior taught this truth when He gave the parable of the wicked in Hell crying out to Abraham for refreshment:
"In that location was a rich homo who was clothed in royal and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor homo died and was carried by the angels to Abraham'due south side. The rich human being also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted upwardly his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he chosen out, 'Male parent Abraham, accept mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the terminate of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.' But Abraham said, 'Child, call up that y'all in your lifetime received your expert things, and Lazarus in similar manner bad things; only now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish (Luke 16:19-25 ESV).
There is no more than concise and thoroughly Biblical expression of faith about the soul going immediately to be with God until the resurrection than the 38th question in the Westminster Shorter Catechism:
Q. 38. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at the resurrection?
A. At the resurrection, believers beingness raised up in glory (i Cor. xv:42-43), shall be openly best-selling and acquitted in the twenty-four hour period of judgment (Matt 25:33-34), and made perfectly blest in the full enjoying of God (Rom. 8:29, 1 John three:2) to all eternity (Ps. 16:11, 1 John 3:2).
At death, the body returns to the elements: "grit to dust . . ." But the soul resurrects with a new heavenly body.
At the 2nd Coming of Jesus Christ, the General Resurrection commences. The redeemed bodies are renewed with the eternal soul and ascension to run across Jesus Christ, joining Him in the air, taking their identify with the glorious company of angels, archangels, prophets, apostles, martyrs and the whole visitor of heaven. The Bully White Throne Judgement has been the field of study of classical Christian pedagogy throughout Church history: "And I saw a nifty white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the globe and the sky fled abroad; and there was establish no place for them" (Revelation xx:11).
The unregenerate bodies are also resurrected. United with soul, each appears earlier the Peachy Concluding Judgment. Without the Abet, our Lord Jesus Christ, these suffer the righteous sentence of God for unbelief. The redeemed besides appear before the Lord. Only Jesus Christ is their Advocate. His perfect life is accounted to theirs to encounter the Divine requirement of perfect obedience (Christ fulfills the Covenant of Works). The Lord Jesus' apologetic expiry on Calvary'south Cross provides the claret sacrifice of the only Son of God applied to their lives. The punishment of their sins has been placed upon the Second Person of the One true and holy God.
The redeemed are fully acquitted, by God in Christ, their Savior. The unredeemed are cast into eternal hell with the devil and his angels (demons). Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel summarized it in their article "Eschatology" with brilliant concision and brevity:
"All who have died volition come to life. This volition be a bodily resurrection, a resumption of bodily existence of each person. For believers this will take place in connectedness with the 2d coming of Christ and will involve the transformation of the torso of this nowadays flesh into a new, perfected trunk (ane Cor 15:35-56). The Bible also indicates a resurrection of unbelievers, unto eternal expiry (Jn 5:28, 29).
The great Dutch commentator, William Hendriksen, wrote with unsurpassed theological and Scriptural fidelity as he described this consequence in his volume "More Than Conquerors: An Interpretation of the Book of Revelation":
"Christ's coming in judgment is vividly described. John sees a great white throne. Upon information technology is seated the Christ (Matt. 25:31; Rev. 14:14). From His face the earth and the heaven flee away. Not the destruction or annihilation merely the renovation of the universe is indicated hither. It will exist a dissolution of the elements with nifty rut (2 Pet. iii:10); a regeneration (Mt. 19:28); a restoration of all things (Acts 3:21); and a deliverance from the bondage of corruption (Rom. 8:21). No longer volition this universe be bailiwick to 'vanity'. John sees the dead, the great and the small, continuing before the throne. All individuals who accept ever lived on world are seen earlier the throne. The books are opened and the records of the life of every person consulted (Dn. 7:10). Also, the volume of life, containing the names of all believers is opened (Rev. iii:5; xiii:eight). The dead are judged in accord with their works (Mt. 25:31 ff.; Rom. 14:10; two Cor. 5:x). The sea gives upwardly its expressionless; then exercise Expiry and Hades. Hither is the i, full general resurrection of all the dead. The entire Bible teaches but one, general resurrection (read Jn. 5:28 f.). This i and only and general resurrection takes place at the last mean solar day (Jn. 6:39 f., 44, 54)."
Fifty-fifty After Death - The New Heaven and the New Earth
The universe, earth, and all things are both burned and then renewed as the New Heavens and the New Earth is unveiled. While the souls (and bodies reunited) of the unrepentant are cast into eternal hell, believers are welcomed into the New Sky and New Earth. One of the near remarkable passages among so many every bit astounding passages is found in St. Paul's start epistle to the Church at Corinth. In Affiliate xv, the inspired Apostle makes the resurrection the centering signal for "eternity by" and "eternity future." Paul seeks to give words to what he sees at the uttermost reaches of the future state: "When all things are subjected to him, so the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection nether him, that God may be all in all" (1 Corinthians 15:28).
Thus, the human soul. From the breath of life at conception to the inscrutable outcome in ages to come when, body and soul, nosotros witness the climactic fulfillment of the aboriginal Covenant, this is the soul of a laic. The soul without Christ is in peril. The soul of any who calls upon the name of the Lord to exist saved volition exist gloriously transformed.
Answering "What happens to my soul when I die?"
As a pastor and a pedagogy theologian, this is one of the most frequent questions I receive. However, the inquiry about oft comes to me, not in the form of an abstract question, but in the context of crisis. Indeed, this is how the question was posed past Mrs. Henley: in a defining moment of her faith on trial.
I was a young pastor. I was on consignment as a pastoral care intern for a congregation not my own. I was a pastor "on loan," one might say. My mission? I was dispatched by the church leadership to provide pastoral ministry to a family I didn't know. I was told that the Henley family was gathered at a nearby nursing home and that they had requested a pastoral presence. The elder who telephoned me gave instructions that I would detect Mr. Henley, a long-time member, in room 201. Mrs. Gladys Henley, his wife of 60-some-odd years would exist in that location to greet me. Mr. Henley'due south forty-something-year-old son and his wife would also be there. They had flown in from the Westward Declension to be with the dame and patriarch in this difficult time.
I rehearsed the coming pastoral visit in my mind as I pulled into the covered parking garage. I guided my trusty old Buick sedan into that about appreciated of privileges — clergy parking. I put her in park. I killed the engine. I drew in a jiff of hope as I exhaled a prayer for help: "Lord, guide me."
Before departing for the brief stroll to the nursing home, I opened my Bible. I needed a passage that would serve as my "pastoral prescription" for the spiritual cure to the anticipated spiritual condition of this family. I keep a list of familiar Bible chapters and verses for infirmary visits. The passages are arranged, in smeared fountain ink from my own hand, according to spiritual cure of mutual conditions — aging, bereavement, disharmonize, and so forth. I came to "vigil." The family vigil is the gathering of family members (and close friends) in anticipation of a loved one's passing. My eyes institute the words of Luke'southward Acts of the Apostles and Saint Peter's quotation of
Psalm 16:10, "For you volition not abandon my soul to Hades or let your Holy One run into corruption. Yous have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence" (Acts 2:27, 28 ESV).
The family unit greeted me at the antechamber of this elegant elderly care facility. Formal introductions in hushed tones formed the introduction to the family. The Henley son, Robert, Jr., asked me to follow them to Mr. Henley's room. Mr. Robert Henley, Sr., Esq., was nearly 100 years old. The wise old jurist was a long-time follower of Jesus Christ. Others recognized his gift of gentle leadership and patient wisdom. He was a well-beloved elderberry, a lay officer, in his habitation church. Robert Henley had been a prominent attorney in the community where I served. The phrase "city male parent" comes to mind. Mr. Henley was known as a godly, devoted family unit human being, who also gave much of his life, and not a minor amount of his fortune, to the service and needs of his neighbors.
He never had political aspirations. However, if yous were a politician and wanted to increment your chances of election, you likely would pay a visit to Robert Henley before yous even filed as a candidate. I guess one could say that Mr. Henley had gravitas. He was a big human, a corking man, and a faithful human. His firsthand family—Mrs. Henley and her adult son, Robert, Jr., and his married woman, Katherine—were gathered in a family acuity. For, by then, Mr. Henley was a dying homo.
It would be a familiar scene in my ministry building for years to come. A grieving family gathered effectually a weakened figure. Prayers, hymns, silence, and memories converge to form a needed coating of peace for the one near to depart if not more and so for those remaining. Being with a family unit at such a tender time remains one of the greatest honors of my life. Inquire any pastor. He will tell you the same.
I had been in Mr. Henley's room at the nursing abode — for all intents and purposes, it was a infirmary room — for more than two hours. The family had been there much longer. I was thinking about the human before me, the homo I didn't know, merely the man I was chosen to prepare for a journey home. My contemplations were pleasantly interrupted when a cheerful nurse came in to cheque for vital signs of her patient. Every bit she finished her monitoring, she looked at Mrs. Henley and smiled. The kind woman leaned over and put her arm effectually Mrs. Henley and spoke softly: "Hon, why don't you go to our café and get yous some coffee and a sandwich? They have got some good sandwiches! And you sure demand a break." I certainly agreed. Poor Mrs. Henley looked so tired. The nurse encouraged Mrs. Henley with another whisper, as she helped her up, "Come on, now, Mrs. Henley. There we go . . ."
Reluctantly, Mrs. Henley agreed and stood erect in the room. Her son, Robert, Jr., and Katherine, his wife, the younger Mrs. Henley — a demure but smartly-dressed immature lady with a pretty and seemingly permanent smile — guided the weakening married woman abroad. I listened to the echoes of their steps in the hall. I heard the elevator ring its arrival. Then a sacred stillness seemed to descend on the scene like someone'southward mother casting a cotton canvas on a bed in ho-hum motion. Still. Slow. Silent. Holy.
I was alone in the hospital room with Mr. Henley. The various medical mechanisms mimicked the chirapsia of his center, inhaling, and exhaling of his lungs. I listened to the rhythmic beep-beep of a monitor, and the oscillating hiss of oxygen. I had taken a seat when the family had walked out. Nonetheless, at that moment, I felt led to stand up. I also felt led to speak, "Mr. Henley, I am not sure if you can hear me, Sir. Mr. Henley, I have a Scripture for you from God's Word. It is a very simple and powerful truth. I am certain that you know it."
The blips, beeps, and hisses were unimpressed by my announcement. The groundwork noises connected equally a kind of technological witness. "Mr. Henley, this is the Word of the Lord: 'Nosotros are confident, I say, and willing rather to exist absent-minded from the body, and to be nowadays with the Lord' (2 Corinthians v:8 KJV). Did you hear that Mr. Henley? Jesus volition never leave you nor forsake you. And if He comes for you, your spirit — the real you lot! — will be with Jesus. The One yous have loved throughout all of the days of your life will receive yous." He moved not. Nevertheless, I was not deterred. I was convicted past early experience in my internship to read Scripture fifty-fifty if a patient was in a coma. I would follow for over three decades, occasionally with memorable results. This was one of them.
I began to pray the Lord'south Prayer audibly: "Our Begetter . . ." Suddenly, and quite astonishingly, Mr. Henley's lips began trying to move. I drew closer, yet praying, "who fine art in heaven . . ." The erstwhile saint was seeking to pray with me. I continued. "Hallowed be Thy Proper noun . . ." This dear man of God was giving the last measure out of strength to do what he had done for nearly v m Sundays. He began to worshipGod. It was every bit if the words to the Lord's Prayer sparked an autonomic response of the soul. He opened his dry out, slap-up lips for just long plenty to pray with me. He uttered the adjacent phrase every bit if waiting to catch up with me. "Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done . . ." As I connected, more confident in my own religion because of his, his voice went silent. The small-scale motility of his lips ceased in mid-judgement. And as suddenly equally he had begun, he stopped praying. Mr. Henley had stopped breathing. At just nearly "Thy Kingdom come . . ." Mr. Henley's prayer was answered. Mr. Henley was in the presence of the Lord.
I stood without move. I was transfixed past the sight. At that place was even a kind of dazzler, though I was holding the hand of a dead man. I idea of the Psalmist'south words, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints" (Psalm 116:fifteen KJV). My stock-still gaze of wonder was interrupted past the necessary practicality of nurses, residents, and orderlies hastening to the scene. In witnessing this miracle of the migration of the human soul, I didn't even notice the alarms. The mechanical sentries had sounded their call. The compassionate wellness care professionals answered in a 2d. Simply as I watched them, the scene was less of an emergency and more of, well, more of a tender moment of confirming what all were anticipating.
Shortly enough, the family returned. Robert Jr. and Katherine both put their arms effectually Mrs. Henley. It was a holy moment. Soft sobs replaced the electronic sounds of the medical mechanism. I knew the power of the ministry of presence as Mrs. Henley moved from her son to look at me. This new widow needed the promises of God, the assurance of the love of God, and the hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For this reason, I was there. I embraced her — maybe, better put, she embraced me — and she wept, ever so softly. This elderly woman of God, smaller than I, nestled her greyness caput on my chest. I was being inaugurated into the ministry by Mrs. Henley.
Then it happened. Right after I spoke these words, it happened: "Mrs. Henley, the Bible says that your dear husband is in the presence of our Lord Jesus at this very second. He passed from this life into the loving artillery of Jesus. I was with him as his soul departed this room. He is more than alive than ever."
She confirmed my words by nodding her caput as I held her. Simply something happened that I will never forget. The still, quiet sobs were broken past a rather stern discussion from her son. "Mother, I am sorry, but that is not correct. Daddy is not here. And Daddy is not anywhere else. He is, well, for all applied purposes, only asleep." He spoke the words for his mother, but he aimed his arrows at me. I was stunned, not by the theological mistake as much equally the inappropriateness and even callousness of his words. "Mother, come up out here and let me talk to you." Mrs. Henley followed obediently. Scolded as her husband had died, she had, in the opinion of her son, succumbed to "nonsense." She followed obediently. What else could she do? I stood motionless equally both the family unit departed, and the medical professionals began procedures for removal of the body.
Information technology could not have been more than than about three minutes when Mrs. Henley returned. By this fourth dimension, her tardily hubby's remains had been removed from the room. I extended my hands to welcome Mrs. Henley dorsum. She took my hands without ever moving her eyes from mine. I smiled as if, mayhap, a warm gesture could erase the recent unpleasant words. Mrs. Henley broke downwardly in heaving tears. I could barely hear her words: "Oh Pastor, my son says that my husband'south soul is just asleep! He is not with the Lord! Oh Pastor, everything I have always known, always believed, must exist wrong!" I held Mrs. Henley and felt the deep grief rising through her sobs. "He is gone, Pastor. But where? Where is my husband?
I shared that intimate story with you because I believe that it illustrates the deep emotions that are involved with the question, "What happens to the soul at the fourth dimension of decease?" The question is non an esoteric inquiry into the unknowable. God has revealed to u.s. in his word what happens to the human soul at the moment of decease. In gild to understand the answer to this question according to the Scriptures, we would do well to employ a systematic theological studyof the Christian faith concerning the question of the soul. To practice and so, let u.s. arrange the biblical material according to the Bible'southward explanation nigh the soul and the soul'due south destiny. Nosotros will run across that there is a nowadays state, an intermediate state, and a terminal state. Theologians telephone call this a personal eschatology. Eschatology speaks about the concluding things. We frequently think of eschatology in more than cosmic terms, for example, what happens to the heavens and the earth in the future. That is a cosmic eschatology. But a personal eschatology is concerned with what happens to you. So let us begin.
As I opened my Bible and asked his grieving widow to read the Scriptures, she wiped her eyes, sought to compose herself, and adjusted her 1960s-framed-spectacle earlier leaning in to read: "Nosotros are confident, I say, and willing rather to exist absent from the body, and to exist present with the Lord" (2 Corinthians v:8 KJV). Mrs. Henley looked up again, her silver-haired, intelligent head raising, her optics meeting mine. "Pastor, I read that co-ordinate to the Bible my Robert — my married man, Mr. Henley — is with the Lord. As presently every bit his spirit left his body he went to be with Jesus. That is what I had ever been taught. Simply my son . . . Oh, pastor, is this the truth?"
I put my correct hand on her shoulder seeking to hold. "Yes, Mrs. Henley. I watched as the soul of your married man departed his torso. According to the Discussion of the Lord, there is no doubt that he is in the presence of the Lord Jesus." I gently placed my left hand to a shoulder, now looking at her intently, holding her shoulders, directing my gaze with the strongest possible position of attention: "My beloved Mrs. Henley," I paused to fix for an unequivocal declaration to this grieving woman: "Ma'am: According to the promises of our Lord Jesus Christ I say to you that in the name of God, y'all volitioncome across your hubby again."And she rested in the promises of God.
Merely have y'all? I say to anyone reading: God created yous as a person: soul and body.The soul lives forever in 1 of two places: with your Creator or without Him. The arbitrament of your eternal life rests with the Male monarch of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And He welcomes whatever and all who will plow from all other persons and plans and turn unto Him. For Jesus our Lord says, "Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you lot rest." Balance from the frantic search for answers. Trust in Christ Jesus the resurrected and living Lord of life. His Covenant of Grace — Christ's righteousness deemed for what y'all lack, and Christ's sacrifice practical for your sins — has secured your destiny. And yous will never walk alone.
God'southward promises are your destiny: when you die, your soul goes immediately to the Lord. Your earthly remains are precious to God. "If the farmer knows where the corn is in the barn, then our Father knows where His precious seed is in the earth." And in Christ, God will heighten those remains to eternal life. If you take received Jesus Christ every bit Lord, y'all will exist acquitted of all sins past the righteousness and the cede on the cantankerous by your Savior. And safety in the arms of Jesus. Why non pray with me?
Lord, our Heavenly Begetter: I am in awe of Your mighty creative ability demonstrated non only in the wonder of the stars above or in the microscopic invisible world, only, particularly, in the coming of Your Son Jesus our Lord; and in Him, in His perfect life lived for me and His sacrificial death offered for me on the cross, I do repent — turn away from — my sin of unbelief, self-sufficiency, and trusting in anyone and thing other than Your Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth; I know that I am a soul and trunk, and I inquire that You transform my soul according to Your promises and Your power; I enquire that you lot forgive me and receive me as Your child; and I believe that when I depart from this life I volition become immediately to You, O honey Lord; So, take me and apply me for Your celebrity. In Jesus' proper name I pray. Amen.
Notes:
[one] Richard Whitaker, Francis Brownish, et al., The Abridged Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew-English Lexicon of the Former Testament: From A Hebrew and English language Lexicon of the Old Testament by Francis Brown, Due south.R. Driver and Charles Briggs, Based on the Lexicon of Wilhelm Gesenius (Boston; New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1906).
[2] F. 50. Cross and Elizabeth A. Livingstone, eds., The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford; New York: Oxford Academy Press, 2005), 1531.
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