The State of the Dead

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9. THE STATE OF THE DEAD There are 3 main views about what happens when a person dies. The first is that the person becomes dust and ceases to exist forever: there is nothing beyond death.

The second is that only the body is corruptible and a part of us, the soul or the spirit, is immortal and goes immediately to the afterlife.

The last is that death is like a sleep and the person will be resurrected back to life when Jesus comes back.

It is interesting to notice that the first of Satan’s deceptions was about death: he told Eve she wouldn’t die if she ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (see Genesis 3:4-5). Today many are deceived about what death really is.

1. Which Two Ingredients are Necessary for Life?

 Genesis 2:7 To understand what happens when we die we must first understand how God created life. God formed Adam’s body and then He breathed the breath of life into his nostrils. So the ingredients necessary for life are a body and the breath of life.

The text does not say that man has a soul but that he is a soul. The Hebrew word here translated with soul, nephesh, is translated in the Old Testament also with life, creature and person. It refers to man in his entirety not to a part of him.

Dust (body) + breath of life (spirit) = living soul (or being).

2. To Whom Belongs the Breath of Life?

 Job 32:8; Job 33:4 The breath of life belongs to God therefore our lives belong to Him; the life of every single person is in His hands.

3. How did Death Enter in the World?

 Romans 5:12 God created man to live eternally but sin spoiled His plan. Death came in the world through sin.

God did not want us to live eternally in a sinful condition therefore He banned Adam and Eve 2 9. The State of the Dead – Menorah Mission School – 2018/2019 from Eden that they would not continue to eat of the tree of life (see Genesis 3:22-24). Adam and Eve became mortals and they could not pass on to their children immortality.

4. What Happens at Death?

 Job 34:14-15; Ecclesiastes 12:7 If God takes the breath of life from a person, he or she dies. The body turns to dust and the living breath, or spirit, returns to God. If one of the ingredients necessary for life is taken away, the result is death.

Living soul (body+spirit) – breath of life (spirit) = dust.

5. What Ceases to Exist When We Die?

 Ecclesiastes 9:5-6,10; Psalms 115:17; 13:3; 6:5 The Bible clearly teaches that dead people know nothing; there are no emotions, thoughts, knowledge or conscience in death. Their mind ceased to exist.

The point that divides Christians is what the spirit that returns to God actually is. Those who believe that man has an immortal soul teach that the soul or spirit immediately goes to the afterlife.

Some believe that the souls of the saved worship and praise God even now. But the Bible says that no dead person can praise God.

Death is like a sleep: man has no conscience in death. Nowhere in the Bible is taught that the soul is an immortal entity (see Ezekiel 18:4). God is the only one immortal and He offers immortality as a gift to those who choose to believe in Jesus (see 1 Timothy 6:16 and John 3:16).

6. What does Men Wait in the Sleep of Death?

 1 Corinthians 15:51-54 This passage talks about the resurrection of the righteous that will take place at the sound of the last trumpet, i.e. at the second coming (see 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17). The saved will receive an incorruptible body, a body that does not corrupt with time.

Paul taught that man does not have an immortal part in himself but that this mortal body will put on immortality at the second coming.

Until that day comes, God keeps the spirit of every person who ever lived. Even though the dead do not exist any longer, God remembers their personality and physical appearance. At the resurrection, Jesus will breathe the breath of life, all the information about that person, into the dust that used to be the body of that person, bringing life back again. 9. The State of the Dead – Menorah Mission School – 2018/2019 3

7. Who Has the Keys of Death in His Hand? What do the Keys Represent?

 Revelation 1:17-18 Jesus has the keys of Hades, a Greek word that means tomb, and death. He who has the keys can go in and out of a house whenever he wants to. The keys are a symbol of authority over something.

Jesus died and yet He is alive. Death had no power on Him and could not hold the Author of life (see Acts 2:24). He laid down His life and had the power to take it back (see John 10:17-18).

8. What does Jesus Promise to Those Who Believe in Him?

 John 11:1-4,11-14,21-26.

Jesus went to raise his friend Lazarus; speaking to His disciples, He clearly taught that death is a sleep.

In his dialogue with Martha, Lazarus’ sister, we find a precious promise: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live” (v. 25). The grave is not the end of everything for he who believes in Jesus sleeps waiting to receive life again.

Jesus took your condemnation and died to deliver you from the power of death. Death is a defeated enemy and Jesus wants you to live free from the fear of death (see Hebrews 2:14-15).

Appeal

Do you choose to believe in Jesus’ power over death and live with the assurance that you will receive eternal life?