Death and the Resurrection.

• The Intermediate State.
  • At death we do not reach our final state; nor do we remain as we were. It is therefore an intermediate state - between our present and final states.
  • you are not just a body, but body and spirit. Gen 2 vs 7.
  • death is the separation of body and spirit.
  • the body returns to the dust, and sees corruption. Gen 3 vs 9, Acts l3 vs 36.
  • believers, with out their bodies, pass into glory. Heb 12 vs 23, Phil l vs 23, Luke 23 vs 43.
  • unbelievers begin their torment. Luke 16 vs 19-31
  • The Bible contains no mention of either soul sleep or purgatory.
    As far as the body is concerned - death is the same for believers and unbelievers.
    As far as the soul is concerned - death is - entirely different for the two.
• The body is not forgotten.
  • not only the spirit matters to God, but also the body - the whole person.
  • to be with Christ, but without a body, is to fall short of our ultimate hope. 2 Cor 5 vs 1-8.
  • the believer longs, not for the intermediate state, but the final state, the resurrection. Rom 8 vs 23, 2 Cor 5 vs 4.
  • he may be certain that this will take place, and that he will have the glorious body he waits for Job 19 vs 26-27, John 5 vs 28-29, 1 Cor 15 vs 49-58, Phil 3 vs 20-21, 1 John 3 vs 1-3.
• The main points about the resurrection.
  • The fact of the resurrection is clear, although it is a truth offensive to the unconverted. Dan 12 vs 2, Acts 24 vs 15, Rev 20 vs 11-15, Acts 17 vs 32, 26 vs 8.
  • the manner of the resurrection is revealed to believers, but nothing is said on this point about unbelievers. 1 Cor 15 vs 35-58, Phil 3 vs 20-21; 1 John 3 vs 1-3.
  • the certainty of the resurrection rests upon the already accomplished resurrection of Christ. 1 Cor 15 vs 12-13, 15-16, 20-23.
  • the time of the resurrection is the end of the world, but people will be raised in a certain order. 1 Cor 15 vs 23, 1 Thess 4 vs 13-18.
  • the effect that resurrection truth should have on our earthly lives is also made plain. 1 Thess 4 vs 18, 1 Cor 15 vs 18-19, 31-32, 55, 58.
• But why must believers die?
  • Death is. the 'wages of sin', and Christ has borne our sin - so why do we need to die?
  • Be sure of this :-
    • death will one day lose all power over the believer. 1 Cor 15 vs 26
    • even now, it has already lost its sting. 1 Cor l5 vs 55-56.
    • if you die, even this will be for your good Rom 8 vs 28.
    • and you will be no further from God's love. Rom 8 vs 38-39.
  • Remember this :-
    • death is not something which happens at the end of life - it is the state we are in by nature, of which physical death is the logical consequence. Gen. 2 vs 17, Eph 2 vs 1.
    • when we are saved we are delivered from the spiritual condition, called death. John 5 vs 24, 1 John 3 vs 14. This is the first resurrection Rev 20:5.
    • but we are NOT YET delivered from the physical condition called death. In this way both saved and lost live side-by-side in the world, and God's method of saving (the preaching of His Word by mortal men) continues.
    • But just as He HAS delivered our souls from death's power, He WILL deliver our bodies. John 5 vs 25-29