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Blessed
is he that readeth, and they that hear the words
of this prophecy, and keep those things which are
written therein: for the time is at hand.
Revelation 1:3 |
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Life
After Death
Lesson
9
Marking
Code: LD
Marking Color: Brown
Key Text: Job 14:14
- Job 14:14. What
is death? Is it as final as it seems?
Or is there something better beyond
the tearful goodbyes? If a man dies,
will he live again? Men and women
have been asking this question as
long as death has existed. The Bible
has the only source of authoritative
information on this important
question.
- Genesis 2:16, 17;
3:4. The devil told the first lie
to Eve in the Garden of
Eden-“You shall not surely
die.” God had said that death
would result if Adam and Eve
disobeyed Him and ate the forbidden
fruit. However, the devil
contradicted god. That first lie
continues today in the common belief
that when a person dies, he or she (a
person’s soul) continues to live
in some form.
- Ezekiel 18:4,20. Souls
do die! The bible often uses the word
“soul” to mean simply
“a person,” “a human
being.”
- 1 Timothy 1:17;
6:15,16. Only God is immortal.
- 1 Corinthians
15:51-54. Human beings receive
immortality only at Jesus’
second coming.
- Matthew 24:23,24. The
last days will be a time of
deception. Satan is particularly
eager to deceive us regarding what
happens after death because a
misunderstanding here opens the way
for him to introduce a multitude of
deceptions.
Leviticus
20:27. God warns us against consulting those
who claim to be able to communicate with the
dead.
- Ecclesiastes 9: 5,
6. What happens to a person when
he or she dies? The Bible is clear
that when a person dies, they know
nothing. They cease to exist; their
feelings and emotions come to an end;
they have no part in what happens on
earth.
Psalm
146:3,4. Their thoughts perish.
Psalm
115:17. The dead no not praise God.
- Acts 2:34. Peter
specifically says that David (who had
died centuries earlier) had not gone
to heaven.
- Ecclesiastes 12:7. When
a person dies his or her body returns
to dust, and the “spirit”
returns to God. What is this
“spirit.” Moreover, what
does it mean that it returns to God?
- Genesis 2:7. At
Creation, God made Adam out of the
dust of the earth (the body) and
breathed into him the breath (spirit)
of life. The result of this
combination is a “living
being” (some translations of the
Bible say, a “living soul.”
So body + God’s life-giving
spirit = a living human being. At
death, the process is reversed. The
body returns to the earth; God takes
back His life-giving spirit; and the
living soul – or living
being-ceases to exist. Nowhere in the
Bible is the word “soul”
used to mean a conscious, intelligent
entity, capable of existence apart
from the body.
- Luke 23:42,43. Didn’t
Jesus tell the repentant thief on the
cross that he would go to heaven with
Him that very day when he and Jesus
died? Actually, Jesus didn’t go
to Paradise that very day of the
crucifixion-Friday. He told Mary on
Sunday morning-two days later-that He
hadn’t yet ascended to His
Father in heaven. (John 20:17). Jesus
was assuring the thief, “I tell
you this very day when all seems to
be failure that you will be with me
in heaven.” He didn’t tell
him that they would be in heaven that
very day; Jesus told him that very
day that they would be together
someday in heaven.
- 1 Thessalonians
4:16-18. Good News! The righteous
people who have died will live
again-when Jesus returns. Until then,
they sleep in the grave-unconscious,
waiting for their Lord to raise them
to immortal life.
LD-End.
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