Category Archives: Resurrection

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June 21, 2024

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Death, Heaven, Hell, Resurrection

Do the dead have bodies before the resurrection?

A previous article compared spiritual beings with physical creatures, like humans. Many imagine the disembodied spirit of a person is in a worse state than someone who has a body. That a bodiless spirit is not necessarily in a worse state than those who possess is a body is evident from the superiority of God and the angels. God is a spirit without a body. (John 4:24) The angels are spirits without bodies. (Hebrews 1:14) God and the angels are greater than humans. (Psalm 8:4-5) Therefore, being bodiless is not necessarily to be in a worse state.

The hope of the Christian includes the promise of a glorified body. This promise will be fulfilled at the resurrection day. (1 Corinthians 15:42-44) The Bible does not teach the Christian to look forward to being without a body, but to anticipate the resurrection when he will receive a perfected body free from sin, sickness and death. (2 Corinthians 5:2) What about the time between death and the resurrection? The Bible teaches that the dead have a conscious existence in Heaven or Hell. Do Christians have intermediate bodies in Heaven while they wait for their glorified bodies?

God made man with a body and a soul. (Genesis 2:7) Some have concluded from this truth that a person must have a body. The Bible clearly teaches man is comprised of body and soul. The Bible declares the body without the spirit is dead. (James 2:26) Scripture never says the spirit without the body is dead, incomplete, or inferior. One can logically conclude from God’s creation of man as a body and spirit that the person must possess a body to be complete, However, that logical conclusion is not necessarily correct.

The Bible does not teach directly about the existence of a intermediate body after death. Twice Scripture says the deceased in Heaven are spirits. Revelation 6:9 mentions the souls of the martyrs stationed at the foot of the Heavenly altar. Hebrews 12:22-23 describes the Heavenly hope of the believer. The Christian’s hope includes being united with, “the spirits of just men made perfect.” These passages appear to indicate that at death the body is left behind and the spirit, or soul, of the saved person enters Heaven. The deceased believer exists in Heaven without a body until the day of resurrection. Nothing in the Bible suggests this disembodied condition is in any way less than ideal.

However, in Luke 16 Jesus tells the story of the rich man and Lazarus. This story is not a parable but a true account of two actual men. Lazarus died and was taken to Heaven. The rich man died and went to Hades, or Hell. In Hell the rich man desired water to cool his tongue. This is compelling evidence the rich man possessed a body in Hell. If the rich man had a body in Hell, then it is likely all the dead have physical bodies in Heaven or Hell.

The problem with this is argument is the complexity of Luke 16:19-31. Some of the challenges in this account include: serious debate about the historical nature of the account, the nature and location of Hades, and the relationship of Hades to Abraham’s Bosom. These uncertainties make Luke 16 a unstable foundation on which to build a body of doctrine. Without strong support from other Scriptures, Luke 16 is not able to uphold belief in an intermediate body.

The New Testament makes at least two specific references to the spirits of believers in Heaven and no clear references to the bodies of believers in Heaven. These references do not necessarily preclude the presence of an intermediate body. Without stronger Biblical evidence the dead are given an intermediate body, the better choice is to conclude that at death the spirits of the redeemed enter Heaven where they await the resurrection when they will once again be embodied.

Most importantly, the Bible does not speak directly to this matter. Clues are found in Scripture which lead to certain conclusions. The lack of direct Biblical teaching requires believers who have an opinion on this subject to hold that opinion with gentleness, without dogmatism, and without debate.

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June 12, 2024

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Death, Heaven, Resurrection

Do people have bodies in Heaven?

Some Christian leaders teach that after death everyone is given a temporary body which will be theirs until the resurrection. At the resurrection all the saved will be given a glorified body which they will have for eternity. Other Christian leaders teach that at death the spirit of the person enters Heaven or Hell where it remains without a body until the resurrection. Which is correct? Are the deceased given intermediate bodies? A handful of passages in the Bible are crucial to this discussion. A later article will answer the question directly, but first the relative values of the spirit and the body need to be discussed.

Many people instinctively imagine being without a body is worse than having a body. Many seem to believe that if a person is a disembodied spirit then he is without a true form. For some, being a bodiless spirit in Heaven is akin to being a lonely ghost who haunts the halls of Heaven and longs for the day when it can finally be whole again.

Being a spirit without a body is not a worse state than having a body. The spiritual does not have mass and matter as understood in the physical universe, but the spiritual universe is quite real. The spiritual universe is in on way inferior to the physical. The Bible declares, “God is Spirit.” (John 4:24) He is entirely spiritual and without any physical substance (except in the person of Jesus, but that is a different issue for a different time). None can say God has no real substance. None can say God’s lack of a physical body is an inferior condition. God is the author of all matter. His spiritual existence is more significant and more real than the physical matter which comprises the material universe.

Additionally, angels are spiritual beings who do not possess physical substance. (Hebrews 1:14) At times they are given tangible forms, but their usual state of existence is non-physical. This does not mean angels are less real or less substantial than people. Humans are declared to be, “a little lower than the angels.” (Psalm 8:5) In Ephesians 6 the Bible indicates that the spiritual enemies of the Christian are more forceful than the physical enemies people are tempted to fixate on. Nothing in the Bible suggests that being a spirit is to have a lesser form of existence. Those beings who are greater than humans are purely spiritual beings.

Humans were created as physical and spiritual beings, but the Bible does not teach that being a spirit without a body is to be in a worse state. Human experience is limited to the present physical world. This limitation prevents a proper understanding the nature of the spiritual. Though no living person can understand what it is like to exist as a spirit alone, existing as a spirit without a body is not necessarily a worse state of being.

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April 2, 2024

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Heaven, Humanity, Resurrection

What kind of bodies will people have in eternity?

The Bible promises all who trust Jesus for salvation will be resurrected to life. The promise of the resurrection assures believers this life not is all there is and the sacrifices made for God in this life will be rewarded in the life to come. Because God promises a resurrection, the Christian expects eternal joy.

Many wonder what form people will have after the resurrection. Will everyone be spirits with no flesh? Will people look like they do now? Will people look like angels, wings and all, after the resurrection? First Corinthians 15:35 asks the question, “In what body are the dead raised back to life?” The next fifteen verses answer that question.

First Corinthians 15 says the resurrected body will not be like the body possessed before death. Paul compares the resurrection body to a seed and the plant it produces. A seed looks nothing like the plant which grows from it. Likewise, the resurrected body will be substantially different from that which preceded it.

The analogy of the seed also suggests a continuity between a person’s earthly body and the one he will possess in eternity. A seed has a discernible relationship to the plant it produces. Similarly, the resurrected body will maintain a discernible relationship with the natural body. What that relationship is the Bible does not say.

First Corinthians 15 calls the resurrected body a spiritual body. (1 Corinthians 15:44) This does not mean that after the resurrection everyone will be disembodied spirits floating around in Heaven. Revelation 22 gives a brief description of the life of those in eternity. Those who are raised to life will eat from the fruit of the trees of life. (Revelation 22:2) Disembodied spirits do not eat, but those given a resurrected body do. (Luke 24:40-43)

The spiritual body is a perfect, physical body under the control of the Holy Spirit and not under the control of the sin nature. In Galatians 6:1 the Bible commands those who are “spiritual” to restore those who have fallen into sin. The spiritual ones in Galatia were not ethereal people who had cast off the confines of their physical form. They were people under the control of the Holy Spirit. The resurrected body will be spiritual in that same fashion. Those resurrected to life will live forever in perfect submission to the Holy Spirit.

The resurrected body will be completely free from sin and all its corruption. In First Corinthians 15:53 the Bible says this corruptible flesh will be replaced with a body which cannot be corrupted. This mortal flesh will be replaced with a body which cannot die. This weak body will be replaced with one possessing much greater ability. The resurrected body will be heavenly, spiritual and glorified.

In eternity humans will walk, talk, eat, drink, work and worship in a physical body. They will inhabit bodies of flesh and blood, but those bodies will not possess a sin nature. The resurrected body will be more glorious than can be imagined and will continue forever without fading in strength, health, ability, intellect, glory, or holiness.

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April 18, 2022

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Easter, Jesus, Resurrection

Can you prove the resurrection?

Easter Sunday has just passed and it seems appropriate to take a moment for another consideration of Jesus’ resurrection. The Bible offers a number of facts that are legitimate evidences for the truth of the resurrection. Sufficient evidence exists in God’s Word to convince a reasonable person of the plausibility of Jesus’ resurrection.

The claim of that Jesus was resurrected begins with an assertion: Jesus was genuinely dead. The Roman soldiers guarding the cross would have never let a victim down unless he was definitively dead. The men who transported Jesus to the tomb and wrapped Him for burial would not have buried Him if they found the least evidence of life. Jesus was dead when He came down from the cross. The third day after His death, Jesus was restored to life by God the Father.

The Bible presenets several evidences that Jesus was miraculously returned to life. The guards assigned to watch over Jesus’ tomb told the priests of the angelic visitor, the removal of the stone and the empty tomb. These men were not disciples of Jesus. They were at best unconcerned about Jesus’ claims to be the Messiah. They had no agenda but the protection of their own interests. The priests who instigated the crucifixion believed the Roman soldiers’ testimony, but conspired with them to lie about the actual events. The priests bought off the soldiers and convinced them to confess to what would ordinarily have been a capital crime- falling asleep while on watch- rather than admit the supernatural events of that day. While not conclusive proof for the resurrection, these facts compel one to consider carefully what did happen that Sunday morning.

Seven weeks after Jesus’ resurrection, the disciples stood in front of large crowds in Jerusalem and announced that Jesus had risen. The disciples indicted the Jews for their part in crucifying the Messiah and then declared God had restored Jesus to life. Of the tens of thousands of people in Jerusalem who heard this message, including the religious leaders who had condemned Jesus to death, many would have known the exact location of Jesus’ tomb. If Jesus was still in the grave, any of those who rejected the apostles preaching could have readily shown the disciples and the masses the body of Jesus. No one did. The inability of the skeptics to refute the apostles claim gives strong evidence to the empty tomb and points to the genuineness of the resurrection.

The four gospels and the letter of First Corinthians dedicate significant sections to Jesus’ resurrection. The first gospel was written less than 20 years after Jesus’ death. The letter to the Corinthians was written about 25 years after Jesus’ death. Many eyewitnesses of Jesus death and resurrection were still living. The gospel writers and the apostle Paul mention specific individuals who saw the risen Jesus. Any of these eyewitnesses could testify to having personally seen Jesus alive after His resurrection. Besides the specific ones named, Paul cites an additional five hundred Christians who saw Jesus alive after His death. The multitude of witnesses gives strong evidence that would be practically incontrovertible in any case today. When one considers the intense persecution the first believers faced because of their commitment to Jesus the possibility of a conspiracy to dupe the world seems incredibly unlikely.

The resurrection is a certain event that can be attested to by strong evidences. The claims of the Bible about Jesus are believable. He is the Savior who died for sin and now lives forever. Because Jesus is alive, those who believe Him will have eternal life.

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April 12, 2022

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Christianity, Death, Easter, Jesus, Resurrection

Why is the resurrection so important?

Christianity stands unique among all the religions of the world. Only Christianity claims that it’s God became human, died and then returned to life. The claim that Jesus rose from the dead is one celebrated and remembered every Sunday of the year by Christian churches all across the world. The resurrection of Jesus is the most important event in all human history. The resurrection of Jesus is the seminal moment in Christianity. That event changed everything.

The New Testament is filled with declarations that Jesus died and then rose again. The resurrection is explained in all four gospels and the book of Acts. Jesus’ resurrection is expressly taught in many of the epistles and in the book of Revelation. The resurrection of Jesus is a crucial truth on which Biblical Christianity is built. Without the resurrection there is no Biblical Christianity. Without the resurrection there is no forgiveness of sin. Without the resurrection there is no salvation. Without the resurrection there is no eternal life. Without the resurrection, God is a liar, Jesus is a fraud and every gospel preacher is a charlatan.

The resurrection is important because without the resurrection the gospel is a lie. “And if Christ be not dead, your faith is vain; you are yet in your sins.” (1 Corinthians 15:17)

The resurrection is important because without the resurrection the Christian life is pointless and worthless. “What advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.” (1 Corinthians 15:32)

The resurrection is important because without the resurrection the Christian has no hope of eternal life. “And if Christ be not raised, then they which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.” (1 Corinthians 15:17-18)

The resurrection is important because it is the ultimate display of the power of God that is now at work in the believer. “And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead.” (Ephesians 1:19-20)

The resurrection is important because it is the evidence that Jesus is the Savior He claimed to be and that the Bible declares Him to be. “Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body.” (John 2:18-22)

The resurrection is important because it is the powerful declaration that Jesus is God. “Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, by the resurrection from the dead:” (Romans 1:3-4)

The resurrection is important because if it is untrue, God’s Word is a lie. “We are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.” (1 Corinthians 15:15)

The resurrection is the lynchpin on which all the gospel hangs, the certification that all the gospel promises are true and the certainty that God is true. Rejoice every Sunday because Jesus the Savior has risen.

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July 11, 2018

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End Times, Heaven, Hell, Resurrection

What is Soul Sleep?

If a couple Jehovah’s Witnesses knocked on your door to tell you about their church, there is one doctrine that they probably won’t talk about right away. Jehovah’s Witnesses and Seventh Day Adventists are the two most well known groups in America that believe in soul sleep. The doctrine of soul sleep teaches that when a person dies, the soul, just like the body, loses all awareness and sensation. At death the soul of the person does not cease to exist, nor does it enter into heaven or hell, but it becomes unconscious of anything until the day of resurrection.

This doctrine finds support in the Bible’s use of the word “sleep” to describe death. When Jesus’ friend Lazarus died, He told His disciples that Lazarus was asleep. In 1 Thessalonians 4 Paul refers to those who have died when he says, “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep.” Proponents of soul sleep believe the figure of sleep applies to the deceased’s body and soul.

Other support is found in passages like Psalm 146:4, “His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” and Psalm 6:5, “For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?” Since man is more just body, since the dead do not think, and since the dead do not praise God, then the soul the soul must go into an unconscious or unaware state after death.

While this may seem to be reasonable and compelling evidence, the Bible makes several clear statements death which make the doctrine of soul sleep impossible. When Jesus taught about the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16 He plainly taught that when a person dies he immediately enters into his conscious reward. There is no delay between death and awareness. If the soul has no awareness, then the rich man could not wake up in hell. He would be aware of nothing until the resurrection. If the rich man awoke at the resurrection, Abraham was a liar when he said that the man’s brothers could read the Old Testament and thus be saved from hell. What Jesus describes is immediate, conscious awareness of the afterlife.

The book of Revelation tells of martyrs at the throne of God pleading for the punishment of their tormentors. They are clearly conscious, clearly communicating with God and clearly in heaven between their death and the resurrection. Why would they be asking God how long until He would judge their persecutors if they had been resurrected and were at the judgment the same time as their murderers?

The Bible uses sleep as a figurative term to describe the apparent condition of the dead. Sleep is not intended to describe the condition or awareness of the soul. The poetic passages of Psalms and Ecclesiastes that refer to the silence of the dead are speaking of the inability of the deceased to do any thing upon this earth. Soul sleep is not a Biblical doctrine, but a false teaching which denies the clear truths of the Bible about death, judgment and the afterlife.

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September 1, 2017

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Easter, Jesus, Resurrection

What are the evidences that Jesus rose from the dead?

The resurrection of Jesus is one of the most important facts of Christianity. IF the resurrection is a muth Christianity has no foundation and no message. The resurrection is also one of the most audacious claims regarding Jesus. This ranks up there with the claim that Jesus is God. If the resurrection is true, then we have unshakeable evidence of the truth of the Bible. If the resurrection is not true, then the entire Bible is a farce and a fraud.

The Bible claims that Jesus died. He was executed on a cross. The Roman soldiers administering the crucifixion were responsible to make sure no convicted man left the cross alive. To make certain Jesus was dead one of the soldiers drove his spear up into Jesus side in a killing thrust. Jesus dead body was taken off the cross, wrapped in grave clothes and sealed into a cave like tomb. Jesus’ body remained in that tomb for three days. The grave was sealed with a Roman seal and guarded by Roman soldiers. Jesus was dead and secured in a guarded tomb.

On the Sunday morning after His death Jesus was restored to life. The Bible’s claim is that Jesus definitely died and just as definitely was restored to life. He was just as alive on Sunday morning as he was dead on Friday evening.

What evidence does the Bible offer for the resurrection? The first evidence is the empty tomb. No one in the earliest days after the resurrection disputed the fact that the tomb was empty. If Christ was still in the tomb, then the claims of the disciples would have been easy to disprove. The very first message preached after the resurrection was preached by Peter. He stood in Jerusalem and preached that Jesus was God, was killed (which many in the crowd saw) and that he rose again. Some of the very ones who had called for Jesus crucifixion were there in the crowd. When Peter claimed Jesus had risen his claim could have been disproved by opening the tomb to show the corpse of Jesus. No one did this! Everyone knew the tomb was empty.

After His death the risen Jesus appeared to many different people. One of those was the disciple Thomas. Thomas has become known as Doubting Thomas because he was ready to voice his disbelief about the resurrection. The Sunday evening of His resurrection Jesus visited the disciples. Thomas was not with them when Jesus appeared. The disciples later told Thomas about Jesus resurrection, but Thomas’ response was, “Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.” (John 20:25) Later, Jesus visits the disciples again. This time Thomas was present. Thomas immediately recognized Jesus was alive and confessed Him as, “My Lord and My God.” Skeptical Thomas believed Jesus rose from the dead because he saw the living Jesus.

In the forty days following His resurrection Jesus appeared to over 500 people. In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul makes a point of saying many of those were still alive at the time he wrote the letter. Any one who doubted the truth of the resurrection could go and talk to hundreds of people who had seen the risen Jesus. The many people who saw Jesus alive after His death is powerful evidence that Jesus rose from the dead.

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April 18, 2017

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Crucifixion, Jesus, Resurrection

Where was Jesus between His death and His resurrection?

The dead body of Jesus was taken off the cross and laid in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. What happened to His soul? One of the more popular answers to this question is based on a cryptic statement in the book of 1 Peter.

1 Peter 3:18-20 says of Jesus, “Being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; which sometime were disobedient when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah.” (1 Peter 3:18-20) These words have led many to conclude that Jesus’ spirit went into hell while His body was in the tomb. Unfortunately, what this verse is talking about is not at all clear. One author has said there are over 180 different interpretations of 1 Peter 3:19. A clear consensus about the meaning of the phrase “preached unto the spirits in prison” will probably never be reached on this earth.

The words of the Apostles Creed (not actually written by the apostles) imply that Jesus’ spirit went into hell.  “I believe in Jesus Christ  . . .  (He) was crucified, died and was buried, He descended to hell.” The apostles creed is believed to have been written 50 years after the death of the last apostle, but the earliest existing copies of this creed do not contain the phrase, “descended into hell”, leading many to conclude it was not originally in the apostles creed. Whether this phrase is original or not, it cannot be traced back to a direct teaching of the apostles.

A strong case can be made that Jesus went into heaven on the day of His crucifixion. At His death He said, “Father into thy hands I commend my spirit.” Knowing that Jesus is God’s beloved Son who pleased the Father in all things we can reasonably assume that at death He was taken directly into the presence of the Father. This is confirmed by Jesus’ promise to the believing thief, “Today thou shalt be with me in paradise.” Either Jesus was with the thief in heaven that very day or He erred in His promise. Since Jesus is God who cannot lie, the latter option is not possible. After His death Jesus went into heaven.  Being the Son of God His spirit was in no way restricted to heaven.

If Jesus did go into hell, though I don’t believe He did, He did not go for the purpose of paying for salvation. Jesus death on the cross did everything necessary to purchase our salvation. His work was finished and the payment fully paid before He died. This is why Jesus said, “It is finished”. Teaching that Jesus had to go to hell to finish the payment for sin diminishes the value of the cross and denies Jesus’ own words.

We don’t know exactly what Jesus’ spirit was doing in the days between His death and resurrection. What we do know is that Jesus died for our sins and rose again for our justification. He is alive now and forever to give salvation to those who turn to Him for forgiveness.