Tag: faith

Declining to Our Physical Departure

Aging can bring physical decline and loss, leading to a struggle with self-identity and health. Yet, faith in God provides hope. Through Jesus Christ, believers can embrace eternal life beyond death. This perspective encourages acceptance of life’s purposes, focusing on the glory promised in Heaven, making the aging process less daunting.

Nobody likes aging. It doesn’t hit you that this is your problem until usually your 30’s (a little) and with every decade that passes it gets worse. When our physical decline results in actual loss, we struggle to cope. It seems that suddenly we cannot eat like we used to without consequence. We used to be so attractive and now we are attractive “for our age”, which is often the same as not attractive. Eventually we cannot run without pain. We forget stuff. We can’t sleep or we sleep all the time. We are no longer competent to drive. We are no longer safe to live independently. It is a dark decline.

I would like to give you a little perspective that I hope helps. We are created to be eternal creatures. Our bodies age, decline and die; but that is because of “sin”. I’m not saying that we would necessarily live longer or healthier if we behaved better. I am saying that we are all genetically altered from the way God originally created human beings. The result is that our current bodies must die. This would create a hopeless situation for us if not for the fact that God wants us to have eternal life with Him, and has done something about it.

Jesus Christ is God’s Son who became human for a very specific purpose. He kept God’s Law perfectly, which is what God requires for people who would be with Him eternally. He also absorbed the worst consequence of sin on the cross. He was forsaken by His father, which would be our fate. Now we can be “connected” to Jesus through God creating faith in us and Jesus “baptizing us into His death”. That phrase means that God creates some sort of “supernatural” connection to us where Jesus’ life and Jesus’ death are ours. When we are “in Christ” the only thing left for us to do is to go through physical death. The rest of the way to a glorious, happy, eternal existence has been given as a gift from Jesus.

With that as a backdrop, declining toward death shouldn’t have to be so bad. Yes, it still hurts. Yes, you feel loss. But you are heading toward something great. This impacts certain decisions and attitudes.

First, if you are facing any challenge, especially a medical challenge, you can tell yourself that it is only temporary and if it ends in death, you will actually gain from it.

You don’t have to insist that the medical community do everything possible to keep you alive. Your goal is to naturally die. Their efforts would probably only give you an extended painful, useless, modest extension on this life. You don’t even want that.

Rather than be always looking back at the “good old days”, you can be forward thinking toward the glory of what God has prepared for you in Heaven and ultimately also a New Earth.

You can understand your purpose in life as something that is dynamic but always God-given. When you retire, you move from one purpose to another that is God-given. As you lose independence, you may lose one purpose but acquire another. Life is for accomplishing whatever God has prepared for you and then you get to experience real life.

This is hard to embrace, but when you study what God has promised us you develop a genuine excitement for it. That is what this blog is all about. My life matters, my aging and decline matters, and my passing away matters. I am heading toward an increasing glory.

16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

5 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

2 Corinthians 4:16-5:1 (ESV)

Accepting the Reality of Eternal Existence

For some there is no doubt. At least verbally. We will go on beyond our death. These people tend to error on the side of thinking everybody has something good waiting for them. For others, there is a great deal of doubt. We usually don’t get a preview. People who have a Near Death Experience are almost all in on eternal life. The rest of us just see the impact of death on our flesh, and it is sobering.

Certainty that we die and then disappear, is equally hard to maintain. Many are very bold about it until death looms near. Then they are not quite as enthusiastic about the prospect and begin to hope for more.

Certainty is not the same thing as faith. Faith is several things. It is first a Holy Spirit bypass of whatever keeps us from being receptive to God because of our sinful condition. Then it is a God-produced connection between us and Christ. Then that connection produces a growing trust in all of God’s promises, His capabilities, and His character. It also generates certainty in the reality of eternal life and what will happen to you in your eternal existence.

The power of God’s Word is a driving force in having certainty in eternal life.

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?

John 14:1-2 (ESV)

Who has reliable information on this topic? Even Near Death Experiences could be an illusion of a dying brain or a delusion created by Satan. Jesus raised people from the dead, was raised from the dead himself, and demonstrated that He was God through clear and observable miracles. Furthermore, His character was on display for all around him. For us, it is the power of the Word with the in-person accounts that give us the ability to “believe” in both Father and Son in this regard.

God could have created us to live and to die and be gone. He has nothing to gain by lying to us about this fact of our nature. Jesus says in the above passage that He would have told us if eternal life in Heaven was not on the table. It is on the table. That is why Jesus became one of us in the first place.

Our certainty comes with understanding the Gospel and God developing in us a deeper faith through the Word. First, it is our nature to be eternal because we are more than a body. We are a body and soul. I think that you can experience this much. Minimizing our will, memory, all conscious thought to chemical reactions in the brain, does not make sense. If our thoughts were just the product of brain chemistry and electrical activity then we would have no will. We clearly have a will. We are not “meat robots”. That is wrong.

It does take revelation from outside of ourselves to know about things that are beyond our sensory capabilities, beyond death, and probably beyond our space-time. Does the account of Jesus and the revelation that comes with Jesus have any credibility? Seek out the arguments. They are hard to dismiss unless you have a bias and want to dismiss them. God tells us what comes next. This whole blog covers it. There is eternal life (eternal existence with God) and eternal death (not non-existence but exile from God as in Hell). Eternal life is God’s gift predicated on what Jesus has already accomplished . God has proven to be trustworthy.

The only qualification to the certainty that we can have is that people can fall away. I must respect the theoretical possibility that I will abandon God’s gift. God gives plenty resources enough to never fall away, but people still manage it. I don’t doubt because I know that God is enough. When actually facing my final hour, there is no need to look at myself and ask if I have done enough. Jesus is enough. I don’t do anything. Therefore I am certain.

Angels and Demons

The text explores the nature of angels and demons, clarifying misconceptions about their existence and origins. It discusses how demons may be corrupted angels, influenced by Satan, while angels are distinct beings not derived from deceased humans. Both entities impact human life, with scripture referencing their roles in spiritual warfare and personal experiences of possession and intervention.

Most people, even if they are biblically illiterate, have heard of angels and Demons. They are known in other world religions as well, which is interesting. They are encountered by humans both in modern times, New Testament times, and ancient times. Are they real? And if so, what are they?

First, let’s say what they are not. Demons are not an ignorant understanding of mental illness. Mental illness is dysfunction of the brain. It can happen for a variety of reasons from genetics to trauma. I would not doubt that some trauma could be inflicted from spiritual (i.e. demonic) source, however. Angels, on the other hand, are not dead people. You do not die and become an Angel. Though the term, “angelus”, just means messenger, it is a term that is usually used to describe a certain species of being normally resident in Heaven. Angels are also not “Seraphim or Cherubim (in English: “burning ones” or “living ones”). These are synonyms for something of even higher capability than Angels.

It would appear that Demons are/were Angels. The information that we have is cryptic, but it appears that Satan (a Cherubim) managed to corrupt a large minority of Angels and turn them against God. Unlike humans where Satan was able to genetically corrupt the first set (Adam and Eve) and therefore corrupt every one of us, only a portion of Angels are corrupted. Perhaps this is because they don’t replicate, or that there were many Angels before Satan got to them.

What happened to Demons? This is very sketchy. Satan seems to have been able to hang on to residence in Heaven until Jesus’ victory on the cross. Nothing is said about Demons in this regard, except in Jude it says this:

6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—

Jude 6 (ESV)

From this passage we learn that Judgment Day isn’t just for people. Angels and Satan will receive their final disposition on that day as well. This passage can’t be about all fallen Angels, because many are shown creating problems on Earth. How is the timing of Jude 6 connected to this passage?

7 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in Heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the Earth, and his Angels were thrown down with him.

Revelation 12:7-9 (ESV)

Maybe these events are disconnected, maybe not. In the end, it would appear that we have both Angels and Demons among us. How do they contribute to our situations both positively and negatively?

On a personal level, the Bible records instances of demonic possession. There could also be lesser ways that a demon could affect a person. The most famous being the possession that inspired the book, “The Exorcist”. The Washington Post just happened to document this story back in the 1950’s. In that story the window that allowed the Demon to take hold was the dabbling in occultic practices by a “spiritualist” aunt and a boy’s use of a Ouija board to try to communicate to her after she died. I am not certain why and what occultic practices make this possible. They were also behind the scenes in all of the possessions encountered by Jesus. Pagan people lived very near or in Israel. People dabbled in these things and paid a price.

On a positive note, both the Bible and personal experiences account for angelic intervention. The most common being a helper that should not be there who assists someone in desperate need and then disappears.

There is also some interesting stuff about Angels and Demons at the national level, but I would like to briefly address our interaction with them after our death. First, Angels do not have wings and neither will you. My piece of art above in generated by AI. I cannot convince the “AI” that Angels do not have wings since there is so much garbage on the internet that shows that they do. This idea is an addition mostly from Renaissance artists. Cherubim do have wings. Angels will be a regular part of our existence in Heaven. Much like humans, they will seem like neighbors.

Demons will not be in Sheol, they will either remain on Earth or be contained in someplace called “the Abyss” until Judgment Day. After Judgment Day they will not be tormenting people in Hell. They will be suffering as well.

Do Humans Have a Body in Hell and Sheol?

I bet you were lying in bed wondering about this very question. I grant you that it is an obscure issue for which we have little information but it is a parallel to the important issue of whether we have a body in Heaven (to which I say yes), and it connects to same verse in Scripture, which is 2 Corinthians 5:1f.

5 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

2 Corinthians 5:1-4(ESV)

Our body that we have during this life is a “tent”. It houses our spirit, but it is a legitimate part of what we are. That is why there is a resurrection of the body. Paul says that we do not wish to be “unclothed”, which means without a body. Can such a situation even exist?

The Bible does not say where Heaven, Sheol, or the final Lake of Fire actually are. The ancients conceived of Sheol as the center of the Earth, and Heaven as being outside the furthest reach of the universe; but that does not make it so. Recent work in theoretical physics uses the concept of other dimensions. Albeit these dimensions are not observable because they are very small. There is no constraining reason why they must be small. What if they are unobservable just because we are constrained to live and observe in only three spatial dimensions. What if other dimensions do exist, explaining some of the odd behavior of gravity and quantum physics, but actually define the space of parallel universes. These universes would not have to be in lock-step with ours because they are only connected at the quantum level. This could define the space of Heaven, Sheol, the Abyss, and possibly Hell.

Going with this very unprovable theory, that would be why an “earthly” body is Earthly. It only can move in the dimensions of this space-time. And why a “heavenly” is Heavenly. It moves in Heaven’s dimensions. Could Sheol be its own space-time with a Sheol appropriate body. Not sure of the adjective for that one.

Descriptions of Sheol (please use the Search box if you are not familiar with this term to find posts about it) seem very physical. For example the rich man in Luke 16:

23 and in Hades (same as Sheol), being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’

Luke 16:23-24 (ESV)

Flame, water, cool, tongue all seem very physical. This would also connect to the general resurrection of the dead. The damned would need an earthly body to stand before God at Judgment Day on Earth. It would also connect to the destruction of those Earthly bodies:

“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. 3 And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.

Malachi 4:1-3 (ESV)

They won’t be needing those bodies where they are going next. Is the final Lake of Fire (i.e. Gehenna or Hell) also a “bodily experience”? Maybe it is not even connected to our multi-dimensional reality. Maybe “forsakeness” means total disconnection from creation? I think that is an interesting and disturbing thought.

One final thought. Paul speaks about being “unclothed”. The spirit of Samuel is “raised up” from the good neighborhood of Sheol by the Witch of Endor (1 Samuel 28:13-15). He seems “unclothed” in the bodily sense. He appears “wrapped in a robe”. What about ghosts? I don’t know how they would fit in the model given us by Scripture. Are they figments of a person’s imagination? Are they demonic? Are they people “brought up” from Sheol and left here? Are they just part of a tired sit-com (I prefer the British version)? The disciples thought they were seeing a ghost when Jesus came to them walking on the water. From where did such an idea come? I don’t know.

Again, most of this post is unproveable and unstated by Scripture verbatim. But it does make sense to me. I hope you find it thought provoking and may be only find through experience about the Heavenly body and your Resurrected body.

Purpose In the Kingdom of God

The content explores the concept of purpose in life and after death, emphasizing the importance of serving God and others. While earthly pleasures may seem fulfilling, true satisfaction comes from meaningful engagement. It highlights biblical passages about eternal life, suggesting that purpose exists beyond rest, with joyful, fulfilling activities in Heaven and the New Earth.

What would you do if money and health were not issues? If you had no other purpose than to enjoy yourself, would you be happy? I think I would be for awhile. I would travel, golf, hangout with my kids and grandkids, hike, explore, ski, and much more. Many people think of retirement like that, only to be disappointed by restrictions and a nagging need for purpose.

As a person who is already a part of the Kingdom of God. There is an enormous amount of purpose to be had. We glorify God through doing a great job at our job. We are to show kindness and forgiveness to others. We are to be good stewards of time, money, skills, our body, our planet, our knowledge of Scripture, our relationships and more. We are to make disciples. We are to counteract evil. If you can’t find something to do as a disciple of Jesus, you are not looking hard enough.

But what about after death? Eternity is a long time. Will we be able to experience new things and enjoy fun things we already enjoy? I expect so. Will there be purpose? While there is never enough information about our existence in Heaven and the New Earth for my taste, there actually is more about purpose than there is about entertainment.

But let’s start with this passage:

13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”

Revelation 14:13 (ESV)

This passage has unintentionally put into people’s minds that eternal life is a bunch of naps. “Resting from labors” is not sitting around. It is no longer experiencing the physical drag of work. When I have something to do, even something I will enjoy, there is a part of me that doesn’t want to do it. My body doesn’t want to give up the energy. That experience will be done. Nothing will be laborious. There will be purposeful, comforting, exhilarating, entertaining, loving, bonding, but not laborious.

I am not sure about the experience of being damned. The Bible speaks of fire and decay(worms). Jesus’ experience speaks of being abandoned by God and hopelessness. I would expect purposelessness and maybe laborious activity.

Can we know anything more specific about the purpose of the redeemed?

“Therefore they are before the throne of God,
    and serve him day and night in his temple;
    and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.

Revelation 7:15 (ESV)

This is still rather vague. What type of “service” does God need? Honestly nothing. But just as we are allowed to be a part of God’s work here, we are also allowed to be in the direct presence of God and with purpose. Don’t read into this that direct worship is all that we do. Also, don’t pull into it visions of working a night shift here. This service is fundamentally different.

Another purpose section comes from Isaiah 65. Isaiah 65 is a hard passage to interpret in light of other Scriptures. See a bigger discussion here: https://afterdeathsite.com/2022/05/24/wrestling-with-isaiah-65/ But Isaiah, speaking of the New Earth, includes a number of familiar functions.

They shall build houses and inhabit them;
    they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They shall not build and another inhabit;
    they shall not plant and another eat;
for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
    and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23 They shall not labor in vain
    or bear children for calamity,
for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord,
    and their descendants with them.

Isaiah 65:21-23 (ESV)

This section is about the New Earth. It says so. Will we build and plant and have kids? Looking at other Scriptures, I can say that our days won’t be limited like a tree. We have eternal life. Will we go through cycles or does Isaiah 65 just compare the sorrows of current life to the absence of sorrows in the New Earth? It is hard to say, but I would not count out any of the purposes listed here.

Obviously, there is much we have left to discover about life in Heaven and the New Earth. It will be an experience that is “truly life”, and that includes purpose. Probably it includes familiar things and things that we have never imagined. None of it will be laborious. It will be joy.

The Praise We Owe Jesus

Who is the most positively influential person in the history of mankind? There is no contest–Jesus. What makes Jesus so important isn’t how he influenced views on politics, the sexes, or the poor; it is what He finished during the week we are celebrating this week, Holy Week.

It is easy to be impressed with Jesus’ teaching. It is influential to this day and it should be. It is easy to be impressed with His miracles, but His purpose wasn’t to end disease, feed people, or temporarily raise the dead. His purpose was much, much bigger.

God’s Law created a big problem for humankind. You could state His foundational Law like this: Anything that is a part or product of rebellion against me cannot be in my direct presence or a part of my re-created universes. We definitely fail this test. Sinful human nature, a genetic condition is inherited by all. The best of us fail to remain sinless in thought, word, and deed. We lack faith. We lack love. We lack positive actions. The judgment is this: We will all physically die and then be forsaken by God (in Hell). That’s the bad news. Very bad news.

The good news is that God also considered this His problem. He is not a being to just suspend or exempt from the Law. It still stands. The Good News is that He had a plan and that plan was Jesus. Jesus is the Son of God made human (incarnate). He is born irregularly via virgin birth. The outcome of that is no genetic sinful nature. He lives 35 years (I think 2 B.C. to 33 A.D.) God has a thing about the number 3 1/2. He never sins despite serious external temptation. It is sufficiently accomplished during Holy Week.

Then comes the harder part. Jesus needs to physically die and be forsaken. The second part being the critical part for us. This is not easy and Jesus didn’t relish the thought:

27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.

John 12:27 (ESV)

38 Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” 39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

Matthew 26:38-39 (ESV)

Jesus is rightfully scared because being forsaken is the removal of all good things and we cannot even comprehend what that meant for the Trinitarian aspect of God. Still, Jesus does it because that is what the Father wants to do. The Father continues on because He loves people. He loves you.

Jesus experiences forsakeness. It is so emptying that He doesn’t seem to remember why it is happening:

46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Matthew 27:46 (ESV)

How long does this last? It doesn’t say. But a good guess would be during the supernatural darkness. It says this starts about the third hour. Again, going with 3 1/2 being significant, I would guess 3 1/2 hours. That is compared with eternally if we have to bear it ourselves.

The final aspect of God’s plan is that in order to have the obedience of Jesus apply to us we have to be joined to Him. This isn’t just a matter of God’s bookkeeping, though there is a Book of Life. This is a unity that God creates between Jesus and us that is somehow similar to the unity of the persons of the Trinity.

20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

John 17:20-23 (ESV)

This is the part that fails to include all people. God wants all to be saved, but there is something about the majority of people that God won’t get past to create a bond with them. I don’t think it is merely informational or intellectual though in manifests in that way. I don’t know what it is. But I owe Jesus my all because it does include me.

I pray it includes you.

Biblical Stories of Being Raised from the Dead

The Easter story celebrates Jesus’ unique resurrection, contrasting it with other instances of being raised from the dead, like Lazarus and others. While Lazarus and others experienced repair or temporary returns, Jesus’ resurrection signifies a transformative experience, promising believers a future spiritual body and a restored existence in Heaven and Earth.

On Easter we celebrate Jesus being raised from the dead, but the Easter story is not the only story about being raised from the dead. The Easter story is unique, however, because Jesus isn’t just raised, He is resurrected. This is a very different thing. Perhaps in the course of your lifetime you might be clinically dead. You may even experience leaving your body. But modern medicine will bring you back. You will not come back as resurrected. You will merely be repaired, at least enough to get you by for a while.

The second most famous story is the raising of Lazarus in John 11. Jesus intentionally drags His feet on going to help His sick friend. The raising of Lazarus is going to be a powerful sign of what God can do. By the time Jesus arrives at the scene, Lazarus has been in the tomb for four days. Everybody expects physical decay to have begun. Has it? Not beyond the ability of Jesus to fix it. Where was Lazarus these past four days? Technically, Lazarus dies (the first time) before the atonement for sins is complete. I would expect that he had a brief stay in the good neighborhood of Sheol (aka The Bosum of Abraham or The Limbo of the Fathers)https://afterdeathsite.com/2021/05/11/an-expectation-of-sheol/ . Would that be upsetting to be recalled? I am not sure about the quality of existence in this space. It is a sort of waiting room for Heaven and may not be that different than living here. Lazarus was no doubt honored to be such a powerful part of the ministry of Jesus. There was one definite downside:

9 When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.

John 12:9-11 (ESV)

We are not given follow-up on this story. I would have to assume that Lazarus was later murdered. He would go through the process of dying twice, which tells me that it is not so bad on the relative scale of things. Lazarus’ resurrection is still pending.

Other people beside Jesus were given the ability to raise the dead. Elijah in 1 Kings 17:17f raises the son of a widow, and Peter in Acts 9 raises a beloved woman (Dorcas/Tabitha). The power of repair work can be given as a spiritual gift. Both are powerful signs. It is hard to say where the boy was for he was neither a Jew nor necessarily under grace. He may have come from the bad neighborhood of Sheol, and would have been overjoyed to get out. Tabitha would have been in Heaven. She had been dead for hours. Like Lazarus, I’m sure she was willing to fulfill God’s purpose in her existence. Also, like Lazarus she would die again.

Jesus raises the daughter of Jairus. This is similar to the boy raised by Elijah in the sense that the grief of parents is uniquely difficult. She is dead for less than a hour probably. It would be more like Near Death Experiences done by medical means. People who experience NDE’s of Heaven don’t want to return, but they continue to live with an excitement of getting back to Heaven.

One last non-resurrection “return”. The prophet Samuel is summoned by non-acceptable occultic means through the Witch of Endor (1 Samuel 28). Samuel is not pleased. Samuel says that he was “disturbed” and “brought up”. It doesn’t seem to be in physical form, so he remained dead but could communicate his displeasure.

What is different between being “repaired” and raised, Near Death Experiences, occultic summoning, and resurrection? A lot. We will receive a heavenly body for heavenly realms, but we are not complete until we receive a resurrected earthly body. This won’t happen until Judgment Day. The resurrected body exceeds our current body in every way. Paul describes it this way:

42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

1 Corinthians 15:42-44 (ESV)

https://afterdeathsite.com/2024/12/10/pondering-the-properties-of-our-resurrected-body/Jesus was raised with all this plus being the incarnate Son of God, so the properties of His physical being are beyond our knowledge and all comparison.

While we won’t have some of the unique properties of Jesus, we will be vastly different than today, able to enjoy a restored Earth and Heaven. Easter joy is a celebration of a major mile post of the plan of God for our salvation. It also is a time to ponder what comes next for those who belong to Jesus.

The Human Soul

The text explores the concept of consciousness, discussing its relationship with the body, spirit, and soul from both scientific and biblical perspectives. It argues that while natural materialism reduces humanity to the body, biblical teachings emphasize a multi-faceted existence. Death is viewed as unnatural, separating spirit and body, necessitating a heavenly counterpart.

From a scientific standpoint, we speak of such things as consciousness as being the mysterious part of the human experience. Is consciousness an illusion? Is it just the chemical and electrical activity among our neurons or is there something more?

The Bible talks about our spirit, soul and body. Natural materialism wants to reduce us to one thing–a body. The Bible speaks of three. The body is easy to identify. The spirit seems to be something not of this three-dimensional space, but rather something connected to the body during our lifetime. The “soul” is sometimes used as a synonym for the spirit like here:

28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Matthew 10:28 (ESV)

This passage is interesting because it speaks of destruction, which apparently doesn’t refer to elimination. It also speaks of a body in Hell. Even the lost get a resurrected body, but it seems to be turned to ash according to Malachi 4. This must be a body for the space of Hell, the counterpart to a Heavenly body for the redeemed. The necessity of an accompanying body to our spiritual component is what is relevant to my blog today.

Paul says,

23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 (ESV)

Here Paul is either being redundant or he is making a distinction between soul and spirit. The soul seems to be the interaction of spirit and body. It may be what you see when you image a brain. The soul could include our consciousness or just be an element of it. Where do such things as cognition, memory, self-awareness reside? When we are as we are created to be, a body and spirit united, then the answer is all of the above. Our memories are stored in our brain (a part of the body). The soul is the functioning of spirit and body together.

Death is an unnatural thing when compared to how God designed us. It is because of God’s sentence on sin that spirit and body are torn apart. Cognition, memory, consciousness go with the spirit. Be we are not whole without a body. We are “found naked” .

5 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

2 Corinthians 5:1-4 (ESV)

“Unclothed” must be a ghost-like state, lacking the benefits of spirit-soul-body. It is because of this passage that I am convinced we have a heavenly body. The idea that Heaven is a part of an other-dimensional space than Earth helps this to make sense. Our bodies that we possess now are constrained to occupy the three-dimensional space of this universe. A parallel universe, like Heaven could be, would require a different body. Perhaps Hell would require a different one yet.

With each body-spirit combination comes a soul. The interaction of body and spirit. The description of our resurrected, earthly body as being “spiritual” (1 Corinthians 15:44) may refer to the ability to unite them both–our spirit with both the resurrected, earthly body and the heavenly body.

How far can science probe this? Not very. It can measure the explosion of energy when the spirit and body disconnect-likely the temporary disappearance of the soul. But science is also constrained to examining these dimensions. It certainly points to the existence of others through quantum mechanics, but that is all.

Revelation from God, though sometimes cryptic, gives us a greater insight into ourselves–an exciting insight.

Does Anything from This World Carry Over into Eternity?

The current world, seen as “The Great Tribulation,” is marred by sin and the curse, affecting everyone and everything. However, aspects like people, nature, deeds, and certain glories will carry into the New Earth post-judgment. Relationships and the beauty of God’s creation will transform, offering a vastly improved existence.

The conditions of this world, relative to Heaven or the New Earth, are pretty grim. Everything is tainted by either sin or the curse. That includes more than humanity. It includes the whole of this universe. The citizens of Heaven refer to this life as “The Great Tribulation” (Revelation 7:14). That is hardly a complement.

It is also true that God will tear it all down and start over.

7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

2 Peter 3:7 (ESV)

So, does anything from this life and this universe carry over into the next? There are beautiful things here. There are really valuable aspects of now. As you search through the Bible about this you can come up with these important carry-overs: people, nature, certain deeds, and the “glory of the kings of the Earth.”

Let’s start with people. People are clearly one of the more contaminated things in this universe. We have proven ourselves to be capable of some horrible stuff. But people are also the main thing that Jesus came to save. I say this because Jesus was born a human and not something else. Once we put aside our current bodies which house our sinful nature, we will purely reflect the image of God again. People are something very valuable, although it currently may be well hidden.

We certainly value the idea of bringing our loved ones to eternal life with us. This should also be true of family or acquaintances that have not been very good to us. If they can be connected to Jesus through faith and baptism and remain in that connection, they will be a glorious asset in eternal life for they will be changed.

This is true of total strangers as well and even enemies. We can expect to have many new and valuable relationships among people. Will we be grouped as we are now? I am not sure. Our relationships will be different. I suspect that we will have contact with those we ministered to here on Earth. So, the more you reach here, the bigger your circle will be there. This is not to exclude other new relationships formed in Heaven or the New Earth.

Then there is nature:

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
    and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
    and a little child shall lead them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze;
    their young shall lie down together;
    and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
    and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
9 They shall not hurt or destroy
    in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

Isaiah 11:6-9 (ESV)

Nature has also been corrupted by sin. The current form must go away, but it will be reintroduced in a renewed form. This seems to include familiar species. Will it include familiar animals, like your pets? I don’t know, but maybe. This is in reference to the New Earth. It is a post-Judgment Day occurrence.

Then deeds. Our actions, words, thoughts condemn us. We are saved by the actions of Jesus. But as redeemed people we have the opportunity to build on the foundation of grace good deeds that are done by the power of God in humility and love. These deeds and their impact can follow us past the grave in the form of some type of reward.

13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”

Revelation 14:13 (ESV)

Finally, the least clear thing, the glory of the kings of the Earth. Speaking about the New Jerusalem, the Bible says:

24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.

Revelation 21:24-26 (ESV)

What is this? Is it great art or architecture? God finds beauty in some man-made things, and it seems to be preserved. What constitutes “glory” or “honor” is not clear. It certainly won’t include art that reflects either our false notions of God or the perversion of our sinful nature. There are other things that are worth remembering and keeping and God will keep them.

There will be many new, beautiful, breath-taking creations of the God, the ultimate Creator. the experience of Heaven and the New Earth will be different and massively better. But some of the familiar and what God values of the current universe will be a part of our new life in eternity. One would hope to be a contributor to this list.

The Necessity of Illness and Death

The author reflects on aging, acknowledging physical decline while emphasizing that illness and death are consequences of sin, not a lack of faith. They argue that healing is sometimes granted by God, and that life’s purpose is to serve until death, leading to eternal life with Christ. Acceptance of this reality brings hope.

I am getting older. The number of years that I have lived doesn’t really bother me. Age is just a number they say. I would also say that I look pretty good for my age. I wish I didn’t need the qualifier at the end of that sentence though. The real problem is that things don’t work like they used to. Parts of me are very much acting their age. That can be very discouraging.

There is a stream of thought among Christians, usually Evangelicals, that says God doesn’t want us to be ill. If you only have enough faith, you will be well. I must disagree. Jesus healed people out of mercy, but also as a sign. He did not eliminate illness in Palestine at His time. The word “healed” gets used in Scripture, but not exclusively about physical illness.

But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    and with his wounds we are healed.

Isaiah 53:5 (ESV)

This is the most famous incidence and in context it is talking about healing from our sins, not getting rid of disease.

Illness and death are the products of sin and the curse. Even when you are forgiven of your sins through the death of Jesus, the “temporal” consequences of sin remain. Jesus spares us from the worst part, the eternal consequences of sin. The proof is in the pudding. Does not every Christian get old and die? That is not a lack of faith. It is the way it works under the curse.

God will on occasion respond to prayer and change the course of cause and effect in our lives. He can and does provide healing of disease either through “means” like medicine and the like, or miraculously (breaking the Laws of Physics). This is done with purpose. The benefactor has something they need to do.

It helps to understand, however, that one of the goals of our lives here is to physically break down far enough that we physically die. At that point, we can inherit a heavenly body and be with Christ. It is our job to be good stewards of the earthly body we possess and to serve the Lord here as long as He gives us. We should not “cut the corner” and purposely undermine our health. But understand where you are headed and why. It is unlikely that you will leave this Earth like Elijah in a fiery chariot.

Accepting this fact makes it easier to cope with aging and illness. This all stands on the forgiveness God gives us through Christ and the promise of eternal life as I have described in the articles of this blog. If we are not connected to Christ and headed for Sheol and ultimately Hell, then this is no comfort at all.

Confident in God’s grace to me, I can accept that at some point I will not be able to carry out the duties of being a pastor. I can retire and my purpose will change. I will still look to show love to people, share the Gospel when I can, encourage others in their faith. At some point, I may be restricted to a nursing facility (hopefully because of my body and not my brain). I will seek to care for and witness to the people there. If I become even more impaired, I will seek to pray and praise God. Hopefully, soon after that I can depart.

Is that morbid thinking? No! That is realistic and forward thinking that includes real hope. I have a plan. I am not living in denial. Denial is a lousy strategy.

Maybe I can remain high functioning until almost my departure date. That is my hope. I will do what I can to make that happen. But in the end you don’t get to choose. You can keep looking past death to the goal. God has provided for our best days to be the last. There is a brilliant eternity to look forward to thanks to Jesus!