![]() ![]() Life for man as a creature is bodily life death cuts man off from that life for which he was created in fellowship with God. Death brings the dissolution of the body (2 Corinthians 5:1), separation from God and from the creaturely form of man's existence. This is the ruling theme throughout the Scriptures, when it comes to the subject of death. ![]() One does not have to read far in the biblical record to discover that the curse of God upon man because of his sin and disobedience expresses itself most dramatically in the fact that in death he now returns to the dust from whence he was formed (Genesis 3:19). In Genesis 2:17, as part of the stipulation and probation of obedience, Adam was forewarned: "You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you shall surely die." Adam, formed from the dust of the earth and made a "living soul" through the in-breathing of his Creator (Genesis 2:7), became liable to death through his act of disobedience, a liability which now falls to all men whom he represented as their covenant head. The biblical understanding of death begins with the story of the fall into sin and the consequence of man's fall and disobedience in the way of God's judgment and curse. 2 There is no encouragement given us in the Bible to minimize the terror and fearfulness of death as our "last enemy" (1 Corinthians15:26). Nowhere in the Bible is death treated as something natural, as something that can easily be domesticated or treated as "a part of life."In the history of the Christian church, a small minority of theologians have tried to argue that death is, at least in some respects, a "natural" part of life and not exclusively the consequence of sin. Physical Death as the "Wages of Sin" ⤒ □Ĭontrary to many modern myths about death - that death is a "natural" part of life, that it marks the cessation of existence, that there is a natural "dignity" in dying well - the Bible paints death with the most stark and sobering of colors. For unless we approach the subject of the intermediate state within the confines of a biblical view of death as a consequence of sin and the resurrection of the body as the great hope of the believer for the future, we could easily lose our biblical bearings as we address this subject. Only thereafter will we turn to the broader questions of general eschatology.īefore directly considering the question of the intermediate state within a biblical framework, it is necessary to introduce the subject by reviewing what the Bible teaches about death, immortality and the ultimate victory over death which the believer anticipates through union with Christ. Having sketched in general terms the biblical perspective upon the future, we will consider in this article the subjects of physical death, immortality and the intermediate state. ![]() Therefore, in this articles on The Bible and the Future, I want to turn now to the subject of the Bible's teaching about individual eschatology. Any attempt to summarize the Bible's teaching about the future then, will have to reckon with what it says. The Bible does openly speak of the intermediate state, or of what becomes of believers upon death. But it is also true for biblical reasons. Pastors and elders who minister the Word of God to the people of God cannot escape the obligation to provide biblical answers to questions about death and what it brings. Believers are anxious to know what the Bible teaches about their condition upon death, prior to Christ's return. This is true in part for pastoral reasons. The question of what becomes of the individual believer at death, prior to the return of Christ and the resurrection of the body, cannot be escaped. Though this division of the Bible's teaching about the future into individual and general eschatology is somewhat artificial, it is nonetheless unavoidable. The second addresses such topics as the expectation of Christ's return or second advent, the "signs of the times," the millennium, the resurrection of the body, the final judgment and the final state. These two divisions are sometimes termed "individual eschatology" and "general eschatology." 1 The first addresses such topics as physical death, immortality, and the state of man between death and the resurrection of the body (the "intermediate state"). It has been customary in the history of theology to divide the Bible's teaching about the future into two parts, the first dealing with the future of the individual believer and the second dealing with the future of the creation. ![]()
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