Discovering the Biblical Kingdom of God, Jesus & Holy Spirit
America's Choice: Constitutional Republic or Democrat-Socialism?
"Man will ultimately be governed by God or by tyrants." (Benjamin Franklin)
Death & Judgment Day
Discerning Scriptural difference
between Death and Judgment Day
Satan knows the Word of God as he proved in tempting Jesus (Matthew 4:1-11)
as
he quotes Deuteronomy 8:3 and Psalm 91:11-12.
Discerning
Scriptural difference between Death and Judgment Day -
Taking into account what Jesus told the thief on the cross and what He
proclaimed about "dwelling places." Then, what Paul said about "being absent
from the body and at home with the Lord," and his discussion about "the last
trump," and that he proclaimed "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but
after this the judgment."
Our spirit, which is eternal, goes to be with the Lord upon death if our names
are written in the Book of Life (Revelation 20:11-15). On judgment day, we will
then put on our "spiritual body."
As the Scriptures below declare, the believer's spirit goes to be with Christ upon death. At "the last trump" the believer will then have a "spiritual body."
Note that "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" which is why, as Jesus declared "you must be born again" of the Spirit. We are first and foremost a spirit with a "natural body" ("flesh and blood") with a soul or mind. (Please see Trinity: Created in His image for understanding the importance of knowing why we are a spirit and not just our temporary body and soul.)
Please consider all the following Scriptures and references.
1. Summary:
(Hebrews 9:27) "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the
judgment"
(1 Corinthians 15:44) "There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body."
(1 Corinthians 15:51-52) Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
....We seem to settle quickly for the tone and tenor of our life as it unfolds putting all our focus on the here and now, considering the afterlife almost like a dream muddled in the midst of some ephemeral cloud that human understanding cannot penetrate.
...But then along comes the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are suddenly confronted with a very concrete and objective reality concerning the future. “Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have,” Jesus said to His disciples following His resurrection (Luke 24:39). This was no apparition. This wasn’t some kind of psychic remnant of a previous life. This was flesh and bone reality!
...Suddenly, that cryptic saying recorded in John 14:2-3 comes to life and takes on meaning and urgency: "In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also."
... As Paul says, “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Cor. 15:19).
... We do know Jesus reminded the Sadducees that when God revealed Himself to Moses in the burning bush He said He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Then Jesus pointed out the obvious: “He is not God of the dead, but of the living” (Mark 12:27). Scripture is clear that even though “it is appointed for man to die once” (Heb. 9:27) it is just as sure that “this mortal body must put on immortality” (1 Cor. 15:53).
...Jesus’ resurrection body could
do strange things (suddenly appear without walking through a door, disguise
itself from those who knew Him, and ascend upon a cloud). Those are the things
that our minds should continually roll over and over. John knew this. That’s why
he wrote, “what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he
appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).
2. Scriptures to reference:
John 11:24-26 - Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise on the last Day in the resurrection." Y'shua said to her, "I AM the Resurrection and the Life: the one who believes in Me, even if he would die, he will live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me would not ever die. Do you believe this?"
John 14:1-3 - "Your heart must not be troubled: you must constantly believe in God and you must faithfully believe in Me. In My Father's house are many dwelling places: and if it were not so, would I tell you that I am going to prepare a place for you? (1 Kings 8:13) And if I would go, then I shall prepare a place for you. I am coming again and I shall take2 you along with Me, (Exodus 6:7) so that where I AM you would also be."
"Dwelling places" (v.2) While traditionally translated dwelling places or
mansions, this is not a building. The primary meaning of the Greek word mon-ai
is staying or tarrying.
Luke:23:39-43 - Then one of the evil ones who was hanging there was blaspheming Him saying, "Are You not the Messiah? You must now save Yourself and us." But the other said, rebuking him, "Do you not yourself fear God, because you are in the same sentence? But we indeed justly, for what we did is worthy of what we are receiving: but this One did nothing improper." Then he was saying, "Y'shua, You must right away remember me when You would enter Your Kingdom." Then He said to him, "Truly I say to you, this very day you will be with Me in Paradise."
1 Corinthians 12:2-4 - I know a man who was in Messiah more than fourteen years ago,
whether in the body I do not know, God knows, or outside the body I do not know,
this one was taken away up to the third heaven. And I know such as this man,
whether in the body or without the body I do not know, God knows, that he was
taken away into Paradise and he heard inexpressible words, which are not
permissible for a man to speak. (Note: RE: "Third heaven." In the Hebrew
Scripture there are seven levels in heaven. Another discussion.)
Revelation 2:7 - He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the
churches; To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is
in the midst of the paradise of God. (Note: v.7 - Overcomer is the traditional
translation, but the Greek really means to be victorious, to conquer, so as you
read the letters to the cities )whenever you see overcomer, think conqueror!
John 5:21-29 - For just as the Father raises the dead and makes alive,
(Deuteronomy 32:39, Isaiah 26:19) so also the Son makes alive whom He wishes. For neither does
the Father judge anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, so that all
would honor the Son just as they would honor the Father. The one not honoring
the Son does not honor the Father, the One Who sent Him. Most certainly I say to
you that the one who listens to My message and believes in the One Who sent Me
has eternal life and does not come into judgment, but he has departed from death
into life. Most definitely I say to you that a time is coming and now is when
the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, (1 Peter. 4:6) and those who listen
will live. For just as the Father has life in Himself, so also He gave to the
Son to have life in Himself. And He gave Him authority to make judgment, because
He is the Son of Man. Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming in
which all those in the tombs will hear His voice and those who have done good
things will go forth into resurrection6 life, but those who have done evil
things into resurrection judgment. (v.29 - See Revelation 20:11-15, Matthew 25:31-33.)
1 Thessalonians 5:23
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I
pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Job 32:8-10 - But there is a spirit in man: and the
inspiration of the Almighty gives them understanding. Great men are not always
wise: neither do the aged understand judgment. Therefore I said, Hearken to me;
I also will show mine opinion. Ecclesiastes 12:7 - Then shall the dust return to the
earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. Philippians 1:21-23
Death is spoken of with three idioms, one being "is not" in
Matthew 2:18 and Revelation 17:8 & 11. This
idiom is used occasionally in the Tanach as well, in just Genesis 5:24 and
Jeremiah 31:15.
Another idiom for death is used very frequently and that is to "sleep" as in
John 11:11-16 with Lazarus. When this mortal body dies we are
only sleeping until He comes for us.
Acts 7:60
tells us that Stephen slept after the religious people stoned him.
Psalm 17:15 And I, in righteousness I shall behold Your face: upon awakening
I shall be sated by Your image. Awakening refers to the hereafter.
Song of Songs 7:9, speaking of the sleeper, is used by the Rabbis as one of a number
of verses speaking of resurrection.
A third idiom, not appearing in the New Testament, is used in
Isaiah 58:8,
saying, Then your light will burst out like the dawn and your healing will
speedily sprout; your righteous deed will precede you and the glory of the LORD*
will gather you in. To be gathered in is to enter eternal life, often stated
gathered to one's fathers.
Isaiah 26:19 - Your dead people will live. They will rise together with my dead
body. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust, for your dew is like the dew of
herbs, and the earth will cast out the dead.
Y'shua referred to resurrection in Matt. 22:31-32. - And concerning the
resurrection of the dead did you not read what was spoken to you by God saying,
"I AM the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob?" (Exod. 3:6,
15, 16) He is not the God of the dead but the living. This is also reported in
Mk. 12:27 and Lk. 20:38.
2 Corinthians 5:1-10 (KJV) For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle
were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal
in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with
our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be
found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not
for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be
swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God,
who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always
confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from
the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and
willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may
receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it
be good or bad.
1
Thessalonians 4:13-18
(One New Man Bible)
- And we do not want you to be
ignorant, brothers, concerning those who have fallen asleep,
that you would not grieve as
the rest of those who do not have hope.
For if we believe that Y'shua died and rose, so God will also bring with Him those who have fallen
asleep by means of Y'shua's
redemption. Indeed we say this to you in a word of
the
Lord, that we, those left
behind who are living to the coming of the Lord, would
not
precede those who are
sleeping:
because the Lord Himself
will
1 Corinthians 15 (One New Man Bible: Revealing Jewish Root and Power)
The
Resurrection1 of Messiah
And I am making known to
you, brothers, the Good News which I proclaimed to you, which then you accepted,
in which you have also stood, and through which you are
being saved, if you hold fast to the kind of message I preached to you, except
in case you believed in vain. For I gave over to you at
first what also I had accepted, that Messiah died on behalf of our sins
according to the Scriptures And that He was buried and
that He rose on the third day according to the Scriptures (Hosea 6:2) and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve: then He was seen by more
than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are remaining until now,
but some fell asleep:
then He was seen by Jacob,
then by all the apostles: and last of all as in an
untimely birth He was seen by me. For I am the least of the
apostles, who is not qualified to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the
congregation of God: but by
the
grace of God I am what I am,
and His grace which is in me did not become ineffective, but I labored more than
all of them, not I but the grace of God which is with me. Now whether
it
was
I or those, in this way we are proclaiming and so
you believed.
The
Resurrection7 of the Dead
And if it is preached that
Messiah rose from the dead, how are some among you saying that there is no
resurrection of
the
dead? But if there is not a
resurrection of
the
dead, then Messiah has not
risen: and if Messiah has not
risen, then also our preaching
is
in vain, and your faith
is
in vain: And then we are being found
false witnesses of God, because we testified of God that He raised Messiah,
Whom, if indeed the dead are not really being raised, He has not risen. For if the dead are not
raised, then Messiah has not been raised: and if Messiah has not been
raised, your faith is useless, you are still in your sins, and consequently those who
sleep in Messiah are lost. If we only have hope in
The
Resurrection10 Body
But some will say, "How are
the dead raised?" And "What sort of body is coming?" Foolishness! What you are
sowing does not live unless it would die
first: (John 12:24) then what you are sowing,
you do not sow what will be the body, but a naked seed. Perhaps it will turn out
to be
wheat or some of the other
grains: but God would give it a body
just as He wished, and to each of the seeds its own body. But not all flesh
is
the same, but
there
is
one kind of flesh for people, and another kind of
flesh for domestic animals, and another flesh for birds, and another for fishes:
then
there
are
heavenly bodies, and earthly bodies: another of the
splendor of the heavenlies, but another of the earthlies.
With another
kind
of
splendor for
the
sun, and another
kind
of
splendor for
the
moon, and another splendor for
the
stars: for star differs from
star in splendor. So also the resurrection of
the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised incorruptible: it is sown in dishonor, it
is raised in magnificence: it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power: a body is sown fleshly, it
is raised a spiritual body. If there is a fleshly body, there is also a
spiritual. And so it has been written,
"The first man was Adam in living life," (Genesis 2:7) the last Adam
has
become
a lifegiving spirit.
But the spiritual was not
first but the physical, then the spiritual. The first man
is
from dust of
the
earth, the second man out of
heaven. What sort of earthly
man, and such as these earthly
ones, and what sort of the
heavenly
One, then such as these
born
of the heavenly nature: and just as we bore
constantly the image of the earthly, we will bear constantly also the image of
the heavenly One. But I say this, brothers,
that flesh and blood are not able to inherit
the
Kingdom of God, nor does
corruption inherit incorruption. Behold I am telling you a
mystery: we will not all be asleep
in
death, but we will all be transformed,
in a moment, in a twinkling
of an eye, at the last shofar: for a shofar will sound and the dead will be
raised incorruptible and we will be transformed. (Isaiah 26:19, Daniel 12:13, Revelation
20:5) For it is necessary to
clothe this corruptible
with the
incorruptible and to clothe
this mortal
with the
immortal. And when this mortal will be
clothed immortal and this corruptible will be clothed incorruptible then the
written word will happen, "Death was swallowed up in victory." (Isaiah 25:8). "Where, O Death,
is
your victory? Where, O Death,
is
your sting?" (Hosea 13:14). But sin
is
the sting of death, and the
power of sin
is taken from
the Torah (Teaching): But thanks to God, to the
One Who gives us victory through our Lord Y'shua Messiah. Thus, my beloved brothers,
you must continually be steadfast, immovable, abounding in the work of the Lord
always, since you have known that your labor is not without result in
the
Lord.
Revelation 20:11-15 - Then I saw a great white throne and the One Who sits upon it, from Whose presence the earth (Psalms 114:3, 7) and the sky fled and a place was not found for them. Then I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. And scrolls were opened, and another scroll was opened, which is of life, (Exodus 32:32, 33, Psalms 69:29, Dan. 12:1) and the dead were judged according to their deeds, (Isaiah 59:18, Jeremiah 17:10, Psalms 28:4; 62:13, Proverbs 24:12, Romans 2:6, 1 Corinthians 3:8) by what had been written in the scrolls. (Daniel 7:9, 10) Then the sea gave up the dead that were in it and Death and Hades gave up the dead, those in them, and each was judged according to his works. Then Death and Hades were thrown violently into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if someone was not found written in the Book of Life, he was cast into the lake of fire. (Isaiah 30:33)