

# Heaven, Hell and  
the Intermediate State

Copyright 2016 Grace Communion International

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Scripture quotations, unless noted, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The "NIV" and "New International Version" are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

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Table of Contents

We Say Goodbye... But Then What Happens?

Heaven

What Is "Heaven"?

Heaven's Above – Or Is It?

Do We Go to Heaven When We Die?

The Rewards of Following Christ

A Ticket to Paradise

Between Death and Resurrection

What About the "Intermediate State"?

The Intermediate State

Sinners in the Arms of a Loving God

Hell

What Does "Perish" Mean?

About the Authors...

About the Publisher...

Grace Communion Seminary

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

## We Say Goodbye...  
...But Then What Happens When We Die?

A much-loved relative had died "full of years," as the King James Bible quaintly puts it. Family and friends gathered in the funeral home to say goodbye. Open-casket funerals are the tradition in our area. So we sat sadly before the mortal remains of our loved one. A solemn recording of a well-known hymn provided an appropriate background for the snuffles and choked-back tears of the mourners.

"That was her favorite hymn," said someone. "She would have liked that." And that is when the words of an old Beatles song suddenly popped into my head.

#### You say goodbye, but I say hello.

#### Hello, hello.

#### I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello.

I had to suppress a chuckle. Funerals are serious occasions, and certainly a time to keep one's sense of humor in check. A Beatles song would not have gone down well. But, I asked myself, could those words actually reflect what was happening?

God did know why we were saying goodbye. Death seems so final. The skillfully made-up mortal remains of our loved one was not actually her. She had gone. Death is a frontier, and it is one we rightly fear to even approach, let alone cross. It is, as Paul wrote, an enemy, and we hold it at bay as long as possible. But in the end it conquers us all.

But then what? Most people have some kind of belief that death is not the end. The people who joined together to say "goodbye" came from many religious persuasions, and it was obvious, talking with them afterwards, that they had different ideas about what happened to their departed loved one.

Some were convinced she was in heaven with Jesus. Others believed she was asleep, awaiting the resurrection. Maybe some believed she was in Purgatory (but surely not for long, as she was a devout and sincere Christian.)

What is interesting is that all of us get our ideas about life after death from the Bible, or at least we think we do. Who is right? What has God told us happens to us when we die?

The answer is not what you might expect. God has not told us precisely what happens immediately after we die. He has told us enough for us not to worry about it. He tells us that through Jesus, we have victory over death. He assures us that he wants us to join him, to experience life in a way that we cannot begin to imagine, and his promise is that it will last forever. But beyond that, the Bible is vague about the details. Especially the details of what happens immediately after we die.

### Many ideas

"Wait a minute! Doesn't the Bible say in...?" I can hear you protesting, as you reach for a familiar scripture to reinforce your own belief. Yes, it does. But in other places the Bible tells us something that seems to contradict that, or at least modify it. It is important to be specific and dogmatic where God is specific and dogmatic. But if he is not — and on this topic he is not—we need to approach the subject with caution and humility.

You may be surprised to know that the Bible has little to say specifically about what happens immediately after we die. (I keep saying "immediately" — that's important.) By emphasizing some texts over others, you can build a case for any of several points of views. But the result can be a theological house of cards.

Some scriptures suggest that the dead are safely "asleep," and will know nothing until the moment of resurrection when Jesus returns. But others imply that they are in some way conscious, and experience emotions. Paul had no fear of death. He had, at some time in his eventful life, been given a "visitor's pass" to heaven, and this had transformed his worldview. Life "here below" was difficult, and he was eager to begin the next step.

"As long as I'm alive in this body, there is good work for me to do," he wrote to the Philippians. "If I had to choose right now, I hardly know which I'd choose. Hard choice! The desire to break camp here and be with Christ is powerful. Some days I can think of nothing better" (Philippians 1:22-23, _Message Bible_ ).

But what did he mean by "be with Christ"? He does not elaborate.

Another Bible writer with a day pass to heaven was John, the author of Revelation. He tells us:

#### I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, 'How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?' Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed. (Revelation 6:9-11)

Leaving aside the question of how literally he saw these things, the point is that he does not describe the dead as being asleep and unconscious. He would hardly invent an analogy that he knew to be heretical. Puzzling, isn't it?

If anyone should have known, it was Jesus. Just before he died, he asked the Father to "receive my spirit." Shortly before that, he made a promise to the repentant thief suffering crucifixion beside him. He was the first person in history to look on the dying Savior and ask for help. That man's belief was that when they die, good people go to "paradise." But he had not been a good man. He realized that Jesus had, so he begged him to remember him in whatever came next.

Jesus reassured him: "Today you will be with me in paradise."

What did he mean by that? In the English language you can juggle with the punctuation, and manipulate it to support several ideas. But the original language in which Jesus spoke these words, and those into which they were translated, had no such distinctions. Enigmatic or not, it is best to take it at face value.

### Dead and gone

The Bible does not really answer the question of what happens to us immediately after we die.

We can say with confidence that from our point of view, the dead are "departed." One phase of life is, for better or worse, definitely over. The book of Ecclesiastes reminds us to make the most of this life because, "in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom" (Ecclesiastes 9:10). The point the writer is making is that your physical death is a cutoff point. One phase of your existence is definitely over. Wherever, whatever happens next is different. You don't just pick up where you left off.

So pagans get it totally wrong when they bury food, money, bows and arrows, pots and pans, etc., with their dead. But Christians also get it wrong if they reassure themselves that the righteous dead go to heaven, and the rest to hell. The Bible does not teach it precisely that way.

The Bible does not dwell on the details of what happens in the short term to the departed. It is as if God is saying, "Don't worry about it. Leave it to me. I have things under control. Death is an enemy, but it is the last one you will ever face." Rather, the emphasis of Scripture about what happens when we die is on something far more exciting — the resurrection of the body — to what theologian N. T. Wright has called "the life _after_ life after death," in a new heavens and a new earth.

### Jesus first

When Jesus died on the cross, the Father "received his spirit," along with, a little later, that of the repentant thief. "Whatever happens next" happened to them, and it still is happening for the thief. But after three days, Jesus was resurrected.

He was resurrected with a body. A real, recognizable body, with genuine body parts — not a wispy, ethereal manifestation that could look like a body when he needed to make himself visible. This spiritual body was a new life form — an everlasting version of what he had before — a human being made eternal. No longer bound by the limitations of time and space, Jesus could move back and forth from the dimensions we experience to those that are at the moment beyond our reach, although not necessarily beyond our imagination.

With the astounding evidence we are uncovering about the nature of reality, we are perhaps better equipped to contemplate this idea than ever before. We know there are dimensions we cannot experience, sights we can't see, and "dark matter" that lies beyond the reach of our senses and the instruments we have developed to enhance them. Theoretical physicists play with notions that would, even a generation ago, have seemed like science fiction. The more we probe, the stranger and yet more wonderful it all seems. Physicist Freeman Dyson once observed, "The Universe is not only stranger than we imagine. It is stranger than we can imagine."

We need to revamp our ideas of "eternal rest." There is much more to eternal life than just living forever. It will be filled with activity, experiences, projects and much more.

In an age where parallel universes, time travel and string theory are taken seriously, it no longer seems preposterous to suggest that this earth is not all there is, and that this earth is not yet all it will be. Or that there is a new creation within this one, waiting to be born. Just trying to put these ideas into words that make sense brings us, as theologian and scientist John Polkinghorne put it, to the "frontiers of language." We can't blame people from other times for not having words to express such things, although Paul came close in his epistle to the Romans:

#### The created world itself can hardly wait for what's coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.

#### All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it's not only around us; it's within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We're also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance" (Romans 8:19-23, _The Message Bible_ ).

The Bible tells us that what happened to Jesus will also happen to us. "We are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is" (1 John 3:2).

This is what the Bible focuses on when it tells us of life after death.

### A new heaven and a new earth

There is much more to eternal life than just living forever. Eternity will not be spent in a sort of nebulous nether world, completely different to everything we have experienced and everything we enjoy. No one looks forward to an "eternal rest" of sitting on a cloud playing a harp, do they? About five days of that would be more than enough for most of us.

Fortunately, that is one of our ideas, not God's. He offers us a destiny with a new heavens and a new earth, with animals, trees, friends, love and fun. We need to revamp our ideas of "eternal rest." It will be a rest from anxiety, feelings of guilt and the limitations of our frail bodies. But it will be filled with activity, experiences, projects—all you could possibly want in this life — and much, much, more.

"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him," wrote Paul to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 2:9). He added, "but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit" (v. 10). At least, he gives us some tantalizing glimpses. That new world will not happen in its fullness until Jesus returns, and we don't know when that will be. But we can get foretastes of it when we experience the really wonderful things about being alive now.

Human love, hard-won accomplishment, deep friendships and acts of genuine unselfishness – those moments when we think, "I wish life was always like this" give us "flash forwards" to another kind of existence. It is the way we were meant to live, the way the world could be — and will be one day. They encourage us to join Jesus Christ in working for it with, as Paul said, "joyful anticipation."

Could it be that the joyful anticipation continues in some way immediately after our physical death? Why not? Although we should not be dogmatic, there is enough in the Scriptures to show this is a strong possibility.

### In the parking lot

Here is an analogy that might help. If you have ever visited one of the great theme parks on a holiday weekend, you'll know that the journey to get there is the worst part—crowded freeways, hot car, fraying tempers. But finally, you get to the parking lot.

The parking lot is still not the theme park, but you do feel you have arrived. There is upbeat music coming from speakers, and helpful attendants to guide you to a parking space and the transportation to the main gate. In the mid-distance you can see the tops of some of the rides, and hear the sounds of people enjoying themselves. It is a foretaste of what you too will soon be experiencing.

You have not yet arrived at the final destination, but you are no longer outside. The hardest part of the journey is over. Perhaps you are eager to get started, and your children are tugging at you, asking, like those souls under the altar John saw in Revelation, "Can we go in now?" And the answer is "All in God's good time." In God's good time, the new heavens and the new earth will be revealed. There may be some surprises, but surely no disappointments for those who have eagerly awaited the fulfillment of our destiny.

This is what was going through my mind as the funeral service progressed. We were saying goodbye to a loved one. But could it be that somewhere—in a place beyond our reach and experience, God was saying "Hello. Welcome [not to your eternal rest, but] to the rest of eternity"?

John Halford

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## Heaven

Do Christians go to heaven when they die? Paul said that when he died, he would go to be with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23). Since the Lord is in heaven, that is where Paul would go, too. Some people say he's enjoying the presence of God. Others say he is unconscious. Either way, he is in heaven with Christ.

What is this place called heaven—or is it a place? Solomon recognized that heaven cannot contain God, and yet paradoxically it is his dwelling place (1 Kings 8:27-30). Although God is omnipresent, he is not present everywhere in the same way. He lives in believers, for example, in a way that he does not live in unbelievers. We "come into his presence" by becoming more aware of his presence.

Scripture shows that God, although he is everywhere, has chosen to dwell especially in heaven—or perhaps we should say that humans have used the word heaven to refer to the divine realm. Humans knew that God did not dwell on earth, nor in the underworld. They could not see God in the sky, either, but they often used the word for sky to refer to the location of God.

Many people had a simplistic understanding of God's location, and others would have been more sophisticated. Despite the misunderstandings and the limitations of human words, God inspired the writers of the Bible to use the words in Hebrew and Greek that are translated into English as "heaven" for the divine realm. Sometimes it refers to God himself, sometimes it refers to his glory, or his power, or his holiness. He is bigger than heaven, but "heaven" refers to his full presence.

### Limits of language

Since God is spirit, words that suggest distance and space can be used only metaphorically. Heaven is neither up nor down, neither east nor west. It cannot be located on a three-dimensional map of the galaxies. So when people are worried about place, about whether Christians "go" to heaven when they die, they are struggling with terminology that isn't adequate to the task.

Our words can't do justice to spiritual realities. Take the trio of love, joy and peace, for example. The love of Christ surpasses knowledge (Ephesians 3:19). God gives us an inexpressible joy (1 Peter 1:8). And his peace transcends all understanding (Philippians 4:7). Words fail us when it comes to discussing these spiritual realities. If we can't even discuss love, joy and peace completely, how much more will we be limited when it comes to discussing the presence of God?

The Greek philosopher Plato created a parable that illustrates our limitations: There was a race of people who lived their entire lives in a cave. Their only contact with the outside world was shadows on the wall. They had only a monochrome, two-dimensional understanding of reality. Now suppose that one of the cave-dwellers was brave enough to venture out of the cave to discover the world of color, texture, smell, depth and density. How could the explorer explain these concepts to a people who had no experience with them? It would be impossible to describe the aroma of coffee, the concept of iridescence, or the warmth of sunshine. The sun would sound like bizarre fiction. An ocean tide pool would be weird beyond belief.

In the same way, we live in a limited world. We see only a fraction of reality. Though we may hear that a spiritual world exists, we cannot see it or investigate it. Those who leave this world to explore the afterlife never come back. Only Jesus has crossed the divide.

Only a few people have seen the glories of God. "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him—but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit" (1 Corinthians 2:9-10). So we must acknowledge our inabilities when it comes to discussing our eternal future with God.

### Spiritual reality

Heaven is in the realm of the spirit. When Paul says that God "has blessed us in the heavenly realms" (Ephesians 1:3), he is not talking about a place, nor about the future. He is talking about a spiritual reality—spiritual blessings right here and right now (same verse). When he says that we are seated with Christ in heavenly realms (Ephesians 2:6), he is not talking about a place. He is talking about spiritual realities: that our life and existence is now with Christ.

With Christ, we are able to enter heaven even before we die. "We have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus" (Hebrews 10:19). We enter his presence not through physical transport, but in the innermost person, in heart and soul. It is a movement of the spirit, not of the body. It is a change in attitude, not in altitude.

Our citizenship is now in heaven (Philippians 3:20). We belong in the spiritual world. God is calling us heavenward, toward this reality (verse 14). Since that is where we belong, we need to focus on heavenly realities. It is our future, and it is our calling even today. We share in a heavenly calling; we have tasted a heavenly gift (Hebrews 3:1; 6:4). We have already come to a heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22). These are spiritual realities.

### A wonderful future

But there is much more to come. Although we have tasted the good things of God, we long for much more. Though we have glimpsed the goodness of God, we want to see it more clearly and more abundantly. We want to be saturated with his love and glory. Like Abraham, we long for a heavenly homeland (Hebrews 11:16).

We yearn to be with God, for him to satisfy our deepest desires. In 10,000 years, we will have only begun to learn his infinite wisdom and compassion. We have an eternity of joy in front of us. "You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand" (Psalm 16:11). Words cannot describe how good it is. It is everlasting joy, blessed peace, and the righteousness of God (2 Peter 3:13).

Our inheritance is being kept for us in heaven (1 Peter 1:4). There are spiritual rewards waiting for us. There is an eternal "house" reserved for us in heaven (2 Corinthians 5:1; John 14:2-3). This will be our home, and that is why the word heaven is used for the eternal destiny of all God's redeemed children. To be in heaven is to remain in Christ in the presence of God. No matter where that is, it is called heaven, and we will be there.

"Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling" (verse 2). We are tired of the pains and sorrows and sufferings of this world. We "groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies" (Romans 8:23). We wait eagerly, but patiently (verse 25), knowing that soon enough, there will be no more death, mourning, crying or pain (Revelation 21:3-4; 22:1-5).

In the resurrection, we will have a spiritual body (1 Corinthians 15:44). We will be like Christ in his resurrection (1 John 3:2). It will be heavenly. "Just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven" (1 Corinthians 15:49). We will be people "of heaven" (verse 48).

The rewards of heaven will be ours to enjoy forever. Exactly when we start experiencing that glory is not very important. Our exact location is not very important. The important thing is that we will be with the Lord forever (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Even more important, it is through the Lord, and only through the Lord, that we can be there at all. It is only by grace that we can enter the kingdom of heaven.

But thanks be to God, for he has given us the victory. With Christ, our future is secure: "The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen" (2 Timothy 4:18).

Joseph Tkach

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## What Is "Heaven"?

Is "heaven" a place, a condition of existence, a close relationship with God, or something else? Do the righteous go to "heaven" (whatever it may be) at death or at the resurrection?

Scripture is vague on the details of what happens to the righteous at death; the church therefore does not have an official position on this subject. The church tries to emphasize topics Scripture is clear about.

Christ will return to judge the world, and those who are dead "in Christ" will be resurrected and will be with the Lord forever (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17). In the symbolism of the book of Revelation, the martyrs will come to life and reign with Christ (Revelation 20:4). Those who are loyal to him will live with him in joy and glory forever. We can call that condition of life "heaven," but we should know more about how the writers of the New Testament understand that term.

The promise of an afterlife as the hope of the Christian comes from the New Testament. The apostles of the first-century church taught that the righteous would live in the presence of God. The New Testament writers, while they knew God to be omnipresent, often located God's presence as being in a place called "heaven." God is the creator of heaven, and is not forced to be there, but he chooses to reveal himself as dwelling in heaven.

The idea of a heaven "up there" came from the worldview of the times. In both Greek and Hebrew, the word for heaven means "sky." It is used to describe God's kingdom and his throne (Psalm 2:4), and was the "place" to which the glorified Jesus ascended (Acts 1:11). The term "kingdom of heaven" is interchangeable with "the kingdom of God" (Matthew 13:11, 24, 31, 33, 44, 47, 52).

In ancient thought, the universe formed a cosmic building: the underworld, the earth and heaven. In this three-tiered scheme, the gods lived in the upper realm (heaven). The middle world (earth) was populated by humans. Below that was the netherworld or Sheol, the grave, the place of death and the abode of evil spirits.

God couldn't rightly be said to live in our fallen, sin-dominated middle world (though he is really "everywhere"). God couldn't be located in the shadowy netherworld. To speak of his presence, then, was to "place" him in the upper world of heaven.

When the biblical writers spoke of God as dwelling in heaven, they were emphasizing what we call his "transcendence." That is, God exists beyond the limits of our narrow, earthbound experience. That meant he had to be pictured as existing apart from the created order he had placed on earth, including the human family. God often "came down" from heaven to intervene in the affairs of humanity, as at the tower of Babel (Genesis 11:5). When Christians said that the righteous would live with God, they naturally concluded that the righteous went to heaven to be with the Lord.

The heavenly abode of God became a metaphor for the presence of the Creator's universal power and authority. It was the kingdom of heaven or God's kingdom. Jesus looked up to heaven when he prayed — to the seat of God's authority, where he "dwelt" (John 11:41). But where is "up" on a round earth?

The writers of the Gospels didn't know that anyone would have a theological concern about them speaking of God as existing in some specific place. In their worldview, they didn't think it odd to speak of heaven as the place of God's presence. The Gospels tell us that Jesus on several occasions talked about God as being in heaven, and that he taught his disciples to pray, "Our Father in heaven..." (Matthew 6:9). Jesus said he would go and prepare "rooms" for the believers. He was going to his Father's house — to heaven — to "prepare a place" for them (John 14:2).

But people today, with an expanded view of what the universe is like, may not think of heaven as a place at all. For most, "going to heaven" simply means existing in an imperishable state with God. Paul called this new condition of life an immortal existence (1 Corinthians 15:50-54). To say that a person is going to heaven is a shorthand way of saying the person is with God. There is nothing wrong with saying that a Christian is going to heaven after death because it means that the person is assured of his or her place in the kingdom of God.

Some people do think in terms of "going" to heaven — as going to a "place" somewhere in space. It's understandable, because "heaven" is a convenient image to describe a state of existence that we cannot fully understand in any concrete way. When dealing with such questions, we must remind ourselves of the limitations of human understanding. Whatever the believer's new life will be, and "wherever" it might be experienced, it will be based on a very different dimension of reality. The final answers about questions regarding the "place" of heavenly existence, and the time when the righteous get there, are of a distant secondary importance for the Christian.

It's perhaps best to view "heaven" in the way the New Testament describes it. That is, a heavenly existence is the eternal life after this life in which God is the centrality of our being. The righteous are promised that they will live forever in peace and joy in the presence of God (Revelation 21:2-7).

The New Testament promises believers that on the other side of death they will experience the resurrection and the heavenly state forever. This eternal existence is now "stored up for you in heaven," wrote Paul (Colossians 1:5). All who long for this hope — for eternal life on the other side of death — distinguish between earthly and heavenly realities. They store up, as Jesus counseled, "treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal" (Matthew 6:20).

Paul Kroll

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## Heaven's Above – Or Is It?

#### Shortly after you die, you will find yourself in a queue outside the pearly gates, waiting for an interview with St. Peter. If you pass muster, you will be invited in, given a white robe and a regulation harp, and assigned your own cloud. As you begin to strum, you may recognize a few (perhaps not as many as you'd hoped for) of your friends, and probably many people you tried to avoid in your lifetime. And so begins your eternal life.

You don't really believe that, do you? Mercifully, you don't need to, because it isn't true. But what do you think heaven will be like?

Most of us who believe in God also believe there is some kind of afterlife, in which we will be rewarded for our faithfulness or punished for our sins. That much is true — it is why Jesus came for us, died for us and lives for us. John reminds us that "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

But what does that mean?

If the reward of the righteous is anything like the popular images, it may be rather boring. We need to take another look at what heaven in.

### Thinking about heaven

In this article we'd like to get you thinking about heaven, perhaps in ways you never have before. We are not being dogmatic – that would be foolish and arrogant. Our only reliable source of information is the Bible, and that is surprisingly vague about what comes next. But the Bible does promise that if we put our trust in God, we will receive many benefits in this life (along with challenges) and we can expect benefits to continue forever in a world to come. Jesus was clear about that. But he was not so forthcoming about what that world to come will be like (Mark 10:29-30).

The apostle Paul wrote, "We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist" (1 Corinthians 13:12, _Message Bible_ ). Paul was one of the few human beings to be given a "visitor's pass" to heaven, and he found it hard to describe what happened (2 Corinthians 12:2-4). Whatever it was, it was real enough to change his priorities for the rest of his life. Death held no fears for Paul. He had seen enough of what came next to actually look forward to it. But most of us are not like Paul.

### More of the same?

When we think about heaven, we have no alternative but to imagine it in terms of what we know. For example, medieval artists painted an earthly paradise, filled with details of their contemporary ideas of physical beauty and perfection. (Although where did they get the idea that cherubs resembled naked, aerodynamically improbable babies?) Styles, technology and tastes change, and medieval ideas of paradise don't help us imagine a utopia today.

Modern writers use more up-to-date imagery. C. S. Lewis's imaginative classic _The Great Divorce_ describes an imaginary bus trip from hell (which he pictured as a vast and dreary suburb) to heaven. The purpose of the trip was to give those in "hell" a chance to change their minds. Lewis's heaven takes some getting used to, and many of the sinners don't like it, preferring the hell they know. Lewis stresses that he has no special insights into the nature of eternal life, and intended that his book should be read strictly as an allegory.

Mitch Albom's fascinating _The Five People You Meet in Heaven_ also makes no pretense to theological accuracy. He sets heaven in the context of a seaside fairground where the main character had worked all his life. But Albom and Lewis and others like them may be on to something. Heaven may not be quite so different from the environment we experience here and now.

Jesus, when describing the kingdom of God, often said it was "like" aspects of life as we know it. Not exactly the same, but sufficiently similar to draw an analogy.

### Then and now

For most of human history, we had little scientific understanding of the nature of the cosmos. If they thought about such things at all, people believed the earth was flat, and the sun and moon went around it in concentric circles. Heaven was somewhere above, and hell was below. The traditional ideas of pearly gates, harps, white robes, wings and an unending worship service are what you'd expect from sincere people trying to interpret what little the Bible says about heaven in terms of the world as they understood it.

Today we know much more about the nature of the physical cosmos. We know that the earth is a micro-speck in an enormous and apparently expanding universe. We know that what seems like solid reality is, at a fundamental level, a wispy web of energy, bound together by forces so strong that for most of history we did not even suspect that they existed. We know that perhaps as much as 90 percent of the universe is made up of "dark matter"— about which we can theorize with mathematics, but cannot see or measure.

We know that even such apparently indisputable ideas as the "passing of time" are relative. Even the dimensions that define our ideas of space (length, width, height and time) are just visible and comprehensible aspects of a much more involved and intricate reality. Although it is impossible to imagine how they work, we are told by some astrophysicists that there may be at least seven more dimensions. These scientists speculate that those extra dimensions are as much a part of reality as height, length and breadth and time. They operate at a level that our finest instruments cannot measure, and even our minds can but ponder them briefly before becoming bewildered and disoriented.

The scientific breakthroughs of the last few decades have shattered traditional understanding of just about everything. So what about heaven? Do we need to look again at our ideas of what life might be like in the hereafter?

### Hereafter

That's an interesting word. Here-after. Not there-after or where-after. Is it possible that eternal life could be spent in a familiar environment, doing things we have learned to enjoy, with people we know and with bodies that we recognize? Could it be that what comes next will be an extension of the best of life as we know it, but without negative stress, anxiety or suffering? Well — and read this carefully — the Bible does not say it will not be like that. (I'd better run that by you again — the Bible does not say it will not be like that. That is, maybe it will be like that – we cannot know for sure.)

American theologian Randy Alcorn has spent years studying the concept of heaven. In his book _Heaven,_ while carefully avoiding sensationalism and fantasy, Alcorn subjects every biblical reference that alludes to life after death to careful scrutiny. The result is a fascinating portrait of what the afterlife may be like. He writes:

#### We get tired of ourselves, of others, of sin and suffering and crime and death. Yet we love the earth, don't we? I love the spaciousness of the night sky over the desert. I love the coziness of sitting next to Nanci on the couch in front of the fire, blanket over us and dog snuggled next to us. These experiences are not heaven — but they are foretastes of heaven. What we love about this life are the things that resonate with the life we are made for. The things we love are not merely the best this life has to offer — they are previews of the greater life to come.

So why allow our view of heaven to be limited to yesterday's worldviews? Let's speculate about what our enhanced understanding of our environment might tell us about life in heaven.

### Heavenly bodies

The Apostles Creed, the most popular Christian statement of faith, affirms the "resurrection of the body." You may have repeated it hundreds of times. Have you ever thought about what it means?

It is popular to think of the resurrection in terms of a "spirit" body, a wispy, ethereal, unreal, ghostlike form. But that is not a biblical idea. The Bible indicates that a resurrected human being will have a real body. But that body will not be physical as we understand physical. Our concept of physical (or "real") is bound by the four dimensions with which we experience reality. But if there are many more dimensions, then our definition of what is "real" is inadequate.

After he had been resurrected, Jesus had a real body. He could eat, walk, and appeared normal. He could be touched. Yet he was able to step in and out of the dimensions of our "reality" at will, appearing to walk through a wall. We interpret that as unreal, but perhaps it is normal for a body that can experience the full spectrum of reality.

So can you look forward to living forever in a form that is recognizably you, with a body that is not subject to death, sickness and decay, and is not dependent on air, food, water and the circulation of blood for its existence? It seems so. "Who knows how we'll end up!" says the Bible. "What we know is that when Christ is openly revealed, we'll see him — and in seeing him, become like him" (1 John 3:2, _Message Bible_ ).

Imagine life with your mind — it would still be your mind — with the junk cleaned out and the priorities reordered, free forever to plan, dream and create. Imagine an eternity reunited with old friends, and the unlimited potential to make more. Imagine relationships with others, and with God, without anxiety, tension or upset. Imagine never having to say "good-bye" to people you love.

### Not so far

Far from being trapped forever in an interminable church service, eternal life seems to be a greatly enhanced version of the best of what we know now. There is much more "out there" than we can discern with our limited senses. Occasionally, God opens the door just a crack to show us a glimpse of a greater reality.

Paul told the superstitious people of Athens that God was "not far from them" (Acts 17:24-27). Heaven is not close in any ways we can measure. But it may not be merely "a happy land, far, far away." Could it be all around us in ways we don't have the words to describe?

Let your imagination run free for a while.

When Jesus was born, angels suddenly appeared to the shepherds in the hills (Luke 2:8-14). It was as if they stepped into our world from the realm that they inhabited. Is that also what happened in 2 Kings 6:17 when Elisha's frightened servant suddenly saw legions of angels? Stephen, about to be stoned by an angry mob, was given a glimpse of sights and sounds that are normally beyond human experience (Acts 7:55-56). Is that how John saw the visions of the book of Revelation?

Randy Alcorn points out that "just as blind people cannot see the world, even though it exists all around them, we are unable to see heaven in our fallen condition. Is it possible that before sin and the Curse, Adam and Eve saw clearly what is now invisible to us? Is it possible that Heaven itself is but inches from us?" ( _Heaven,_ p. 178).

These are fascinating speculations. Science has shown us there is much, much more to the Creation than we can observe and experience with our present physical restrictions. This earthbound human life is a greatly limited expression of what we will eventually be. Jesus came to us as one of us, subjecting himself to the limitations of a human being, including the ultimate fate of all merely physical life forms — death!

Just before his crucifixion, he prayed, "And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began." He also prayed, "Father, I want those you gave me to be with me, right where I am, so they can see my glory, the splendor you gave me, having loved me long before there ever was a world." (John 17:5, 24, _Message Bible_ ).

### The last enemy

The promises of the new heaven and earth include "death is gone forever." In the developed world, we've figured out how to live a decade or two longer. (Although sadly, we haven't done very well in figuring out how to use the extra time.) But although it might be possible to postpone our appointment with the grave, death is still the unavoidable enemy.

As Alcorn points out in his fascinating study of heaven,

#### We shouldn't glorify death — Jesus didn't. He wept over it (John 11:35). For every beautiful story of people peacefully slipping into eternity, there are stories of confused and shrunken people, wasting away mentally and physically, leaving behind exhausted, confused and grief-stricken loved ones. Death is painful, and it's an enemy. But for those who know Jesus, death is the final pain and the last enemy. (p. 451)

### Wait. There's more!

There is much more we could talk about. Providing we keep a sense of balance and don't go off on tangents, to explore the possibilities of our lives after death is an exciting study. So let's close with a final, exciting quote from Randy Alcorn:

#### With the Lord we love and the friends we cherish, we'll embark together on the ultimate adventure, in a spectacular new universe awaiting our exploration and dominion. Jesus will be the center of all things, and joy will be in the air we breathe.

#### And right when we think "it doesn't get any better than this" — it will. (p. 457)

John Halford

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## Do We Go to Heaven When We Die?

Some people ridicule the idea of "going to heaven." However, Paul says that we are already seated in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6) — and he wanted to go to be with Christ after he died, and Christ is in heaven (Philippians 1:23). So it would not be unreasonable to think that Paul wanted to go to heaven when he died.

When most Christians talk about heaven, they are simply using the term as a synonym for salvation. For example, some Christian evangelists ask, "Are you sure that you will go to heaven if you die tonight?" Their point in most cases is not when or where we go — they are simply asking if we are sure of our salvation.

A few people may envision heaven as a place of clouds, harps and gold-paved streets. But such physical things are not really part of heaven — they are figures of speech, suggesting peace, beauty, glory and other good things. They are an attempt to use limited physical terms to describe spiritual realities.

Heaven is spiritual, not physical. It is the "place" God lives. Science fiction fans might say, God lives in a different dimension. He is everywhere present in all dimensions, yet "heaven" is the realm in which he actually dwells. (I apologize for the lack of precision in my words. Theologians may have better words for these concepts, but I hope I can get the general idea across with simple words.) The point is that to be in "heaven" is to be in the presence of God in an immediate and special way. The good thing about heaven is not its location – it is the presence of God.

Scripture says that we will be where God is (John 14:3; Philippians 1:23). Another way to describe our close relationship with God at that time is that we will see him "face to face" (1 Corinthians 13:12; Revelation 22:4; 1 John 3:2). This is a metaphor for being with him in the closest possible way. When we understand the term "heaven" to refer to the dwelling-place of God, it is not wrong to say that Christians will be in heaven in the age to come. We will be with God, and being with God is rightly called being in "heaven."

In a vision, John saw God's presence eventually coming to earth — not the present earth, but a "new earth" (Revelation 21:3). Whether we "go" to heaven, or it "comes" to us, either way, we will be in heaven, in the presence of God forever, and it will be wonderfully good.

What God has in store for us is beyond our ability to imagine. Even in this life, the love of God is beyond our ability to understand (Ephesians 3:19). The peace of God is beyond our comprehension (Philippians 4:7), and his joy is beyond our ability to put into words (1 Peter 1:8). How much more, then, is it impossible to describe how good it will be to live with God forever?

The biblical writers didn't give us many details. But one thing we know for certain — it is going to be the most wonderful experience we have ever had. It is better than the most beautiful paintings, better than the most delicious food, better than the most exciting sport, better than the best feelings and experiences we have ever had. It is better than anything on earth. It is going to be a tremendous reward!

Joseph Tkach

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## The Rewards of Following Christ

Peter once asked Jesus, "We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?" (Matthew 19:27). We might paraphrase it like this: "We've given up a lot to be here. Is it really worth it?" Some people today might ask the same thing. We have given up a lot — careers, families, jobs, status, pride — in our spiritual journey. Is it worth it? Is there some sort of reward in store for us?

Our labors and sacrifices are not in vain. Our efforts will be rewarded — even if they were based on a misunderstanding. Whenever our motive is right — when our labor and sacrifice are for Jesus — we will be rewarded. Scripture has quite a bit to say about rewards. God knows that we ask the question and, in this case, we need an answer. He inspired Scripture writers to talk about rewards, and I am confident that when God promises a reward, we will find it extremely rewarding — far above what we could even think to ask (Ephesians 3:20).

### Rewards both now and forever

Let's begin by noting the way that Jesus answered Peter's question:

#### At the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. (verses 28-29)

The Gospel of Mark shows that Jesus is talking about two time periods:

#### No one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much _in this present age_ (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields — and with them, persecutions) and _in the age to come,_ eternal life. (Mark 10:29-30)

God will reward us generously — but Jesus also warns us that this life is not a life of physical luxury. We will have persecutions, trials and sufferings in this life. But the blessings outweigh the difficulties by a hundred-to-one margin! Whatever sacrifices we make will be richly compensated. The Christian life is certainly "worth it."

Jesus is not promising to give 100 fields to everyone who gave up a farm to follow him. He is not promising to give 100 mothers. He is not promising to make everyone wealthy. He is not talking in strictly literal terms. What he means is that the things we receive in the next life will be 100 times as valuable as the things we give up in this life — as measured by real value, eternal value, not by temporary fads about physical things.

Even our trials have spiritual value to our benefit (Romans 5:3-4; James 1:2-4), and this is of greater value than gold (1 Peter 1:7). God sometimes gives us gold and other temporary rewards (perhaps as an indication of better things to come), but the rewards that count most are those that last forever.

I doubt that the disciples understood what Jesus was saying. They were still thinking in terms of a physical kingdom that would soon bring earthly freedom and power to the people of Israel (Acts 1:6). The martyrdom of Stephen and James (Acts 7:57-60; 12:2) may have come as a surprise. Where were the hundredfold rewards for them?

### Parables of reward

In several parables, Jesus indicated that faithful disciples would receive great rewards. Sometimes the reward is described as authority over other people, but Jesus also used other ways to describe our reward. In the parable of the vineyard workers, the gift of salvation is symbolized by one day's wage (Matthew 20:9-16). In the parable of the virgins, the reward is a marriage banquet (Matthew 25:10). In the parable of talents, the reward is described in general terms: being put "in charge of many things" and being able to "share your master's happiness" (verses 20-23).

In the parable of sheep and goats, the faithful are allowed to inherit a kingdom (verse 34). In the parable of the servants, the faithful servant is rewarded by being put in charge of all the master's possessions (Luke 12:42-44). In the parables of the pounds, the trustworthy servants were given authority over cities (Luke 19:16-19). Jesus promised the 12 disciples authority over the tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:28; Luke 22:30). Members of the church in Thyatira were promised authority over the nations (Revelation 2:26-27).

Jesus advised his disciples to "store up for yourselves treasures in heaven" (Matthew 6:19-21). By this, he implied that what we do in this life will be rewarded in the future — but what sort of reward is it? What good is a treasure when there is nothing to buy? When streets are made of gold, what will be the value of gold?

When we have spiritual bodies, we will not need physical things. When we think of eternal rewards, we should think primarily about spiritual rewards, not physical things that will pass away. But the problem is that we do not have the vocabulary to describe details of an existence we have never experienced. So we need to use words based on the physical world when we attempt to describe what the spiritual is like.

Our eternal reward will be like a treasure. In some respects, it will be like inheriting a kingdom. In some way, it will be like being given all our master's possessions. It will be similar to having a vineyard to take care of on behalf of the master. It will be like having responsibility over cities. It will be like a wedding banquet when we share in our master's happiness. It is like all of these things, and much more.

Our spiritual blessings will be far better than the physical things we know in this life. Our eternity in God's presence will be much more glorious and joyful than physical rewards. All physical things, no matter how beautiful, enjoyable or valuable, are only weak shadows of infinitely better heavenly rewards.

### Eternal joy with God

The Psalmist put it this way: "You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand" (Psalm 16:11). John described it as a time when "there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain" (Revelation 20:4). Everyone will be fully happy. There will be no dissatisfaction of any kind. No one will be able to think of even a tiny way in which things could be better. We will have reached the purpose for which God has made us.

Isaiah described some of this joy when he predicted a nation returning to its land: "The ransomed of the Lord will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away" (Isaiah 35:10). We will be in the presence of God, and we will be happier than we have ever been. This is what Christianity has traditionally tried to convey by the concept of "going to heaven."

### Is it wrong to want a reward?

Some critics of Christianity have ridiculed the concept of heaven as "pie in the sky" — but ridicule is not a logical argument. The real question is, Is there a reward, or not? If there really is a reward in heaven, then it is not ridiculous to hope to enjoy it. If we will be rewarded, it is ridiculous not to want it.

"Anyone who comes to him [God] must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him" (Hebrews 11:6). Belief in rewards is part of the Christian faith. Nevertheless, some people think that it is somehow demeaning or less than honorable for Christians to want to be rewarded for their labors. They think that Christians should serve with a motive of love, expecting no reward for their labors. But that is not the complete message of the Bible. In addition to the free gift of salvation by grace through faith, the Bible does promise rewards for God's people, and it is not wrong to desire the promises of God.

Yes, we are to serve God from the motivation of love and not as hirelings who work only to be paid. However, Scripture does speak of rewards, and assures us that we will be rewarded. It is honorable for us to believe in God's promises and to find them motivating. Rewards are not the only motive of the redeemed children of God, but it is part of the package God has given us.

When life becomes difficult, it is helpful for us to remember that there is another life, in which we will be rewarded. "If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all people" (1 Corinthians 15:19). Paul knew that the future life would make his sacrifices worthwhile. He gave up temporary pleasures to seek better, longer-lasting pleasures in Christ (Philippians 3:8).

Paul used the language of "gain" (Philippians 1:21; 1 Timothy 3:13; 6:6; cf. Hebrews 11:35). He knew that his future life would be much better than the persecutions of this life. Jesus was also mindful of the benefits of his own sacrifice, and he was willing to endure the cross because he saw great joy on the other side (Hebrews 12:2).

When Jesus counseled us to lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:19-20), he was not against investing — he was against bad investments. Do not invest in temporary rewards, but invest in heavenly rewards that will last forever. "Great is your reward in heaven" (Matthew 5:12). "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field" (Matthew 13:44).

God has prepared something wonderfully good for us, and we will find it to be extremely enjoyable. It is right for us to eagerly look forward to these great blessings, and when we count the cost of following Jesus, it is also right for us to count the blessings and rewards promised for us.

"The Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does" (Ephesians 6:8). "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward" (Colossians 3:23-24). "Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully" (2 John 8).

### Exceedingly great rewards

What God has in store for us is beyond our ability to imagine. Even in this life, the love of God is beyond our ability to understand (Ephesians 3:19). The peace of God is beyond our comprehension (Philippians 4:7), and his joy is beyond our ability to put into words (1 Peter 1:8). How much more, then, is it impossible to describe how good it will be to live with God forever?

The biblical writers didn't give us many details. But one thing we know for certain — it is going to be the most wonderful experience we have ever had. It is better than the most beautiful paintings, better than the most delicious food, better than the most exciting sport, better than the best feelings and experiences we have ever had. It is better than anything on earth. It is going to be a tremendous reward!

God is generous! We have been given exceedingly great and precious promises — and the privilege of sharing this wonderful news with others. What joy should fill our hearts! In the words of 1 Peter 1:3-9:

#### Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade — kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

#### In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith — of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire — may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

We have much to be thankful for, much to rejoice about, much to celebrate!

Joseph Tkach

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## A Ticket to Paradise

Bob and Suzanne had done well in their small company, begun in their basement and gradually grown into a business that employed several dozen people. They had turned management over to Charles, who had been with the business throughout its history. They enjoyed retirement and had taken several trips to Europe and a few luxury cruises.

They were still friends with Charles and his wife Diane, and they often shared photos and stories of their travels with them. Once Charles wistfully commented, "We've never been on a cruise. It sure looks nice." Suzanne suddenly perked up and said, "We have tickets for a cruise in the Caribbean in two weeks, and it turns out that we are not going to be able to go. You are a good friend, and we'll give you those tickets for free."

Charles was flabbergasted, but they eventually persuaded him to take the tickets.

### Was it a gift, or not?

Charles took the tickets, but he didn't take the trip. Something else came up, he said, and he sold the tickets to a broker. Bob and Suzanne were deeply hurt—even angry.

Charles was defensive. "When you give me a gift, doesn't it belong to me? Can't I do with it whatever I want? If you give me a bonus, can't I spend it however I want?"

The giver and the receiver had looked at the gift in different ways. Charles viewed the cruise tickets as a bonus for good work; Bob and Suzanne viewed them as a token of friendship, an opportunity to share more of life together. They looked forward to seeing the pictures Charles and Diane took and hearing the stories of their first experience on a cruise.

Charles thought they were giving him tickets; Bob and Suzanne thought they were giving him a cruise. Charles saw a monetary value; Bob and Suzanne were thinking of an _experience._ So when Charles cashed in the tickets instead of taking the cruise, Bob and Suzanne felt that their purpose had been thwarted. Charles had rejected the experience and treated their friendship as a source of money.

### God's gift to us

Something similar happens in salvation. We are saved by grace, not by works. Salvation is a gift—like a free ticket to heaven. Some people think of it as a "get out of jail free" card to be saved for an opportune time. They take the ticket, stick it in a drawer, and go on about life as if nothing important had happened.

They take the ticket, as it were, but they don't take the trip. They look at the gift and see only a ticket, and not the experience that God is offering. The salvation that God gives is not a bonus for good work—it is a gift that we didn't deserve, a gift given by One who loves us unconditionally.

But salvation is much more than a ticket to heaven—much more than a special place to spend our retirement years. Eternity will be enjoyable not because of the pleasant climate or pretty scenery—those things would soon become boring if we were in solitary confinement on a deserted island.

Rather, salvation will be eternally enjoyable because of the _relationships_ we will have there—friendships filled with love and kindness as we all share in the love that flows out from God and fills us with a surplus that we share with others. Eternity would be misery if we were surrounded by people who were constantly belittling us, calling us scum, cheating us, or even ignoring us. But God offers us an eternity of love and goodness—an experience, not a location.

The gift of salvation is the gift of a relationship, of an experience. It's not just a promise for the future—it is something we should use right now.

### Liars and thieves in paradise?

Salvation is more than a ticket to heaven—as if God would simply invite everyone to do as much lying, cheating, and stealing as they want. No, if heaven were filled with liars, cheaters and thieves, it wouldn't be a very nice place, would it? But God takes liars, cheaters and thieves and _changes_ them—takes away their desire to lie, cheat and steal and gives them a desire to tell the truth, to be fair, and to give to others. God takes selfish people and transforms them into people who love and make sacrifices to help others.

Eternal life is not just a matter of life that never ends—it involves a changed _quality_ of life. It is not merely a location—it is a transformation. God not only saves us from jail, he also saves us from nasty habits that we have—habits that (whether we know it or not) make our lives miserable: lying, cheating, stealing, selfishness and other sins that grip our lives and tell us that we are scum. Salvation is not just a nice change of location—it is a change in _who we are._

When God gives us this gift, he does not want us to stick it in a drawer for some later use—he wants us to put it to use right away, experiencing the life he has purchased for us. If we don't want good relationships now, and the behaviors that promote good relationships, then why would we want them in eternity?

The good news is that we do not have to wait until we die before we begin to experience the life of heaven. God's love is already available to us, not only to fill us, but also to flow from us to enrich others. It's already there to change us to be more like he is, to free us from the grip of sin. We can work on the relationships even if we aren't yet in the perfect location.

God offers us a free ticket, but it's not just a promise about where we end up when we die. Rather, it's an offer of relationship—a friendship that can begin right now. He doesn't want the ticket gathering dust on our chest of drawers—he wants us to take the trip. That's because we don't have to travel alone—we are taking the trip with him. He's already paid for it—room, board, and lots of extras—and he wants to share the experience with us.

Michael Morrison

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## Between Death and Resurrection

Everyone eventually dies. But the gospel says that everyone will be resurrected — brought back to life. When will this happen? The resurrection will occur when Christ returns (John 6:40; 1 Corinthians 15:21-23, 52; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17). We will be given new and dramatically different bodies—imperishable, glorious, powerful, spiritual, and immortal (1 Corinthians 15:35-51).

But what happens between death and the resurrection? What is happening right now to believers who have died? And what will happen to us when we die, and are still awaiting the return of Christ and the renewal and transformation of our bodies?

### Far better to be with the Lord

The apostle Paul deals with this question in two of his letters. When he wrote to the church at Philippi, he was in prison, thinking about the possibility of death. I'll paraphrase what he wrote:

"If it's just for my own convenience, I'd rather die and get it over with. I'd like to escape the problems of this world and be with Christ. But I don't want to just think about myself. I've got work to do, and it is better for you if I stick around a little longer."1 Paul thought that being with Christ was a lot better than living on earth.

Paul lived for a while longer, but eventually he died. Since Christ has not yet returned and the resurrection has not yet happened, Paul is still not in his final state. He is in what theologians call "the intermediate state" — somewhere between death and resurrection.

### Clothed with life

Paul tells us more about it in a letter to Corinth. He is again talking about the difficulties of life in this age. We are persecuted, he says, given over to death for Jesus' sake (2 Corinthians 4:4-11). He is motivated to continue "because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus" (verse 14). He knew that there would be life after death. "Outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day" (verse 16).

Then Paul describes what will happen to his body: "If the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands" (5:1). Ancient Greeks described the body as a tent, meaning a temporary dwelling. They thought that at death, the soul escaped the tent and existed without any need for a body.2

Paul uses this metaphor, too, but he says that our temporary dwelling will be replaced by a permanent one. The new body will be heavenly, not earthly, and eternal rather than wasting away. He doesn't tell us exactly what this home will be like, nor exactly when we get it. We might wish he had given those details, but that is not his purpose. He is simply saying that we've got something a lot better waiting for us.

He gives a few more hints in subsequent verses: "Meanwhile [in this life, in this body] we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked" (verses 2-3). As we struggle with the pains and infirmities of our present mortal bodies, we would really like a better body.

Some people go to fitness centers in search of a better body; others try special diets. Some go to plastic surgeons. But no matter how good the fitness center and how diligently we diet, we are going to die. That's not such a bad deal, Paul says, because we'll get something a lot better.

### At home with the Lord

"For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life" (verse 4). Ancient Greeks expected to be a disembodied soul. Paul did not — that would be like being naked, he says. Our home and clothes might be a bit shabby right now, but the solution to the problem is not to go naked and homeless, but to get a better home and better clothes.

The body we have now is wasting away. It has aches and pains, wrinkles, memory lapses and tooth decay. It is temporary, mortal. So we want something better: to be clothed with life, to have life as a permanent possession, as a permanent home. We were created for eternal life, heavenly life, not the aches and pains of mortal life. "The one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come" (verse 5). God has plans for us, and he will make sure they work out.

"Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.... We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord" (verses 6, 8). Paul is contrasting life before and after death: We are now in the mortal body, but not with Christ.3 After death, we will be with Christ, but not in the old body. That's what he prefers.

### What difference does it make?

There are a few pieces missing in this jigsaw puzzle, so we need to make some guesses. Paul talks about a heavenly dwelling — apparently a body we will be given after we die. But in other passages, he says that our bodies will be resurrected when Christ returns. He does not tell us how these two ideas fit together.

Do we get a new body when we die, and a third one when Christ returns? Or are we disembodied for a while, despite Paul's desire to avoid it? Or is the concept of time irrelevant in the intermediate state? If our eternal home is in heaven, how will we remain with the Lord when he comes to earth?4

The Bible does not answer all these questions, presumably because we do not need to know the answers. Those details have nothing to do with the way we live right now. Whether we are awake or asleep, with a body or not, does not change our need to trust in Christ, nor our duty to love one another.

Life between death and resurrection is a temporary state, and it is not our focus. Rather, we focus on what is eternal—life after the resurrection. The most important fact about our future is that our life will be with the Lord. He wants to share life with us — he created us for that very purpose (verse 5). It is not just a never-ending life — it is a life filled with never-ending love and joy. Eternal life is not just a change in quantity, but also a change in quality. This can make a difference in the way we live right now, because Christ wants us to share in his life even in this age.

Notice Paul's next thought: "So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it" (verse 9). Since he is giving us a good future, we try to give him a good present.

### Endnotes

1 This paraphrase is based on Philippians 1:21-24. It reads in the New International Version: "To me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know. I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body."

2 N.T. Wright responds to this idea: "If the promised final future is simply that immortal souls leave behind their mortal bodies, then death still rules — since that is a description not of the defeat of death but simply of death itself" ( _Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church,_ p. 15).

3 Spiritually, we are in Christ and he is in us; not even unbelievers are ever completely away from Christ. Although he is omnipresent, he is also more "present" in some places and some ways than in others. Paul's point is that we will be with him in a far greater way after we die than we are right now.

4 Wright offers an explanation: "Heaven and earth in biblical cosmology are not two different locations within the same continuum of space or matter. They are two different dimensions of God's good creation.... Heaven relates to earth tangentially so that the one who is in heaven [Christ] can be present simultaneously anywhere and everywhere on earth.... Though in one sense it will seem to us that he [Christ] is 'coming,' he will in fact be 'appearing' right where he presently is" (111, 135).

Michael Morrison

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## What About the "Intermediate State"?

The intermediate state is the condition of the dead until the resurrection of the body. Christians hold various viewpoints on the nature of the intermediate state based on their interpretation of relevant biblical passages. Some passages suggest a conscious intermediate state, and others an unconscious state. Both views should be respected. (Isaiah 14:9-10; Ezekiel 32:21; Luke 16:19-31; 23:43; 2 Corinthians 5:1-8; Philippians 1:21-24; Revelation 6:9-11; Psalms 6:5; 88:10-12; 115:17; Ecclesiastes 3:19-21; 9:5, 10; Isaiah 38:18; John 11:11-14; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14)

Throughout Christian history, the majority view has been that after death, people are consciously present with God or consciously experiencing punishment. The minority view is often called "soul sleep"; it says that people are unconscious, awaiting the resurrection and judgment.

The New Testament offers no sustained reflection on the intermediate state. There are a few verses that seem to indicate that humans are unconscious after death as well as a few verses that seem to indicate that humans are conscious after death.

Several verses describe death in terms of sleep, such as those in Ecclesiastes and Psalms. When you look at a dead body, it _appears_ that the body is asleep. In such passages, sleep is a metaphor for death, referring to the appearance of the body. When we read verses such as Matthew 27:52, John 11:11, and Acts 13:36, it appears that death is equated with "sleep" — even though the writers knew that there was a significant difference between death and sleep.

We should also take note of verses that seem to indicate consciousness after death. In 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 Paul seems to refer to the intermediate state as being "unclothed" in verse 4, and as being "at home with the Lord" in verse 8. In Philippians 1:21-23 Paul says that to die is "gain" because believers depart "to be with Christ." This does not sound like unconsciousness. This is also seen in Luke 23:43 when Jesus tells the thief, "Today you will be with me in Paradise."

God has not chosen to describe the intermediate state explicitly and dogmatically in the Bible. Perhaps it is beyond human capacity to grasp. This doctrine is not an issue over which Christians should fight and divide.

As the _Evangelical Dictionary of Theology_ states, "Speculation on the intermediate state should never diminish the certainty that flows from the cross or the hope in the new creation." If we are conscious with God after death, who will complain about this, saying, "I'm supposed to sleep until Jesus returns — why am I conscious?" And if we are unconscious, we won't be able to complain. Either way, at death, our next conscious moment is with God.

Paul Kroll

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## The Intermediate State

Between a person's death and the resurrection, is the person conscious, or not? Most Christians believe that the person is conscious, whether in hell or in heaven. However, some say that the soul is unconscious until the body is resurrected. We do not say that the soul is conscious, nor that it is unconscious. This is a peripheral issue, not essential to the gospel. Some verses suggest one view, and some verses suggest the other view. Although some members believe that one view is better than another, the church has no official position on which view is better.

In this article, we will look first at the verses used to support the "unconscious" view. Then we will note the problems involved in using these verses. Third, we will examine verses that are often used to support a conscious intermediate state, and then we will critique that interpretation.

### Asleep in the graves

The doctrine of unconsciousness is sometimes called "soul-sleep." It is taught by Seventh-day Adventists, Advent Christians, Jehovah's Witnesses, and various others. The following verses are used to support this view:

Psalm 6:5 — "No one remembers you when he is dead. Who praises you from the grave?" Here, it seems that David did not think that he would go immediately to heaven to enjoy and worship God. He would worship after he was resurrected (Psalm 16:9-10), but until then he would be in the grave, unconscious. See Acts 2 for further support of that – Peter said, "The patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day.... David did not ascend to heaven" (2:29, 34).

Psalm 88:10-12 — "Do you show your wonders to the dead? Do those who are dead rise up and praise you? Is your love declared in the grave, your faithfulness in destruction? Are your wonders known in the place of darkness, or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?" In this psalm, too, the dead are described as being unaware of God, presumably unaware of anything.

Psalm 115:17 — "It is not the dead who praise the Lord, those who go down to silence." This psalmist is saying that dead people are silent and unable to worship God.

Psalm 146:4 — A dead person's "breath goes forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish" (KJV). The NIV says, "their plans come to nothing," meaning their earthly plans, without referring to the state after death.

Ecclesiastes 3:19-21 — "The fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?" This verse suggests that humans are just as dead as animals are — unconscious — and divine intervention would therefore be necessary if anyone is to be conscious again. The KJV states it more as a fact: "Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?" Some therefore say that the spirit of a human goes to heaven, but is unconscious.

Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10 — "The living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten.... In the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom." The dead cannot think; they are unconscious.

Isaiah 38:18 — "The grave cannot praise you, death cannot sing your praise; those who go down to the pit cannot hope for your faithfulness." According to this verse, people in the grave cannot have hope and cannot praise God. They must be unconscious.

Ezekiel 18:4, 20 — "The soul who sins is the one who will die." Souls can die, so the soul does not continue living somewhere else while the body is dead. The whole person is dead, not alive, and therefore unconscious.

John 11:11-14 — "Jesus said, 'Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.' His disciples said, 'Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.' Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So Jesus told them plainly, 'Lazarus is dead.'" Jesus called death sleep. Being dead is like being asleep — unconscious. If Lazarus was conscious, he never said anything about it — and if he had been conscious in heaven, then Jesus made his condition worse by bringing him back on earth. So the conclusion, consistent with the above scriptures, is that Lazarus was unconscious. Death must be like sleep.

### Another look

However, people who believe in a conscious state between death and resurrection explain these verses in a different way. Some verses are easier to explain than others. We can begin by noting that the psalms are poetry, and poetry often uses figures of speech and exaggeration. Ecclesiastes and Isaiah are also poetry, and in the Gospel of John, Jesus often speaks metaphorically.

Ecclesiastes 9 — Much of Ecclesiastes is written from the point of view that God does not exist. It is making the point that _if_ there is no God, then life is meaningless. For example, verse 5 says that the dead have no further reward. We do not believe this part of the verse; why insist on the other part? Similarly, verse 6 says that the dead will never again have a part in anything under the sun. The perspective is limited to this life, and we cannot use these verses as accurate descriptions of the afterlife. Verses 2-3 say, "All share a common destiny — the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad... The same destiny overtakes all." If we allow verses from Ecclesiastes as evidence about the afterlife, then they would show that there isn't any afterlife.

Similarly, Ecclesiastes 3:19 says that humans have the same fate as animals, and their life is no better than animals. We do not believe this. We cannot pull verses out of context and take them as the final word on the subject. Verse 21 is asking a question, "Who knows...?" It is not answering our question.

Psalms are poetic and sometimes overstate the situation. Note some examples that talk about the grave: Psalm 18:4 — "The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me." One would think that if destruction overwhelmed a person, he or she would be destroyed. But this poet was alive, singing about a rescue from a situation that was only _potentially_ fatal. Similarly, Psalm 30:3 — "O Lord, you brought me up from the grave." Was the person actually in the grave? Probably not. Psalm 49:12: "Man is like the beasts that perish." Like Ecclesiastes, this comment has a restricted perspective, showing that poetry is not a good source of doctrine about the afterlife. Psalm 86:13: "You have delivered me from the depths of the grave."

Psalm 88:5: "The dead, whom you remember no more..." If we take this out of context, it means that God is unaware of the dead, which is not correct. Psalm 88:16: "Your wrath has swept over me; your terrors have destroyed me." Was the person actually destroyed by God? Apparently not, for he is still singing. Psalm 115:18: "We extol the Lord, both now and forevermore." This last verse could be used to argue that no one ever stops extolling the Lord. Not even death stops the exaltation. We use this verse not to argue for consciousness, but to show that contradictions occur if we take verses out of the psalms and treat them as statements of fact.

Since the psalms may contain poetic exaggerations, we must be cautious about using isolated verses at face value. When Psalm 6:5 says that dead people do not remember God, we need not take it any more literally than Psalm 88:5, which says that God does not remember them. The perspective is from this physical life.

Isaiah also speaks poetically about death. It is personified in Isaiah 5:14: Sheol "enlarges its appetite." Isaiah 14:9 says that Sheol "is all astir to meet you at your coming; it rouses the spirits of the departed." This makes it sound like the people in Sheol can be awakened – but this may be spoken in irony or sarcasm against the king of Babylon, using beliefs of Babylon to mock him.

One passage in Isaiah describes Sheol as silent; another describes conscious people in Sheol, the realm of the dead. Which passage is figurative, and which is descriptive? The poetry suggests that both are figurative — they are not meant to reveal the nature of the afterlife. They are probably based on already-existing ideas about Sheol — popular folklore — without attempting to endorse or correct those ideas.

Ezekiel 18:4 and 20 says that the soul who sins will die. In the Old Testament, "soul" sometimes means body, but sometimes it means something more than the body. Sometimes it means "person." Verses 4 and 20 say nothing about the metaphysical; they are not commenting on the nature of the afterlife. Matthew 10:28 says the soul is something that can survive ordinary death: "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul." But the question remains, Is it conscious?

John 11 — Jesus said that a dead man was "asleep." Pagans used that figure of speech, too — even pagans who believed in a conscious afterlife. A figure of speech does not prove anything, whether or not Lazarus told us what he experienced while dead. People everywhere know that there is a difference between death and sleep. It is an analogy, and it cannot tell us its own limits. For example, if a dead person is sleeping, can the person have dreams? There is a difference between being asleep and being unconscious. The analogy of death/sleep cannot tell us much.

We now put the above results in chart form, with claim and counterclaim. When we do this, we see that every soul-sleep scripture has a serious weakness. If people approach these scriptures cautiously, perhaps they would never question the majority view.

###

###

### Scriptures suggesting consciousness

Now let's look at some scriptures suggesting a conscious intermediate state. We will start with a general observation: Many people around the Israelites believed in a conscious afterlife. There is evidence for this in the mythology and burial practices of the Egyptians, Canaanites, Greeks, and others. When God brought Israel into the land of Canaan, he did not tell Israel that this pagan belief was wrong. Even when he told them not to try to contact the dead, he did not say they were unconscious. Rather, it was just forbidden. This practice has to be outlawed only if people think the dead are conscious. Many Israelites (such as King Saul) apparently believed that the dead were at least semi-conscious. Isaiah 14:9-10 describes the way that some people in that culture viewed sheol:

#### Sheol below is all astir to meet you [the king of Babylon] at your coming; it rouses the spirits of the departed to greet you — all those who were leaders in the world; it makes them rise from their thrones — all those who were kings over the nations. They will all respond, they will say to you, "You also have become weak, as we are; you have become like us."

Sheol is described here as a place of drowsiness and weakness, but people there are still able to think and talk. The passage is poetic and figurative, but it reflects some ancient Near East ideas about the state of the dead. Ezekiel 32:21 is similar: "From within sheol the mighty leaders will say of Egypt and her allies, 'They have come down and they lie with the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword.'"

In Matthew 22:31-32, Jesus talked about the afterlife when he said, "But about the resurrection of the dead — have you not read what God said to you, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob' ? He is not the God of the dead but of the living." Jesus is saying that the patriarchs are living, even centuries after they died. Jesus does this while arguing that a resurrection will take place in the future, but he still uses "living" to refer to people who had died.

In Luke 16:19-23, Jesus told a story using common ideas about the afterlife: "The beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away... So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me.'"

The details add color, but aren't crucial to our discussion. Some first-century Jews had ideas about the afterlife that included such concepts as Abraham's bosom and consciousness in sheol. Jesus used these ideas as the setting for the story, without attempting to correct those ideas. Neither Jesus nor Luke felt any compulsion to correct the popular beliefs about the afterlife.

In verse 27, the rich man asked, "I beg you, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment." In this story, the rich man believed that his brothers were still alive, and therefore that he was conscious before the general resurrection. In the parable, Abraham also speaks as if the brothers are alive: He says, "They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them" (verse 29). The story supposes, without any hint to the contrary, that the dead are conscious immediately upon death, before the final resurrection.

Luke 23:43 — Jesus told the thief on the cross, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." Is the comma in the right place? Jesus did not need to stress the day of his promise. That was already known. Jesus stressed how soon the thief would be in paradise — the section of sheol reserved for the righteous. Both Jesus and the thief went that day to the place of the righteous dead. But the passage does not say whether they were conscious.

Romans 8:38-39 — "I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Not even death can separate believers from Christ. Upon death, we are with him. But are we conscious?

In 2 Corinthians 5:1-8, Paul talks about death and what he will experience after death. The passage is metaphorical, so we must examine it carefully to see what the metaphors mean. Verse 1 — "If the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands." Verse 6 shows that Paul is speaking of his body as his home, as his tent. He is saying that we already have (present tense) another place to live. It is in heaven, prepared by God.

#### Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. (2 Corinthians 5:2-4)

In this body, we groan, longing for our better life, our better tent, our heavenly dwelling. We groan, not because we want to be spirits without bodies ("naked"), but because we want our heavenly dwelling. Paul does not say exactly when we receive this.

#### "It is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. (verses 5-8)

Along as we have physical bodies, we are away from the Lord. The implication is that we go to be with the Lord when we die. The Lord is in heaven, so many Christians speak of "going to heaven" when they die. Paul knew that Christ was with him even in this age, but he preferred to leave his body so he would be with the Lord in a better way. Would Paul prefer unconsciousness with Christ as better than consciousness with him now?

#### To me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know. I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. (Philippians 1:21-24)

Paul had Christ in this life, yet he apparently felt he would have more of Christ if he died. Would he count unconsciousness as gain? Perhaps – he was in prison. Would he rather sleep than preach? He knew his duty was to preach, and for that reason he believed he would remain alive, but he also indicated that personally, he would rather not go through the persecutions of this life. Paul would want to quit his ministry only if the other choice were very good.

#### I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" (Revelation 6:9-10)

These souls in heaven are described as conscious of time and able to speak before the resurrection.

#### You have come to...the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn... You have come to God... to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant. (Hebrews 12:22-23)

If the spirits are unconscious, it would be anti-climactic to mention them. Coming to a group of unconscious people sounds as glorious as coming to a morgue. The angels are conscious, God is conscious, and Jesus is conscious; why not the spirits, too?

John 11:26 — "He who believes in me will never die." If death means sleep, then this means that we will never sleep. Though our bodies may die, we will not. We will continue to live, even while awaiting the resurrection of the body.

The case for soul sleep is based mostly on the Old Testament; the case for consciousness is mostly in the New Testament.

### Response

It is true that many Israelites believed the dead were at least partly conscious. However, this proves nothing about what we should believe. The fact that God did not correct their idea does not prove it is right. As already discussed in this paper, passages such as Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 32 are poetic, likely to be figurative, and therefore of questionable value for establishing doctrine.

Similarly, many Jews in Jesus' day believed in a conscious intermediate state, but again, this does not prove anything. Erroneous ideas can be very popular. The common Jewish beliefs provided a setting for a parable that Jesus told, but the parable was really designed to teach something about what people should do in this life. It does not endorse the ability to have a conversation between hell and paradise, nor even consciousness itself. It was a made-up story; it cannot be used for this doctrine.

Jesus said that the patriarchs were alive, but he was speaking in support of a resurrection at the end of the age, not a conscious existence that has no need of a resurrection. He can speak of those things that are not as though they are; they are assured of being alive again.

Regarding the thief on the cross: Figuratively, both Jesus and the thief went to the place of the righteous dead, but this says nothing about whether they were conscious. With a minimum of words, using common imagery of his day, Jesus was simply giving the man assurance of salvation without trying to correct his views of the afterlife.

Regarding Romans 8:38-39: Death cannot separate us from the love of God. God loves us even when we are asleep, even when we are unconscious. This scripture doesn't address the question of consciousness.

Regarding 2 Corinthians 5:1-8: Paul was being persecuted, and it is possible that he would rather be unconscious. However, if Paul would receive his heavenly dwelling right when he died, if his transformation was then finished, then there would be no need for a resurrection of the body. Yet Paul believed in a resurrection of the body when Christ returns. Any interpretation that makes the intermediate state sound ideal is not seeing things the way Paul saw them. The need for a resurrection shows that there is something incomplete about the intermediate state.

Regarding Philippians 3:21: Paul considered death a gain because it would remove him from pain. Upon death, a believer goes to be "with the Lord," but this does not prove the person is conscious. We cannot base our doctrines on our estimation of what Paul might prefer in a time of stress. Many people, even those who believe in soul-sleep, come to a point when they feel "ready to die." They have served the Lord as best they could, are content with that, and are ready to "rest in peace." They view soul-sleep as a gain, just as tired people look forward to sleep at night.

When Revelation says that souls were under the altar, it doesn't mean it literally. This is a highly figurative book and it is hazardous to lift a verse out of context to make it say something beyond its purpose. This passage is not designed to tell us about the intermediate state. When it says they spoke, it is figurative, in the same way that Abel's blood spoke from the ground (Genesis 4:10).

Hebrews 12:23 does not say that the spirits are conscious. We can't build doctrine on inferences, or on our ideas about good literary style. Similarly, John 11:26 is also metaphorical.

### Conclusion

The idea of death being sleep is a metaphor; the idea of being clothed with a heavenly dwelling is metaphorical. The biblical writers did not address our question directly, and perhaps our words are not sufficient to describe something that is beyond our experience. At the most, if people are conscious after death, this is an intermediate state, not a final state — there will be a resurrection of the body at the end of the age.

Although we might like to know details about the afterlife, this question doesn't matter much. No matter whether we are unconscious or fully conscious, we will be with the Lord, safe and sound. Whether our next moment of consciousness is the next second or the next century does not matter — either way, it will be wonderful; nor will we be aware of the passage of time. Just as Jesus and Paul did not go out of their way to support or refute popular ideas about the afterlife, we also do not make this subject a priority in our teachings.

Some verses seem to favor one interpretation or the other, but each falls short of proof. Individual Christians may have a preference for which view is most likely the better understanding of the Scriptures, but the church does not say which is the better or the more likely view. Rather, the church says that some passages suggest one view, and some the other, and we leave it at that. We respect people of both persuasions, and we respect their desire to base their beliefs on the Bible, but we believe that in this case the Bible does not provide enough information to establish any particular interpretation as _the_ Christian view.

### For further reading:

Anthony Thiselton, _Life After Death: A New Approach to the Last Things_ (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2011).

N. T. Wright, _Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church_ (New York: HarperOne, 2008).

Michael Morrison

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## Sinners in the Arms of a Loving God

"The world will probably be converted into...a vast ocean of fire, in which the wicked shall be overwhelmed...their heads, their eyes, their tongues, their hands, their feet, their loins, and their vitals, shall forever be full of glowing, melting fire...they shall eternally...feel the torments...without any end at all, and never, never be delivered."1

This scary description of an ever-burning hell comes from the pen of Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), the most influential Christian theologian of Colonial America and one of its most powerful preachers. Edwards' sermons, such as "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," taught that the unrepentant and spiritually lazy would end up in an ever-burning hell-fire. We can understand why people listening to Edwards and other preachers with a similar message might, as some did, wail and shriek in horror, writhe in fearful hysteria and even go insane.

This brand of hell-fire preaching has been a long-standing and common strain woven into the fabric of the church throughout much of its history until recent times. However, you probably won't hear a hell-fire and brimstone sermon in church today.

### Hell—to preach or not to preach?

Several evangelical scholars—including F. F. Bruce, Michael Green, John Stott, John W. Wenham, to name a few—have voiced opposition to the traditional view of hell. Clark Pinnock, a Canadian theologian and biblical scholar, didn't mince words in the book _Four Views on Hell_. He wrote: "Everlasting torture is intolerable from a moral point of view because it pictures God acting like a bloodthirsty monster who maintains an everlasting Auschwitz for his enemies whom he does not even allow to die."2

Although Pinnock has drawn fire from some of his more conservative colleagues, his view of hell-fire preaching is shared by many Christian teachers and scholars, even if they don't state their objections in such stark terms. They, like Pinnock and a growing number of others, "consider the concept of hell as endless torment in body and mind an outrageous doctrine" and a "theological and moral enormity."3 This might be an understatement when we consider the fact that some who teach an ever-burning hell (such as Edwards) also teach that God has chosen only a tiny minority of people for a heavenly life and has automatically, from eternity, planned for everyone else to go to a fearful destiny in hell forever.

Not every Christian teacher and theologian agrees that the idea of an ever-burning hell as torture chamber is a ghastly teaching. Some insist that we need more preaching about hell. Larry Dixon, writing some years ago in _Moody_ magazine, decried the lack of hell-fire preaching. "When was the last time you heard a sermon on hell?" he asked. "In your witness for Christ, have you recently warned anyone about eternal judgment?"4 Christopher W. Morgan and Robert A. Peterson say we must "proclaim the whole counsel of God—yes, including hell—to Christians and non-Christians alike."5

Some Christian teachers believe that people need to be prodded with fear to get them to commit to Christ. Dixon insists, "Self-sufficient North Americans will never really listen to the gospel if we don't at some point warn them about judgment." His view is, "If all we speak of is love and affirmation, comfortable pagans will politely listen for a while, say they were happy for us, and go on their way." He concludes by saying, "Unless they fear His wrath, many won't seek His love."6

This approach seems to assume that Americans don't already believe that some kind of "hell" exists. It appears to be a wrong assumption. In virtually every poll taken in recent years, a majority of Americans say they do believe in a real hell. According to a mid-2007 Gallup poll, 69 percent of respondents said they believed in hell. In some polls, the percentage of people expressing their belief in hell has been even higher.7

Where does a person's belief about hell come from? Ultimately, from the Bible. The problem is that a lot of misinformation has been mixed in with the biblical teaching about hell. God has been all-too-often pictured as an angry Judge, ready to toss people into the torments of hell with minimal provocation. But that is an unbiblical view both of God and hell. The Bible testifies that God has no intention of condemning people to "hell" out-of-hand. His goal is to _save_ us from our sins and _heal_ our spiritual brokenness.

### Gaining perspective on hell

Every New Testament author has something to say at least indirectly about hell by speaking of a future self-judgment on anyone who willfully rejects God's loving grace and the good life God has purposed from eternity to give to his human children.

Here's a saying from Jesus about anyone who remains faithless: "Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41). In Mark 9:43, he spoke about those who might "go into hell, where the fire never goes out." The book of Hebrews speaks of "a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God" (10:27).

Hell is serious, so we don't want to discount it, because the witness of Scripture does not do this. We must seriously think about the fact that some kind of hell does exist, whatever its nature might be, if we believe the testimony of the Bible. The question remains: What kind of a hell does the Bible teach and who actually ends up there?

Many Christians have a legalistic view of God's relationship with humanity. They see God as a condemning Judge, who is angry with the world and throws "bad people" into the flames of hell for all eternity. He carries only "good people" with him into an eternal heavenly bliss.

### God is for us, not against us

The witness of Scripture gives us a different picture. It tells us that the Triune God has opened the door of his accepting love for _everyone_. God, who is love (1 John 4:8), is so devoted to _saving_ humanity from the destruction of sin that he took the human condition on himself. He entered his creation as a human being in the Person of his Son.

Jesus, God in the flesh, took on our fallen human nature and remade it in his perfect and righteous image, forgiving and destroying human sinfulness. In Christ, we are enabled "to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness," which means we are his own work, created in Christ in his image (Ephesians 4:24). It's all God's doing for us and in us through Christ and by the Spirit.

Robert Farrar Capon writes, "The old baloney about heaven being for good guys and hell for bad guys is dead wrong. Heaven is populated entirely by forgiven sinners... and hell is populated entirely by forgiven sinners. The only difference between the two groups is that those in heaven accept the forgiveness and those in hell reject it."8 Capon's words resonate with Scripture. In Christ, God reconciled humanity to himself even while people were still his enemies and in spiritual darkness. "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us," wrote the apostle Paul (Romans 5:8). Even when people hated God and were totally ignorant of his eternal promise for all humanity, they "were reconciled to him through the death of his Son" (verse 10).

Paul insists this gift of God's grace and love is meant for _everyone!_ "God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them" (2 Corinthians 5:19). _Everything_ in heaven and earth has been reconciled to him in Christ (Colossians 1:19-20).

What does this have to do with hell? If we're going to talk about how anyone could end up in hell, alienated from God, we have to first understand that this is contrary to what God wants for everyone. That's why he has already acted to save everyone. _No one_ need ever go to hell, except by their own stubborn choice.

### Who's in hell and why

"Whatever we say about hell must be said under the rubric of a universal and effective reconciliation of all things in Christ," says Capon. "If we choose to explain _how hell can be_ , we must somehow say that Jesus accepts our choosing of it _without willing us into it_ in any deterministic way."9 God wants everyone to be saved, to experience forever the joy of fellowship with him. But love is not love if it is forced. God will, in the end, let us have what we want. As C.S. Lewis wrote, "There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, ' _Thy_ will be done.'"10

Hell is not a jail or a place into which God tosses people he hates. Hell is a state of denial of who God is and who God created us to be—reconciled in Christ, in eternal relationship with him, sharing his life. Hell is refusing to accept the love of God, preferring instead the selfish world of our own making. Those in hell are there because they want no fellowship with the God who made them and loves them. Those in heaven are there because they throw in their lot with Christ, accept him as Savior, follow him as Lord, and trust in his loving and free grace. Lewis wrote, "No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock it is opened."11

People in hell are there _in spite of_ God's will for them, not because of it. They have what _they_ want, not what God wants for them. God condemns no one to hell by predetermined decree. The testimony of Scripture gives us the gloriously good news that God our Savior "wants all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:4). He is "not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). Hell is a dismal, tragic, gloomy and unnecessary disaster. It contradicts everything God wants for us.

### Endnotes

1 Jonathan Edwards, _The Works of President Edwards,_ vol. 7 (Worcester, MA: Isaiah Thomas, 1809), 486-502.

2 William Crockett, editor, _Four Views on Hell_ (Zondervan, 1992), 149.

3 Christopher W. Morgan and Robert A Peterson, _Hell Under Fire_ (Zondervan, 2004), 34.

4 Larry Dixon, "Whatever Happened to Hell?" _Moody magazine,_ June 1993, 26.

5 Morgan and Peterson, 240.

6 Ibid., 28-29.

7 Gallup Poll conducted May 10-13, 2007.

8 Robert Farrar Capon, _The Mystery of Christ...And Why We Don't Get It_ (Eerdmans, 1993), 10.

9 Robert Farrar Capon, _Between Noon and Three_ (Eerdmans, 1997), 269.

10 C.S. Lewis, _The Great Divorce_ (Simon & Schuster, 1996 edition), 72.

11 Ibid.

Paul Kroll

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## Hell

"If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away," said Jesus. "It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell" (Matthew 5:30). Hell is serious. We need to take Jesus' warning seriously.

On this subject, as with many others, we must listen to Jesus. If we take him seriously when he teaches about mercy, we should also take him seriously when he teaches about punishment. After all, mercy doesn't mean much unless we are escaping something.

### Warnings about fire

In one parable, Jesus warned that wicked people will be thrown into a fiery furnace (Matthew 13:50). In this parable, he did not talk about annihilation, but about "weeping and gnashing of teeth." In another parable, Jesus describes the punishment of someone as "torture" (Matthew 18:34). Another parable describes the wicked person as tied up and thrown "into the darkness" (Matthew 22:13). This darkness is described as a place of weeping and grinding of teeth.

Jesus does not explain whether people in the darkness weep from pain or from sorrow, and he does not explain whether they grind their teeth in remorse or in anger. That is not his purpose. In fact, he never explains in detail the fate of the wicked.

However, Jesus does warn people in vivid terms not to hang on to anything that would cause them to be thrown into eternal fire: "If your hand or your foot causes you to sin," Jesus warned, "cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire" (Matthew 18:7-8). It is better to deny yourself in this life than to be "thrown into the fire of hell" (verse 9).

Does the punishing of the wicked last forever? The Bible can be interpreted in different ways on that. Some verses suggest eternal suffering, while others suggest a limited duration. But either way, hell is to be avoided at all costs.

This reminds me of a book on this subject: _Two Views of Hell._ Edward Fudge argues for annihilation; Robert Peterson argues for eternal suffering. On the cover of this book are two men, both with hand over face in an expression of dread or horror. The point being made with the graphic is that even though there are two views of hell, no matter how you look at hell, it is ghastly. God is merciful, but the person who opposes God refuses his mercy and therefore suffers.

### Epistles

Jesus used a variety of word-pictures for the punishment of those who refuse the mercy of God: fire, darkness, torture and destruction. The apostles also talked about judgment and punishment, but they described it in different ways. Paul wrote, "For those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil" (Romans 2:9).

Regarding those who were persecuting the church at Thessalonica, Paul wrote, "They will be punished with everlasting destruction and _shut out from the presence of the Lord_ and from the majesty of his power" (2 Thessalonians 1:9). So one common definition of hell is "separation and alienation from God."

The Old Testament penalty for rejecting Moses was death, but anyone who deliberately rejects Jesus deserves a greater punishment, says Hebrews 10:28-29. God is merciful beyond imagination, but if people refuse his mercy, they will reap the consequences of their actions.

God does not want anyone to suffer in hell — he wants everyone to come to repentance and salvation (2 Peter 2:9). But those who refuse his grace will suffer. That is their choice, not God's.

The final victory of God is also an important part of the picture. Everything will be brought under the control of Christ, for he has redeemed all creation (1 Corinthians 15:20-24; Colossians 1:20). Everything will be set right. Even death and Hades will be destroyed in the end (Revelation 20:14). The Bible does not tell us how hell fits into that picture. We trust that God, full of righteousness and mercy, will conclude it all in the best possible way.

Of all that Jesus taught about hell, the most important thing is that Jesus is the solution to the problem. In him, there is no condemnation (Romans 8:1). He is the way, the truth and the life eternal.

Joseph Tkach

### The justice and mercy of God

A God of love would not torture people forever and ever, say some people. The Bible reveals God to be compassionate. He would rather put people out of their misery than see them suffer eternally. The traditional doctrine of an ever-punishing hell, many believe, portrays God as a vengeful sadist who sets a terrible example. Moreover, it would not be right to punish people forever for a life that lasted only a few years or decades, say some.

But rebellion against God is infinitely terrible, say some theologians. We cannot measure evil by the time it takes to commit it, they explain. A murder may take only a few minutes, yet the consequences may extend over decades or centuries. Rebelling against God is the most serious crime in the universe, they contend, so it demands the worst punishment.

Unfortunately, humans don't have a very good handle on either justice or mercy. Humans are not qualified to judge, but Jesus Christ is. He will judge the world righteously (Psalm 9:8; John 5:22; Romans 2:6-11). We can trust his judgment, knowing he will be both righteous and merciful.

When it comes to hell, some parts of the Bible stress anguish and punishment and others use images of destruction and cessation. Rather than trying to make one description conform to the other, we let them both speak. When it comes to hell, we must trust God, not our imagination.

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## What Does "Perish" Mean?

Question: Some theologians say that unrepentant sinners will "perish in the lake of fire." What does this mean?

Answer: The word "perish" is capable of more than one interpretation, and we do not take a dogmatic position as to which interpretation is correct.

The Bible says that the unrepentant will perish in the lake of fire. John 3:16, for example, presents "perish" and "eternal life" as opposites. Theologians who believe that the wicked will be eternally conscious are aware that the Bible uses the word "perish." They have a different understanding of "perish" than annihilationists do.

The Bible does not define "perish." Some verses support the concept of complete destruction, or annihilation; other verses support the concept of eternal conscious suffering. Interpreters of both persuasions agree, however, following the biblical use of the term, that the unrepentant will perish in the lake of fire.

We cannot assume that "perish" means that consciousness will cease. The Bible speaks of unbelievers as being dead (Ephesians 2:1; John 5:24), yet they are certainly conscious! Since the Bible uses the word "dead" in such a metaphorical way, it may also use the word "perish" in a metaphorical way, especially when it is talking about the age to come, an afterlife, of which we have no experience.

In the Bible, life and death may have greater meanings than the physical meanings we commonly associate with those terms. When a person dies, the body stops working and begins to decompose, but what happens spiritually? Can consciousness continue, and if so, in what way? We cannot make assumptions about the afterlife based on physical meanings of "death" or "perish."

Whether consciousness continues after death, and how long the wicked are conscious, must be determined not by assuming word meanings, but by verses that give more description. And the verses can be interpreted in more than one way. That is why we do not have a dogmatic position on this topic.

Paul Kroll

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## About the Authors...

**John Halford** worked for Grace Communion International as a pastor, ministry director, writer and editor for many years. He died in 2014.

**Michael Morrison** received a PhD from Fuller Theological Seminary in 2006. He is now Dean of Faculty at Grace Communion Seminary, and associate pastor of a church in Glendora, CA. He is the author of several books, numerous e-books, and is the editor of this book.

**Joseph Tkach** has been, since 1995, the president of Grace Communion International. He earned a D.Min. degree from Azusa Pacific Seminary in 2000. He is the author of _Transformed by Truth: The Worldwide Church of God Rejects the Teachings of Founder Herbert W. Armstrong and Embraces Historic Christianity,_ and several e-books.

**Paul Kroll** worked for Grace Communion International as a writer and editor.

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## About the Publisher...

Grace Communion International is a Christian denomination with about 50,000 members, worshiping in about 900 congregations in almost 100 nations and territories. We began in 1934 and our main office is in North Carolina. In the United States, we are members of the National Association of Evangelicals and similar organizations in other nations. We welcome you to visit our website at www.gci.org.

If you want to know more about the gospel of Jesus Christ, we offer help. First, we offer weekly worship services in hundreds of congregations worldwide. Perhaps you'd like to visit us. A typical worship service includes songs of praise, a message based on the Bible, and opportunity to meet people who have found Jesus Christ to be the answer to their spiritual quest. We try to be friendly, but without putting you on the spot. We do not expect visitors to give offerings—there's no obligation. You are a guest.

To find a congregation, write to one of our offices, phone us or visit our website. If we do not have a congregation near you, we encourage you to find another Christian church that teaches the gospel of grace.

We also offer personal counsel. If you have questions about the Bible, salvation or Christian living, we are happy to talk. If you want to discuss faith, baptism or other matters, a pastor near you can discuss these on the phone or set up an appointment for a longer discussion. We are convinced that Jesus offers what people need most, and we are happy to share the good news of what he has done for all humanity. We like to help people find new life in Christ, and to grow in that life. Come and see why we believe it's the best news there could be!

Our work is funded by members of the church who donate part of their income to support the gospel. Jesus told his disciples to share the good news, and that is what we strive to do in our literature, in our worship services, and in our day-to-day lives.

If this e-book has helped you and you want to pay some expenses, all donations are gratefully welcomed, and in several nations, are tax-deductible. If you can't afford to give anything, don't worry about it. It is our gift to you. To make a donation online, go to www.gci.org/participate/donate.

Thank you for letting us share what we value most — Jesus Christ. The good news is too good to keep it to ourselves.

See our website for hundreds of articles, locations of our churches, addresses in various nations, audio and video messages, and much more.

Grace Communion International  
3129 Whitehall Park Dr.

Charlotte, NC 28273-3335

1-800-423-4444

www.gci.org

### You're Included...

We talk with leading Trinitarian theologians about the good news that God loves you, wants you, and includes you in Jesus Christ. Most programs are about 28 minutes long. Our guests have included:

Ray Anderson, Fuller Theological Seminary

Douglas A. Campbell, Duke Divinity School

Elmer Colyer, U. of Dubuque Theological Seminary

Gordon Fee, Regent College

Trevor Hart, University of St. Andrews

George Hunsinger, Princeton Theological Seminary

Jeff McSwain, Reality Ministries

Paul Louis Metzger, Multnomah University

Paul Molnar, St. John's University

Cherith Fee Nordling, Antioch Leadership Network

Andrew Root, Luther Seminary

Alan Torrance, University of St. Andrews

Robert T. Walker, Edinburgh University

N.T. Wright, University of St. Andrews

William P. Young, author of _The Shack_

Programs are available free for viewing and downloading at www.youreincluded.org.

### Speaking of Life...

Dr. Joseph Tkach, president of Grace Communion International, comments each week, giving a biblical perspective on how we live in the light of God's love. Most programs are about three minutes long – available in video, audio, and text. Go to www.speakingoflife.org.

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##

Grace Communion Seminary

Ministry based on the life and love of the Father, Son, and Spirit.

Grace Communion Seminary serves the needs of people engaged in Christian service who want to grow deeper in relationship with our Triune God and to be able to more effectively serve in the church.

Why study at Grace Communion Seminary?

 Worship: to love God with all your mind.

 Service: to help others apply truth to life.

 Practical: a balanced range of useful topics for ministry.

 Trinitarian theology: a survey of theology with the merits of a Trinitarian perspective. We begin with the question, "Who is God?" Then, "Who are we in relationship to God?" In this context, "How then do we serve?"

 Part-time study: designed to help people who are already serving in local congregations. There is no need to leave your current ministry. Full-time students are also welcome.

 Flexibility: your choice of master's level continuing education courses or pursuit of a degree: Master of Pastoral Studies or Master of Theological Studies.

 Affordable, accredited study: Everything can be done online.

For more information, go to www.gcs.edu. Grace Communion Seminary is accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission, www.deac.org. The Accrediting Commission is listed by the U.S. Department of Education as a nationally recognized accrediting agency.

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## Ambassador College of Christian Ministry

Want to better understand God's Word? Want to know the Triune God more deeply? Want to share more joyously in the life of the Father, Son and Spirit? Want to be better equipped to serve others?

Among the many resources that Grace Communion International offers are the training and learning opportunities provided by ACCM. This quality, well-structured Christian Ministry curriculum has the advantage of being very practical and flexible. Students may study at their own pace, without having to leave home to undertake full-time study.

This denominationally recognized program is available for both credit and audit study. At minimum cost, this online Diploma program will help students gain important insights and training in effective ministry service. Students will also enjoy a rich resource for personal study that will enhance their understanding and relationship with the Triune God.

Diploma of Christian Ministry classes provide an excellent introductory course for new and lay pastors. Pastor General Dr. Joseph Tkach said, "We believe we have achieved the goal of designing Christian ministry training that is practical, accessible, interesting, and doctrinally and theologically mature and sound. This program provides an ideal foundation for effective Christian ministry."

For more information, go to www.ambascol.org

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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