Life After Death
Bible Study Time 8-6-06
Church links:
Bible Study Time 8-6-06
In Mark, Chapter 12, the Sadducees asked Jesus a question about what marriage will be like after the resurrection. Of coarse, the Lord Jesus knew that the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection so He said:
Mark 12:24-27 (NLT)
24 "Your problem is that you don't know the Scriptures, and you don't know the power of God.
25 For when the dead rise, they won't be married. They will be like the angels in heaven.
26 But now, as to whether the dead will be raised — haven't you ever read about this in the writings of Moses, in the story of the burning bush? Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, God said to Moses, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.'
27 So he is the God of the living, not the dead. You have made a serious error."
The fact that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were already poised to be raised from the dead makes them living beings even though their bodies lie in the grave.
After Elisha died, his body was placed in a tomb. Some time later, some Israelites were burying a man when they spotted a band of Moabite raiders. They hurriedly placed the man’s body in Elisha’s tomb, and when the man’s body touched Elisha’s bones, he suddenly revived and stood upon his feet.
In this we see a powerful demonstration of the potential for life that lies dormant within the bodies of all those who have died. Being raised from the dead is a sure thing for all those who face death.
Believers who die in our present age will be resurrected before the tribulation period. All other believers will be resurrected just before the thousand year reign of Christ. Then all of the unsaved dead will be resurrected at the end of Christ’s thousand year reign only to face Christ at the Great White Throne of judgment.
When Moses went to Egypt to deliver his fellow countrymen from Egyptian bondage, he became discouraged when Pharaoh refused to let the children of Israel go, but God encouraged Moses, saying:
Exodus 6:2-4 (NLT)
2 . . . "I am the LORD.
3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, though I did not reveal (to them that) my name (is) the LORD . . .
4 And I entered into a solemn covenant with them. Under its terms, I swore to give them the land of Canaan, where they were living.
Notice that God did not say, “I swore to give you the land of Canaan.” He said, “I swore to give them the land of Canaan.” The implication of these words is clear; someday Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will be resurrected to receive the land of Canaan.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob lived their whole lives knowing that God had not and would not fulfill this promise until after many generations. At one point God actually told Abraham that his descendants would be strangers in a strange land and would be afflicted for 400 years before being brought back into the land of promise.
Even so, Abraham was not discouraged. Hebrews 11 says that:
Hebrews 11:8-10,13 (NLT)
8 It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave (his) home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going.
9 And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith — for he was like a foreigner, living in a tent. And so did Isaac and Jacob, to whom God gave the same promise.
10 Abraham did this because he was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.
13 All these faithful ones died without receiving what God had promised them, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed the promises of God. They agreed that they were no more than foreigners and nomads here on earth.
Why were these men willing to live their whole lives without ever seeing the fulfillment of God’s promise? They believed in the resurrection. The book of Hebrews goes on to say that
Hebrews 11:17-19 (NKJ)
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
18 of whom it was said, "In Isaac your seed shall be called,"
19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.
Clearly, Abraham’s faith was not weakened by the prospect of death. Death had no bearing on his faith because he knew that God has the ability to raise the dead.
I’m afraid that many times we get wrapped up in the things of this life, and we start feeling that all is lost if things don’t go just this way or that way, but Abraham did not seem to worry about the details of this life. He was able to keep his eyes steadfastly fixed upon the reward that God had promised Him. He knew that there was nothing in this world that could keep him from seeing and obtaining that heavenly city with eternal foundations.
The Apostle Paul expressed pretty much the same idea in Romans, Chapter 8, when he said:
Romans 8:16-18 (NKJ)
16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
17 and if children, then heirs-- heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Romans 8:28-30 (NKJ)
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
Romans 8:33,35,38,39 (NKJ)
33 Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,
39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
On the other hand, in I Corinthians 15, Paul said that:
1 Corinthians 15:19-20,23-26 (NLT)
19 . . . if we have hope in Christ only for this life, we are the most miserable people in the world.
20 But the fact is that Christ has been raised from the dead. He has become the first of a great harvest of those who will be raised to life again.
23 But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised first; then when Christ comes back, all his people will be raised.
24 After that the end will come, when he will turn the Kingdom over to God the Father, having put down all enemies of every kind.
25 For Christ must reign until he humbles all his enemies beneath his feet.
26 And the last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Notice that here in I Corinthians, Paul gives the order of the resurrections, and He says that the first resurrection after that of Christ will be the resurrection of believers at Christ’s second coming. Then he says that the end will come and death will be destroyed.
Since Christ’s second coming will occur at the end of the tribulation period, it seems apparent that at this point Paul did not see a resurrection of believers before the tribulation period. This timeline of events is in perfect agreement with Revelation, Chapter 20, where the Apostle John said that the “first resurrection” will be before the thousand year reign of Christ, and it will include those who were killed for refusing the mark of the beast. In Revelation 20, and verse 4, John said:
Revelation 20:4-5 (NLT )
4 . . . I saw thrones, and the people sitting on them had been given the authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony about Jesus, for proclaiming the word of God. And I saw the souls of those who had not worshiped the beast or his statue, nor accepted his mark on their forehead or their hands. They came to life again, and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
5 This is the first resurrection. (The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years had ended.)
Clearly, John did not see a resurrection of believers before the tribulation period, but he went on to say that the second resurrection will take place at the end of the thousand year reign when Christ subdues all of His enemies. This will take place at the Great White Throne judgment when all of the unsaved dead are cast into the lake of fire.
The Bible says that the lake of fire is the second death, and as I Corinthians 15 says, this is the time when death as we know it will be destroyed. The death that we are familiar with is one which is not eternal. People today who die without accepting Christ go to a place known as hell or hades, but at the time of the Great White Throne judgment, death and hell will be cast into the lake of fire along with those who are unsaved. .
It is somewhat startling to many people when they see that neither Paul (in I Corinthians 15) or John (in Revelation 20) saw a resurrection of believers before the tribulation period, and unfortunately, many people look at these verses and conclude that the Church of our present age will go through the tribulation period. However, we must not forget that I Corinthians was written during the Acts period before the Church, the Body of Christ, was revealed.
During the Acts period, the Apostle Paul was preaching as a minister of the New Covenant. He was anticipating the tribulation period, the second coming of Christ and the setting up of the kingdom. By the time the Apostle Paul wrote Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, I and II Timothy and Titus, he had been given the revelation concerning the Church which is the Body of Christ.
Paul said that this revelation was something which none of the other apostles or prophets knew about because it was revealed specifically to Paul. In the letters which he wrote after the Acts period, Paul never even once referred to the second coming of Christ. Instead, he always referred to the appearing of Christ. In Paul’s first letter to Timothy he said:
1 Timothy 6:13-14 (NKJ)
13 I urge you in the sight of God . . .
14 that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ's appearing,
In Paul’s second letter to Timothy he said:
2 Timothy 4:8 (NKJ)
8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.
To Titus Paul wrote that we should:
Titus 2:12-13 (NKJ)
12 . . . live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,
13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
Paul may not have known about the significance of the appearing of Christ when he wrote his Acts period epistles. If he did, he gave no such indication in those letters.
Today, our hope of the pretribulation rapture lies in Paul’s revelation of the mystery concerning the Church which is the Body of Christ. In this body of truth Paul revealed that the program for the Church, the Body of Christ, is separate and apart from God’s program for Israel.
Therefore, the Church, the Body of Christ, will be taken up into heaven before God resumes his dealings with Israel. Specifically, the rapture and resurrection of the Church will occur at the time of Christ’s appearing for:
Colossians 3:4 (NKJ)
4 When Christ who is our life appears, then (we) also will appear with Him in glory.
I see our time is gone for this morning. Thank you for listening to another broadcast of Bible Study Time.
Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com
Mark 12:24-27 (NLT)
24 "Your problem is that you don't know the Scriptures, and you don't know the power of God.
25 For when the dead rise, they won't be married. They will be like the angels in heaven.
26 But now, as to whether the dead will be raised — haven't you ever read about this in the writings of Moses, in the story of the burning bush? Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, God said to Moses, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.'
27 So he is the God of the living, not the dead. You have made a serious error."
The fact that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were already poised to be raised from the dead makes them living beings even though their bodies lie in the grave.
After Elisha died, his body was placed in a tomb. Some time later, some Israelites were burying a man when they spotted a band of Moabite raiders. They hurriedly placed the man’s body in Elisha’s tomb, and when the man’s body touched Elisha’s bones, he suddenly revived and stood upon his feet.
In this we see a powerful demonstration of the potential for life that lies dormant within the bodies of all those who have died. Being raised from the dead is a sure thing for all those who face death.
Believers who die in our present age will be resurrected before the tribulation period. All other believers will be resurrected just before the thousand year reign of Christ. Then all of the unsaved dead will be resurrected at the end of Christ’s thousand year reign only to face Christ at the Great White Throne of judgment.
When Moses went to Egypt to deliver his fellow countrymen from Egyptian bondage, he became discouraged when Pharaoh refused to let the children of Israel go, but God encouraged Moses, saying:
Exodus 6:2-4 (NLT)
2 . . . "I am the LORD.
3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, though I did not reveal (to them that) my name (is) the LORD . . .
4 And I entered into a solemn covenant with them. Under its terms, I swore to give them the land of Canaan, where they were living.
Notice that God did not say, “I swore to give you the land of Canaan.” He said, “I swore to give them the land of Canaan.” The implication of these words is clear; someday Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will be resurrected to receive the land of Canaan.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob lived their whole lives knowing that God had not and would not fulfill this promise until after many generations. At one point God actually told Abraham that his descendants would be strangers in a strange land and would be afflicted for 400 years before being brought back into the land of promise.
Even so, Abraham was not discouraged. Hebrews 11 says that:
Hebrews 11:8-10,13 (NLT)
8 It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave (his) home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going.
9 And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith — for he was like a foreigner, living in a tent. And so did Isaac and Jacob, to whom God gave the same promise.
10 Abraham did this because he was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.
13 All these faithful ones died without receiving what God had promised them, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed the promises of God. They agreed that they were no more than foreigners and nomads here on earth.
Why were these men willing to live their whole lives without ever seeing the fulfillment of God’s promise? They believed in the resurrection. The book of Hebrews goes on to say that
Hebrews 11:17-19 (NKJ)
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
18 of whom it was said, "In Isaac your seed shall be called,"
19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.
Clearly, Abraham’s faith was not weakened by the prospect of death. Death had no bearing on his faith because he knew that God has the ability to raise the dead.
I’m afraid that many times we get wrapped up in the things of this life, and we start feeling that all is lost if things don’t go just this way or that way, but Abraham did not seem to worry about the details of this life. He was able to keep his eyes steadfastly fixed upon the reward that God had promised Him. He knew that there was nothing in this world that could keep him from seeing and obtaining that heavenly city with eternal foundations.
The Apostle Paul expressed pretty much the same idea in Romans, Chapter 8, when he said:
Romans 8:16-18 (NKJ)
16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
17 and if children, then heirs-- heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Romans 8:28-30 (NKJ)
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
Romans 8:33,35,38,39 (NKJ)
33 Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,
39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
On the other hand, in I Corinthians 15, Paul said that:
1 Corinthians 15:19-20,23-26 (NLT)
19 . . . if we have hope in Christ only for this life, we are the most miserable people in the world.
20 But the fact is that Christ has been raised from the dead. He has become the first of a great harvest of those who will be raised to life again.
23 But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised first; then when Christ comes back, all his people will be raised.
24 After that the end will come, when he will turn the Kingdom over to God the Father, having put down all enemies of every kind.
25 For Christ must reign until he humbles all his enemies beneath his feet.
26 And the last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Notice that here in I Corinthians, Paul gives the order of the resurrections, and He says that the first resurrection after that of Christ will be the resurrection of believers at Christ’s second coming. Then he says that the end will come and death will be destroyed.
Since Christ’s second coming will occur at the end of the tribulation period, it seems apparent that at this point Paul did not see a resurrection of believers before the tribulation period. This timeline of events is in perfect agreement with Revelation, Chapter 20, where the Apostle John said that the “first resurrection” will be before the thousand year reign of Christ, and it will include those who were killed for refusing the mark of the beast. In Revelation 20, and verse 4, John said:
Revelation 20:4-5 (NLT )
4 . . . I saw thrones, and the people sitting on them had been given the authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony about Jesus, for proclaiming the word of God. And I saw the souls of those who had not worshiped the beast or his statue, nor accepted his mark on their forehead or their hands. They came to life again, and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
5 This is the first resurrection. (The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years had ended.)
Clearly, John did not see a resurrection of believers before the tribulation period, but he went on to say that the second resurrection will take place at the end of the thousand year reign when Christ subdues all of His enemies. This will take place at the Great White Throne judgment when all of the unsaved dead are cast into the lake of fire.
The Bible says that the lake of fire is the second death, and as I Corinthians 15 says, this is the time when death as we know it will be destroyed. The death that we are familiar with is one which is not eternal. People today who die without accepting Christ go to a place known as hell or hades, but at the time of the Great White Throne judgment, death and hell will be cast into the lake of fire along with those who are unsaved. .
It is somewhat startling to many people when they see that neither Paul (in I Corinthians 15) or John (in Revelation 20) saw a resurrection of believers before the tribulation period, and unfortunately, many people look at these verses and conclude that the Church of our present age will go through the tribulation period. However, we must not forget that I Corinthians was written during the Acts period before the Church, the Body of Christ, was revealed.
During the Acts period, the Apostle Paul was preaching as a minister of the New Covenant. He was anticipating the tribulation period, the second coming of Christ and the setting up of the kingdom. By the time the Apostle Paul wrote Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, I and II Timothy and Titus, he had been given the revelation concerning the Church which is the Body of Christ.
Paul said that this revelation was something which none of the other apostles or prophets knew about because it was revealed specifically to Paul. In the letters which he wrote after the Acts period, Paul never even once referred to the second coming of Christ. Instead, he always referred to the appearing of Christ. In Paul’s first letter to Timothy he said:
1 Timothy 6:13-14 (NKJ)
13 I urge you in the sight of God . . .
14 that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ's appearing,
In Paul’s second letter to Timothy he said:
2 Timothy 4:8 (NKJ)
8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.
To Titus Paul wrote that we should:
Titus 2:12-13 (NKJ)
12 . . . live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,
13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
Paul may not have known about the significance of the appearing of Christ when he wrote his Acts period epistles. If he did, he gave no such indication in those letters.
Today, our hope of the pretribulation rapture lies in Paul’s revelation of the mystery concerning the Church which is the Body of Christ. In this body of truth Paul revealed that the program for the Church, the Body of Christ, is separate and apart from God’s program for Israel.
Therefore, the Church, the Body of Christ, will be taken up into heaven before God resumes his dealings with Israel. Specifically, the rapture and resurrection of the Church will occur at the time of Christ’s appearing for:
Colossians 3:4 (NKJ)
4 When Christ who is our life appears, then (we) also will appear with Him in glory.
I see our time is gone for this morning. Thank you for listening to another broadcast of Bible Study Time.
Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com
Church links:
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