The state of the dead
according to the Word of God
What does
the Word of God say about the state of the dead? Has God taken them to heaven
to live with Him? The Bible says the dead have no thoughts, “His breath goeth
forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish” Psalms
146:4 “but the dead know nothing…Their loves, their hates, their passions, all
died with them. ….there is no action, no thought, no knowledge, no wisdom in
the world of the dead—and that is where you are going” Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6,10,
GNT.
When, in
answer to his prayer, Hezekiah’s life was prolonged fifteen years, the grateful
king praised God with these words: “The grave cannot praise thee; death
cannot celebrate thee; they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy
truth. The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day. The
father to the children shall make known thy truth.” Isa. 38:18,19. Popular
theology represents the righteous dead as in Heaven, entered into bliss, and
praising God with an immortal tongue; but Hezekiah could see not such glorious
prospect in death. With his words agrees the testimony of the psalmist:
“In death there is no remembrance of thee; in the grave who shall give
thee thanks?” “The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down
into silence.” Ps. 6:5; 115:17.
It is only
when Jesus comes again that the righteous dead will wake up and go to heaven,
says the Bible “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.” 1 Thessalonian 4:16,17 see also 1 Corinthians 15: 52,53.
This is very clear that the “dead shall rise” from their graves, they are not
alive when Jesus comes again, otherwise they would come with Him from Heaven.
So where
does the doctrine come from that when a person dies he or she goes to heaven
immediately? It comes from Satan. In the garden of Eden, God had commanded our
first parents, Adam and Eve that they may eat all the fruits in the garden,
“But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath
said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” Genesis
3:3. But Satan told Eve that “Ye shall not surely die” Genesis 3:4.
Unfortunately they believed Satan’s lie instead of God’s command, even though
God had warned them about Satan who at this time had been expelled from heaven
because of his transgression of God’s law of love. And that is how sin entered
into our world with Satan as its originator. For sin is defined in the Bible as
“the transgression of the law” 1 John 3:4.
Man was originally endowed with noble powers and a
well-balanced mind. He was perfect in his being, and in harmony with God. His
thoughts were pure, his aims holy. But through disobedience, his powers were
perverted, and selfishness took the place of love. His nature became so
weakened through transgression that it was impossible for him, in his own
strength, to resist the power of evil. He was made captive by Satan, and would
have remained so forever had not God specially interposed.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life” John 3:16. Instead of God destroying man because of his
transgression of the law, He sent His Son to pay for the guilt of man so that
through His death man may be restored to fellowship with God. And this act
shows beyond doubt the immutability of the law. If God could have changed one
of the precepts of His law to meet man in his fallen state, then there would
have been no need for Christ to die.
The Son of God came from heaven to make manifest
the Father and pay the ransom for fallen man. “No man hath seen God
at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He
hath declared Him.” John 1:18. In describing His earthly mission, Jesus
said, The Lord “hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath
sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives”
Luke 4:18.
And so we can only be delivered from the bondage of
Satan by Christ. This deliverance occurs when we accept Christ as our personal
Savior and confess and forsake our sins which nailed Jesus to the cross. When
we do that Christ wipes away our past sins and imputes His righteousness upon
us which gives us power to obey Him. For it is written, “as many as received
him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe
on his name” John 1:12. It is only when we use the strength that Christ gives
us to overcome sin and temptation that we can at last enter heaven, for His
promise is, “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne,
even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.”
Revelation 3:21
Immortality had been promised on condition
of obedience to the requirements of God. It was forfeited by disobedience,
and Adam became subject to death. He could not transmit to his posterity that
which he did not possess; and there would have been no hope for the fallen
race, had not God, by the sacrifice of his Son, brought immortality within their
reach. “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Rom. 6:23. In no other way can it be
obtained. But every man may come in possession of this priceless blessing if he
will comply with the conditions. All “who by patient continuance in
well-doing seek for glory and honour and immortality,” will receive
eternal life. Rom. 2:7.
According to the Bible the only people who were
given a special resurrection or translation that are in heaven, who came from
this earth are:- Enoch, “And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God
took him.” Genesis 5:23; Moses, “Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with
the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against
him a reviling accusation, but said “The Lord rebuke thee”” Jude 1:9 NKJV;
Elijah, “And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold,
there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both
asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.” 2 Kings 2:11; and
those that rose from the grave at the resurrection of Jesus to be presented as
trophies before His Father in heaven, “And the graves were opened; and many
bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his
resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.” Matthew
27:52,53. Apart from these, there is no one as we have shown that goes to
heaven immediately when they die. Jesus has not yet come again, the trumpet has
not sounded and when He comes “all eyes shall see Him” Revelation 1:7. In other
words, He will not come in secret.
Again Jesus says, “for the hour is coming, in the
which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth;
they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection
of damnation.” John 5:28,29. Again the scripture is clear, that the dead do not
come from Heaven or a burning hell but rise from the graves. In the first
resurrection or the resurrection of life they are only then given life by
Jesus.
The second
resurrection or the resurrection of damnation or the second death occurs 1000
years after the first. When talking about the wicked dead and their final
judgement, the Bible says, “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the
thousand years were finished…Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first
resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests
of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. And when the
thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison… And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and
brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are… And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books
were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the
dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according
to their works…. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.
This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of
life was cast into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:5,6,7,10,12,14,15.
Amen.
Yours in Christ
Andrei Lesiapeto