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Death and Resurrection

One day Jesus received word that his friend Lazarus was sick. The message was sent by Mary and Martha of Bethany, the sisters of Lazarus. By the time Jesus arrived, Lazarus had been dead for four days. As Jesus approached, he was met by Martha, and he told her, “Your brother will rise.”

Jesus intended to resurrect Lazarus, but Martha misunderstood what Jesus meant. So she said to Jesus, “I know he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.” (John 11:1-45)

Notice closely what she said, because it reflects what God’s people believed when Jesus was on this earth. Notice too that Jesus did not say she was wrong. Why? Because what she said is what the Bible teaches.

And what does the Bible teach about death and resurrection? It is quite different from what a lot of people believe.

What does the Bible say happens when we die? Do we go to heaven? Take a look at what Martha and all others of God’s people believed when Jesus was with us. ...and at that time your people will be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.—Daniel 12:1b, 2

So you see, what Martha believed came from the Bible, that the faithful would be resurrected on the last day. In the book of Revelation, the very last book of the Bible, it tells us the same thing as the book of Daniel. (Revelation 20:11-13)

The Dead will be raised on the Last Day

So what the Bible says is that the dead will be raised on what Martha called “the last day”, the time when the resurrection takes place. Notice that not only did Jesus not say she was wrong, but he never taught anything different while he was on Earth, or after he was resurrected and raised to a position of glory next to his Father in the heavens. Go take a look at the Bible. Try and find any scripture that says anyone will go to heaven when they die. Look for a scripture that explicitly tells us that our loved ones are in heaven right now. People can, and regrettably do, make their own interpretation of scripture and claim it says something that it does not, but find a scripture that clearly and unequivocally says that we go to heaven when we die.

What the Bible teaches is much kinder. Would you like to be in heaven looking down at all the troubles, heartaches, and suffering that your family may go through when you are gone, and not be able to do anything to help? The Bible says you will not, but will lie as in sleep until the blessed resurrection that Martha and all faithful men and women back in Bible times and in our day look forward to in the future.

What happens when we die?

But what does the Bible tell us happens when we die? ...for dust you are, and to dust you will return. When our mortal body returns to dust, what becomes of us? The Bible clearly tells us that we are unconscious. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work, nor reason, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, where you are going. A few verses earlier Ecclesiastes 9:5 tells us: For the living know that they will die, but the dead do not know anything, neither do they have a reward anymore, for the memory of them is forgotten. (Genesis 3:19; Ecclesiastes 9:10; Psalm 104:29; Ecclesiastes 3:20; 12:7)

None of this should make us feel bad, however, because what this tells us is that the dead are unconscious. It tells us that they are not in heaven, but it also tells us that they are not suffering in any way, whether physically or mentally. They are as if asleep. (1 Thessalonians 4:14)

Now if the mortal body of the dead has decayed and returned to dust, and if they are not conscious, where are they? Do they have an immortal soul that is at rest somewhere? Not according to the Bible. (Genesis 3:19)

Adam became a living soul

In Genesis chapter two, it tells us of the creation of man. And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. Notice what it says. It does not say that God gave man a living soul. Rather, it says that man became a living soul. God created a physical body for the first man and breathed in the breath of life. God gave the life to man. But it does not say that he implanted or incarnated an immortal spirit into man. When man’s life ceased, that life returned to the giver of life. Life in essence returned to God, but no spirit flew off to the heavens or anywhere else.

When a person dies, whether a good person or a bad person, he or she just plain and simply ceases to exist. Anyone looking for a scripture that explicitly says otherwise, will look in vain. Again, we keep using the word explicitly because there are many who take the scriptures and try to imply they say something that they do not. In doing this, in trying to alter the meaning of the scriptures, they do themselves a grave disservice as they are inviting the wrath and disapproval of Almighty God. (2 Peter 3:16)

Where are the dead now?

But if the dead are to be raised on that last day, where are they until then? Simply put, they are in the memory of God, which is the very best and safest place to be. Remember that God did not make the universe and all that is in it from pre-existing material. He created it out of nothing through his son Jesus Christ. He created every atom, every subparticle, every entity of whatever description. It all came from him. (Colossians 1:16)

God knows all things. The Bible tells us he knows when a sparrow falls. He knows every particle in existence. And he very thoroughly knows us down to every atom and molecule in our body, and every thought and memory in our mind. (Matthew 10:29: Hebrews 4:12)

So God is able to raise us to life again, correcting our short-comings and infirmities, but leaving intact those things he chooses to leave intact. And one thing he does not change is our free will, because he chooses to have as his servants only those who serve him of their own free will.

Where will the dead be raised?

Where will they be raised to life? The vast bulk of mankind will be raised to life on this earth. Will this not overwhelm the resources of the planet? The Bible does not have much more to say about the resurrection beyond a few brief references, because we do not need to know any more than it tells us, but keep in mind that the Bible says all things will be new. God will take care of everything perfectly and to an extent that it will result in unending joy and happiness to those blessed by being resurrected and those who live to see that wondrous time. (Revelation 1:5; 20:13; 21:1‑7)

There was something Jesus did not tell Martha when she correctly referred to the resurrection on the last day. It was something he would reveal later. The Bible refers to it as a mystery. Some of those who are faithful to God would not be resurrected to life on earth, but to life in the heavens. Christ Jesus would originate a New Covenant with his faithful followers that would replace the Old Covenant that came through Moses. Those in that covenant will receive a heavenly resurrection. And those covenant followers of Jesus who survive until his coming will be elevated to life in the heavens. (1 Thessalonian 4:17; Luke 22:29, 30)

The Bible tells us at 1 Corinthians 15:42-54 that the faithful followers of Jesus who are in the New Covenant with him, when they die will have their physical body replaced by a spiritual body, so that they will be like Jesus. While on earth they have a physical body made of dust like Adam, when raised to life in the heavens they will be given a spiritual body just like Jesus. The Bible is very emphatic about this. In that scripture it says Now this I say, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither does corruption inherit incorruption. Our physical body here on earth is made of flesh, which as Jesus showed represents our body, and the blood that courses through our veins, just as when Jesus used the unleavened bread to represent his body, his flesh, and the wine to represent his blood. (Luke 22:19, 20)

What happened to the body of Jesus?

There is a question that naturally comes to mind. In all four gospels, we are told that when Mary Magdalene and other disciples of Jesus went on the first day of the week to the tomb where he had been laid they found it empty. His body was not there. Matthew, Mark, and Luke, tell us that they were informed by angels that he had risen. At Luke 24:6 the angels asked Why are you looking for the living among the dead? He is not here but he has risen.

But his body? What happened to his body? When Mary Magdalene and the others wondered about that, they were told by the angels: He is not here. He has been raised up. The angels said nothing else about what may have happened to the body of Jesus. Since Mary Magdalene encountered Jesus shortly after, it is very easy to conclude that Jesus had been raised to life body and all, But there is a problem with that conclusion. (Matthew 28:1-15; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-12; John 20:1-18)

As noted above, the Apostle Paul, under divine inspiration, said that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. A fleshly body, cannot live in the heaves. What is the explanation? We cannot, and must not, go beyond the scriptures, nor can we accept an explanation that contradicts the holy inspired scriptures. Nor can we apply an explanation that does not take all of God’s inspired word into consideration. Make no mistake about it, the Bible clearly shows that the term ‘flesh’ refers to the physical body, the flesh, muscles, sinews, organs, and skeletal structure, of the body, with the exception of the blood which is regarded as separate and sacred since it is the one body component that can be drained.

At Leviticus 17:11 it says For the life of the flesh is in the blood... Notice that it refers to the body as the flesh. The term flesh and blood refers to the whole creature both the body and the blood. Therefore when the Bible says flesh and blood it means the body in its entirety along with the blood. Jesus was raised up a spirit. His body was removed by God. (1 Corinthians 15:45) What became of his physical body the scriptures do not say, but they make absolutely clear that it could not have gone to heaven. The Apostle Paul was not lying when he wrote those words at First Corinthians and he was writing under inspiration from God and the Bible says it is impossible for God to lie. We must not attempt to force our own ideas onto the Bible. (Hebrews 6:18)

A Closer Look

It is well that we take a closer look at what Jesus Christ and the Bible teaches us about a number of essential things.

We have already seen that Jesus by his death on a stake ransomed mankind from inherited death and the punishment that would come as a result of our own sins.

It is important to appreciate that God created Adam perfect. And it is important to realize that Adam was created to live, not to die. What the Bible says about Adam, Jesus, and the ransom would make no sense if Adam was created just to die in the end.

In fact, Paul discussed this at some length in Romans 5:6-21. In verse twelve, he says ...through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death passed to all men, because all sinned... Notice that Adam sinned and death came as a result of that sin. In Genesis 3:17-34, God passed sentence on Adam for disobedience. That sentence was death—physical death. The Bible clearly shows that to be the case. Physical death came through Adam, and the only way this would make sense is if Adam was originally not intended to die.

God did not create Adam to live a while and then die and go to heaven. God made the angelic spirits to populate the heavens, and he made man to populate the Earth. Any suggestion otherwise contradicts the Bible. He makes his angels spirits... says Psalm 104:4. The heavens are the heavens of Jehovah, but the earth he has given to the children of men. (Psalm 115:16)

What this means is that mankind was intended to live forever, not to die and go to heaven. Therefore the sacrifice of Jesus redeemed mankind from that sentence of death. But if that is so, why after Jesus died for mankind do we still die?

The answer to that question is very important because it is much misunderstood and this leads to many wrong ideas, so let us go through it step-by-step.

When Jesus was put to death he redeemed all mankind. No more than fifty days later he went to heaven and was enthroned at his father’s right hand. (Hebrews 12:2; Revelation 5:2-14) In accord with Jesus’s promise holy spirit was poured out on his servants. (Revelation 16:7-15; Acts 2:1-4) He also presented his shed blood as a ransom for mankind. (Hebrews 9:11, 12)

That ransom was immediately applicable in the sense that now the faithful servants of God in this New Covenant could look forward to a resurrection of life, that is, if they died faithful they would live forever, and be raised to life, not on this earth but in the heavens. (Hebrews 3:1; Romans 8:30; Philippians 3:11, 20, 21; 1 Corinthians 15:51-53; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17)

Since the value of that sacrifice would cover all who ever lived, they will attain life if they died faithful, and others can attain life if they submit to God. They will have an opportunity to live on a paradise earth. (Revelation 20:11-15)

These faithful followers of Jesus who are part of the heavenly calling, were not immediately called to life in the heavens. When Jesus died, no one went to heaven except Jesus.

In Peter’s speech, which he gave less than two months after the death of Jesus, Peter said of the patriarch David, that he did not ascend to the heavens. (Acts 2:3, 4) In fact, the Bible at John 3:13, says that no man had ascended to the heavens except Jesus.

The Book of First Thessalonians was written almost twenty years after Jesus died and at that time no one had ascended to heaven. (1 Thessalonians 4:14-17) The Book of Revelation was written close to the end of the First Century, which is more than sixty years after Jesus died, and the faithful dead had not yet been resurrected. (Revelation 6:9-11)

Have the dead been raised by now?

This then raises the question, have the faithful dead, who are in a covenant with Jesus Christ, been resurrected yet? And if not, how much longer will they sleep? And those who have not covenanted with Jesus, or who died prior to his sacrifice, what of them?

Adam was created to live forever. God warned Adam that, ...of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you must not eat from it, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die. This was no metaphorical or spiritual death. This meant that if he ate from the tree, and of course he ended up doing just that, he would die—his physical body would die and decay into the dust of the earth. (Genesis 3:17‑19)

God intended man to live on the earth forever. Man was not created to populate the heavens. God created the angels to live in the heavens. We have already pointed out that Acts 2:34 tells us that King David, the ruler of the united kingdom of Israel, never ascended into the heavens. David lived about three thousand years ago. David was not alone in not going to heaven. When Jesus came to this earth some two thousand years ago, it had been about four thousand years since Adam died and returned to dust, and at that time no man had ascended into heaven. Truly, man was intended to live forever on this earth.

Because Adam, by his sin, brought the sentence of death on all his descendants, and thus all of mankind, God sent his son, Jesus Christ, to redeem, that is ransom, all those who would put faith in him. Those who put faith in him would partake of what the Bible calls the heavenly calling. So those who put faith in him, according to how that faith is defined in the Bible, would inherit life in the heavens. This means that when Jesus comes, if they are dead they will be resurrected to life in the heavens, and if they are still alive, they will be elevated to life in the heavens. (Romans 5:12, 15; John 3:16; Hebrews 3:1; 1 Corinthians 15:51-53; 1 Thessalonians 4:17)

As we have seen, this had not happened by the end of the first century and it has not occurred yet. It will occur at what the Bible calls “the last trumpet” and Martha called “the last day” , that is the end of the age. We know it has not occurred because the Bible tells us everyone will know when the time comes. (Acts 1:11; Revelation 1:7)

What happens to the faithful men and women of old?

But what of the rest of mankind? What of the faithful men and women of old? What of all the people that lived both before and after Jesus? What of all other people? We know where good people will live, because Jesus said that the meek will inherit the earth. The meek are the good people. We should never misunderstand the word meek as it is used in the Bible. It has been said that our English word meek does not have the same range of meaning as the original Greek word. We realize this if we consider that Jesus used the same word to describe himself, and the Bible tells us he will destroy the wicked. He will be the victor at the battle of Armageddon. (Matthew 5:5: Matthew 11:29)

In Revelation 21:2, 3, it says And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of the throne saying, “Look, the tent of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them, and be their God.” You will notice it does not say that men will go up to heaven, but rather the New Jerusalem comes down to them. While it does so in a spiritual sense, this still shows us that mankind will dwell on the earth, not in the heavens. Although it will be a transformed earth. (Revelation 21:1)

The Bible tells us that the dead will be judged according to their deeds. Those who are judged favorably will inherit eternal life. Death will then cease to exist. The death inherited from Adam will be no more, as the ransom paid by Jesus Christ will be applied to mankind. (Revelation 20:11-15)

So the dead in Christ, that is, the faithful in a covenant relationship with Jesus, will go to life in the heavens for a thousand years, and the rest of the dead who prove worthy will dwell forever on a paradise earth.

But if would live in Paradise, whether it is the heavely paradise reserved for the faithful followers of Jesus, or the earthly paradise that the meek will inherit, we must always conduct ourselves as Christians. So let us look at what the Bible says about Christian Conduct.

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