Compare what is written in Genesis 2:7 with what Solomon said about what happens to the one whose body dies:
Genesis 2:7
"And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living [chay] soul [nephesh]."
Ecclesiastes 12:7
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
God is the only source of life. Ever since Adam sinned and began to die, when created human beings are born into the world, we are not born with a life [zoe] that's eternal; and because a created human being does not have life [zoe] in itself, then after the body has died (because the created human being is no longer alive) the spirit of life [zoe] that was in the flesh goes back to its source.
When Jesus raised a young girl from the dead, we read in the Bible that "her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat." (Luke 8:55).
DEATH
("away from home out of the body")
Created human beings consist of body, soul, & spirit. To be "away from home out of the body" (as Paul calls it in 2 Corinthians 5:6-9) = souls without limbs - because as the biblical scriptures refer to them, they are dead, not alive (not living / not zao].
Adam became a living soul when God breathed the breath of life into him, but because of sin the body dies but the soul continues, and a person who is born of the Spirit of God is a living soul whose dead body is quickened by the Spirit of Christ in him, and will be resurrected from the dead at the last day, when Christ returns. The quickening of the body and the resurrection of the body are integral parts of the gospel, which is the gospel of redemption from sin AND death.
Many have formed their own elaborate theories about what follows the death of the body, but nowhere does scripture talk about a human soul or spirit even having a body or shape or limbs other than the human body that is dead in sin and is dying, and will die because of sin. In the Bible, a human soul | spirit without a living body is a human soul | spirit without a body.
There is no "spiritual" death implied in the Bible's teaching about death, either in the Old Testament, or the New Testament. Many main-stream churches have replaced what the New Testament means by the word death, with a supposed 'spiritual' death, but the biblical concept of eternal life for created human beings is holistic (body, soul and spirit), and implies a life being lived in a human body that does not die:
Those who have been born of the Spirit and placed in Christ are living souls. The body dies, but the resurrection of the body is certain:
"It is sown a body, natural [Greek: sōma psychikós], it is raised a body, spiritual [sōma pneumatikós]. There is a body, natural [sōma psychikós], and there is a body, spiritual [sōma pneumatikós]."
(1 Corinthians 15:44).
Whether a natural body or a spiritual body, it's still a body, and there will be no body for the person who has died before the time of the return of Christ and the resurrection of the body from the dead.
SO WHAT DOES THE NEW TESTAMENT SAY ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE DEATH OF THE BODY and BEFORE THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY?
With regard to those who belong to Christ, the apostle Paul teaches us that:
Romans 14:7-9:
"None of us lives [zao: alive in the body] to himself, and no one dies [apothnesko] to himself. For both if we live in the body [zao], we live [zao] to the Lord; and if we die [apothnesko], we die to the Lord. Therefore both if we live in the body [zao], and if we die [apothnesko], we are the Lord's (we belong to Christ Jesus, we belong to God).
"For to this end Christ both died [apothnesko]
and rose [anistemi: resurrection of the body]
and lived again [anazao - alive in the body],
that He might be Lord both of the dead [nekros] and living" [zao: alive in the body]."
Jesus said,
"Do not fear, I am the First and the Last,
and the Living [zao] One, and I became dead,
and behold, I am alive [zao] for ever and ever, Amen.
And I have the keys of hades and of death."
(Revelation 1:17-18)
"God has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace,
which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
but is now made visible
by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ,
who has broken the power of death,
and has brought life (zoe) and immortality [to be zao - living | alive - forever] to light through the gospel." (2 Timothy 1:9-10).
WHETHER BY LIFE OR BY DEATH
Paul said,
"According to my earnest expectation and hope I shall be ashamed in nothing, but as always now Christ shall be magnified in my body with all boldness, whether it is by life or by death.
"For to me to live [záō] is Christ, and to die [apothnesko] is gain. But if I live [záō] in the flesh [sarx], this is the fruit of my labor. Yet I do not know what I shall choose. For I am pressed together by the two: having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more needful for you." (Philippians 1:20-24).
TO BE AWAY FROM HOME OUT OF THE BODY
"Being always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are away from home from the Lord; for we walk by faith, not by sight; then we are confident and we are pleased rather to go away from home out of the body, and to come home to the Lord. Therefore we are also laboring to be well-pleasing to Him, whether at home or away from home." (2 Corinthians 5:6-9).
"Away from home out of the body" = souls without limbs.
The New Testament uses the Greek word geena (Hebrew: gehennah) every time Jesus talks about the everlasting destruction of body and soul (which has not happened to any soul yet). Gehennah and the lake of fire both represent an everlasting destruction of body and soul, which Christ saves us from through our faith in Him - but no one has ever been thrown into the lake of fire yet.
The New Testament tells us that Jesus's soul went to hades when His body died, but He came up again from hades when He rose from the dead on the third day. Christ ascended back to God the Father on the 40th day.
hades (sheol in Hebrew: the realm of deceased souls); and
tartaroo (as the deepest part of hades, where fallen angelic beings are imprisoned).
It follows that those who are in Christ, belong to Christ, therefore the souls of those who die while they are in Christ will remain in Christ (who is "in the bosom of the Father", John 1:18).
So Paul teaches us that when we are no longer "at home in the body" we will be "at home with the Lord" - and Jesus is not in hades - He is in the bosom of the Father - He was only in hades for 3 days and 3 nights - but He rose again from the dead on the third day, and ascended into heaven, back to God and His Father, on the 40th day:
"For to this end Christ both died [apothnesko]
and rose [anistemi: resurrection of the body]
and lived again [anazao - alive in the body],
that He might be Lord both of the dead [nekros] and living" [zao: alive in the body]."
(Romans 14:9).
The Son of man died, bodily - but possessed eternal life [zoe aionios] in Himself - so by the eternal Spirit His dead body was quickened (made alive again) and was raised from the dead
- and He is now bodily alive [zao] forever - the the ages of the ages - (immortal) (Revelation 1:18)
- and because of the bodily death of the Son of man for our sin and His bodily resurrection from the dead,
and because eternal life [zoe aionios] has been given in Christ (1 John 5:11-12) to those who believe in Him (to those who have heard the voice of the eternal Spirit, and been born of Him),
those who are in Him when they die bodily will also rise from the dead bodily upon His return and will live [zao] forever (be immortal), having been given eternal life (eternal Spirit) IN HIM.
Therefore "None of us lives [zao: alive in the body] to himself, and no one dies [apothnesko] to himself. For both if we live in the body [zao], we live [zao] to the Lord; and if we die [apothnesko], we die to the Lord. Therefore both if we live in the body [zao], and if we die [apothnesko], we are the Lord's (we belong to Christ Jesus, we belong to God) (Romans 14:7-8).
THE SOUL
Acts 2:27 & 31 tell us that the soul of the Son of man went to hades when He died, where by the eternal Spirit He preached to imprisoned spirits in hades (1 Peter 3:18-19).
The Son of man represents all mankind, and where His soul went to when He died, is the same place all souls go to - that's why His soul went to hades - He went to hades on behalf of ALL mankind - because He (the Son of God) is THE SON OF MAN.
The New Testament teaches that until the resurrection of the body from the dead, the body dies but the soul - which the New Testament speaks of as the mind, the life and the soul of the flesh
- goes either to be with Christ until the resurrection of the body, or to hades:
Acts 2:31; 2 Corinthians 5:5-9; Philippians 1:20-24; Revelation 6:9; Luke 16:22-23; Revelation 20:13; Revelation 1:18.
The New Testament also teaches that Christ died and rose again bodily in order that He might be Lord - both of the dead and of those who are alive [zao] (Romans 14:7-9)
- which - were there no such thing as a soul that continues after death - would make such a statement about Christ's Lordship over the dead meaningless and absurd to even mention
- and in the same passage Paul also says that those who die bodily but in Christ belong to the Lord - which would also be a meaningless and absurd statement to make if there were no form of life or existence following the death of the body
So Paul teaches without any ambiguity that those who die bodily but in Christ will be with Christ when they die (2 Corinthians 5:5-9; Philippians 1:20-24) - again meaningless and absurd statements to make, were there no soul to be with Christ after bodily death.
In His Revelation to His churches, Jesus allowed John to see a vision of death and hades delivering up the dead in them, and the dead who were in hades standing before God to be judged (Revelation 20:11-15).
There would be no dead to be delivered from hades for the resurrection of the body at the time of the return of Christ, were there no souls in hades.
So when all these scriptures are considered together, the teaching of the apostles in the New Testament is telling us that since Christ died and rose again, there have been two groups of the seed of Adam:
1. Those who, like Adam, had heard the voice of the eternal Spirit (the Word of God) but hid themselves, refusing to believe (Genesis 3:8-10; John 3:18-21); and
2. Those who have heard the voice of the eternal Spirit, believe in Him, and IN HIM (Christ) have been given eternal life [zoe] (1 John 5:11-12), having been born of the eternal Spirit (John 3:6-7).
The first group will rise from the dead upon the return of Christ (Daniel 12:2; Acts 24:15; John 5:26-29; Matthew 25:31-33, 41 & 46), but having not the life of the eternal Spirit in Christ given to them, their names will not be found written in "the Lamb's Book of Life" - and they will die a second death - which is also called "the lake of fire burning with brimstone" (Revelation 11:17-19; Revelation 20:11-15).
The second group will also rise from the dead upon the return of Christ, but having the life of the eternal Spirit in Christ given to them, they will continue to live [zao] forever (be immortal), forever being with Christ the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
The Revelation describes the experience of those who will experience the second death as "the smoke of their torment, which rises the the ages of the ages" (Revelation 14:9-11); and to His disciples Jesus described it as "gehennah", and "the fire than shall never be quenched" (Mark 9:43 & 45).
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