DEATH, DYING and SIN, and RESURRECTION
Some Common Concepts on
the Destiny of Mankind
Everyone dies! That is the
most certain event in a person's experience. It may strike at any time,
and often without any warning. Some 'pass away' peacefully, others meet
their ends amid violence and trauma. Nobody, in his right mind, wants to
die. He will do almost anything to stay alive and to make the experience
of being alive as comfortable and as satisfying as possible.
But why there is death,
what
it is, and what it entails, these are not quite clear in our minds
- especially if we have been inadvertantly influenced by the pagan traditions
and philosophies on the subject, these having insidiously infiltrated Christian
theology even to its very fundamentals.
We fear death. We look on
it as an enemy. We know that we will succumb to it. Life Assurance companies
are in big business because they can bank on it. But, somehow, we have
a 'gut feeling' that death is not the final curtain to our existence. So
we prepare for an afterlife. But, what is this afterlife, and how and when
do we attain it?
The answers each of us gives
to these very pertinent and important questions will arise out of our perception
of God. What is God, and how does He identify Himself? Why did He create?
What is man, and why did God create humanity? Our concept of God - whether
true to His revelation in Scripture, or false - will determine whether
our answers are in keeping with truth or founded upon the teachings and
traditions of human wisdom.
The gospel that is being
preached today, speaks of those who are saved by an acceptance of its message,
and of those who are not saved because of their rejection of it. But, whether
we focus on the ‘saved’ or the ‘unsaved’, we should settle for the truth
of
Scripture on the matter and not for some concoction of extra-scriptural
ideas and schemes.
We will not encumber ourselves
with all concepts and teachings that do not find support in Scripture,
such as the spurious concepts of Purgatory and Limbo that
have been concocted by the Roman Catholic Church to cover the 'gray areas'
that its theology sees. We shall concentrate, rather, on teachings that
are scriptural - or, at least, that seem to have some scriptural basis.
Scripture declares that
Jn.3:16
For
thus God loves the world, so that He gives His only-begotten
Son,
that everyone who is
believing in Him should not be perishing,
but may be having life
eonian.
Jn.3:17 For
God does not dispatch His Son into the world
that He should be judging
the world,
but that the world may
be saved through Him.
Rom.10:8-13
Near you is the declaration, in your mouth and in your heart--
that is, the declaration
of faith which we are heralding that,
if ever you should be avowing
with your mouth the declaration that Jesus is Lord,
and should be believing
in your heart that God rouses Him from among the dead,
you shall be saved.
For with the heart it is
believed for righteousness,
yet with the mouth it is
avowed for salvation.
For the scripture is saying:
Everyone who is believing on Him shall not be disgraced.
For there is no distinction
between Jew and Greek,
for the same One is Lord
of all, being rich for all who are invoking Him.
For everyone, whoever
should
be invoking the name of the Lord, shall be saved.
It is the common understanding
that in order to save humanity, Jesus Christ took upon Himself the penalty
due to humanity and experienced an ignominious death on the cross, dying
in
each one's place as each one's substitute. In this way, it is
said, God has made it possible for humanity to be saved. In other
words, each one can become free of the penalty each has been under because
the sentence passed on every one of humanity was executed on Jesus.
But the efficacy of this
work of salvation is said to apply only to those who choose to
accept Jesus Christ
as their own Personal Saviour. Salvation, according
to this popular view, is conditional - it is offered to all, but
each must deliberately choose to accept it for it to be effective.
At this point those who accept it are awarded eternal life and will go
to their reward in heaven the moment each one dies. Death, then, is a
point of transition from the present life to one of bliss in utopian
conditions.
Concerning the fate of those
who do not accept Jesus Christ, however, the proffered salvation
is
ineffective. There is no distinction made for those who have never
even heard the good news, or for those who may have heard but have not
understood the message to be able to respond to it. For all these, it seems
that there are two alternative views. Because they fail to acknowledge
Jesus Christ as their Personal Saviour, they do not qualify for salvation
and must, from the moment of death, suffer the penalty of EITHER,
(a) experiencing
everlasting
torments and unending tortures in an ever-burning ‘hell’
without any hope of appeal or reprieve, fully conscious of their
environment and of every aspect of suffering - all which they fully
deserve for their obstinacy. This is the position taken by Christian Orthodoxy.
Here, death is a point of transition from the present life to a
life of pain and torture for eternity. OR,
(b) being totally and
finally destroyed! Disintegrated! Annihilated! Removed
from existence! - so as not to mar the beauty and holiness of eternity
with their despicable presence. This is the teaching of groups such as
the Jehovah's Witnesses. Here, death is a point of transition
from the present life to oblivion - death ends everything, period!
Some Considerations
Though such concepts find
acceptance among Christians, let us not be too eager to jump on a wagon
on any of these trains of thought that actually run tangential to one another.
We should not accept these at face value. Rather, we need to examine their
validity. Some important points need to be thought through. If our understanding
of what the common penalty is that was declared on all humanity is correct,
it
must
fit the facts as declared in Scripture. We
must keep
in mind that,
2Tim.3:16,17
All scripture is inspired by God, and is beneficial
for teaching, for
exposure,
for correction, for discipline in righteousness,
that the man of God may
be equipped, fitted out for every good act.
2Tim.2:15 Endeavor
to present yourself to God qualified, an unashamed worker,
correctly cutting
the word of truth.
2Tim.1:13 Have
a
pattern of sound words, which you hear from me,
in faith and love which
are in Christ Jesus.
Our Saviour took upon Himself
the penalty each one of humanity has fallen under - whatever
it
is that each would have had to undergo. When we apply these commonly accepted
concepts to the death of Jesus Christ, we have to conclude that, if He
has saved even some of mankind and borne their penalty, He
MUST now be either:
1) suffering
the torments and tortures of hell at this very moment and on through
eternity
IF that
is what the penalty is for humanity! Or,
2) no more in existence,
erased from being, annihilated - IF that is the penalty due!
Otherwise it would mean that
the penalty due to each one of us was not, after all, actually
and fully taken up by Christ - and, hence, our confidence in salvation
could be questionable! We may not be saved after all, Christ having completed
only a part of the job at hand, having borne only a part
of the penalty, the time-span aspect (through all eternity) having
been left unfulfilled!
Scripture, however, asserts
in no uncertain terms that Jesus Christ was roused from among the dead
- becoming the Firstborn from among the dead (Col.1:18)! He is vibrantly
alive
- when our common faulty and at the same time contradictory doctrines,
to be logical and consistent,
should conclude that He is still
among the dead, and still undergoing the penalty which should
have been on us for eternity!
Rom.4:24,25
...who are believing on Him Who rouses Jesus
our Lord from among the
dead.
Who was given up because
of our offenses,
and was roused because
of our justifying.
1Cor.15:3,4
For I give over to you among the first what also I accepted,
that Christ died for
our sins according to the scriptures,
and that He was entombed,
and that He has been
roused the third day according to the scriptures,
Rom.6:9,10
having perceived that Christ,
being roused from among
the dead, is no longer dying.
Death is lording it over
Him no longer,
for in that He died, He
died to Sin once for all time,
yet in that He is living,
He is living to God.
Christ has been roused!
This is the basis and the very core of our evangel! So, these generally
accepted views concerning the penalty, whether of eternal suffering in
hell or of annihilation, actually contradict the very essence of
the message of salvation! Scripture is God’s declaration - it CANNOT
be at fault! It is our understanding of what the penalty due to
sin actually
is that needs to be adjusted to the truth!
Rom.3:4
'...let God be true, yet every man a liar,...
Can we imagine a god who brings
humans into the realm of the living, places them in either conducive or
hostile environments according to His choice, sets them against
often insurmountable obstacles - all without their assent or co-operation
- and then either punishes them continually through eternity, or annihilates
them, for their failure to overcome their heart-breaking challenges for
which they are not adequately equipped? A god who purports to be
a god of love, all-knowing and all-powerful, but who is vindictive in inflicting
unending suffering on his subjects because he either cannot,
or
will not, or could not care to, convert and empower them
to overcome? Or, a god who will destroy all trace of evidence for his
failure to draw the minds of his subjects to a realisation of the truth?
Is THIS
our GOD? Of course, not. But this is the caricature we have
made Him out to be by our careless handling of Scripture.
We have to conclude that,
whatever the penalty may be, it CANNOT be either everlasting suffering
nor annihilation! These must be unscriptural concepts concerning
the penalty!
As mentioned earlier, it
is taught that
those who accept Christ are saved from whatever penalty
due to them and have,
at the moment of death, the satisfying experience
of heavenly blessings prepared for them by God - to be enjoyed from then
on through all eternity.
But if, from the moment
of death, the faithful are brought into heaven to enjoy its eternal
glories, it would be rather superfluous for them to be resurrected on the
earth when Christ comes to set up the Kingdom as promised. Let us allow
Scripture to throw some light on this subject.
Moses offended God
at Meribah. The punishment meted was that he was to forfeit
the privilege of leading Israel into the promised land - the very goal
of their exodus from Egypt. Let us pick up the story at the end of Moses'
career - when Israel's entry into the promised land was imminent.
Deut.32:49-52
Go up to this mount of the Abarim range
(Mount Nebo which is in
the country of Moab that is overlooking Jericho),
and see the land of Canaan
that I am giving to the sons of Israel for a holding;
and die on the mount
where you are going up, and be gathered to your people,
just as Aaron your brother
died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people,
because both of you offended
Me in the midst of the sons of Israel
at the waters of Meribah
at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin,
because neither of you
hallowed Me in the midst of the sons of Israel.
For from a distance
shall you see the land,
yet you shall
not
enter
there into the land that I am giving to the sons of Israel.
Deut.34:4,5
Then Yahweh said to him:
This is the land about which
I had sworn to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, saying,
To your seed shall I give
it.
I have let you see it with
your eyes, yet you shall not cross over there.
Moses, the servant of Yahweh,
died there in the country of Moab
at the bidding of Yahweh.
The question is - In what way
could Moses be deemed to have been taken to task, or reprimanded
by God, if he would be dying and going to heaven to become immortal
before
the rest of those he had been leading through the wilderness? If heaven
was to be his immediate destiny, Moses should have been thoroughly
elated
at the prospect. Would he not be receiving a reward for having doubted
God? In what way can it be seen that his pride of position had actually
brought on a forfeit, a loss?
Moses is dead! Like
him, the faithful of Israel, who have died through the years, are also
dead!
- and will remain dead as long as there is no resurrection! And
if there is to be no resurrection they will NEVER see life again; they
will NEVER receive the promises God has made to their forefathers Abraham
and Isaac and Jacob! And God’s promises would be, in reality, just empty
boasting on His part!
1Cor.15:12-19
…
how are some among you saying
that there is no resurrection of the dead?
Now if there is no resurrection
of the dead, neither has Christ been roused. ….
For, if the dead are not
being roused, neither has Christ been roused.
Now, if Christ has not been
roused,…
those also, who are put
to repose in Christ, perished.
Job.14:12,13
So a man lies down and shall not rise;
Until the heavens fail,
they
shall not awake,
Nor shall they be roused
from their sleep….
Heb.11:1-40
Abel... Enoch... Noah... Abraham... Sarah... In faith died all these,
not being requited with
the promises, but perceiving them ahead and saluting them,
and avowing that they are
strangers and expatriates on the earth...
they are craving a better,
that is, a celestial;...
By faith Abraham,...offered
Isaac...
reckoning that God is able
to be rousing him from among the dead also;...
By faith Isaac...
Jacob,... Joseph,... Moses,...
Now others are flogged,
not anticipating deliverance,
that they may be happening
upon a better resurrection.
Yet others got a trial of
scoffings and scourgings, yet still more of bonds and jail.
They are stoned, they are
sawn, they are tried, they died, murdered by the sword;
they wandered about in sheepskins,
in goatskins, in want, afflicted, maltreated
(of whom the world was not
worthy),
straying in wildernesses
and mountains and caves and the holes of the earth.
And these all, being testified
to through faith,
are not requited with
the promise of God concerning us
(the looking forward is
to something better),
that, apart from us,
they
may not be perfected.
These faithful people of old
have died. But they have not gone to heaven, as is commonly supposed.
They are still dead at this moment - and they will remain dead and
will not receive their promised reward until the rest of faithful Israel
have been made ready to receive it TOGETHER!
Scripture insists that NO
ONE out of all humanity - except Jesus Christ - has gone to heaven. But
if death is the end of the story, then, all the faithful who have died
have held on to a vain hope.
June 2001
Back to:
....Main
menu of articles
....Section
1 - Introduction
God Himself
....Section
2 - The Power of Life
....Section
3 - The Power in God's Operations
I
....Section
4 - The Power in God's Operations
II
....Section
5 - Metaphysical Beings I
....Section
6 - Metaphysical Beings II
|
