“What’s so great about Heaven? I dunno, but everybody’s dying to get in there!” - Anonymous
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Happy Thanksgiving to all our Friends! The text above is NOT from the Bible as you have guessed ? but if the horrible pun hasn’t put you off already... read on!

One of the things we are thankful for this season is that our God has a sense of humor!!! (Where do you think we get it from?) Job 8:20–21: “Behold, God will not cast away the blameless, Nor will He uphold the evildoers. He will yet fill your mouth with laughing, And your lips with rejoicing.”

The other reason to be thankful is that we can now laugh at Death! It may seem strange to talk about something so morbid (literally) in this season, but we are confident that this study will help us understand it better and remove all the fears and worries we have with that topic. So let’s dive in...

Our lives can thought of as being, not 7 ages on a stage as Shakespeare defines them ( In “As You Like It” ), but as a play with 3 acts - Body, NoBody, NewBody! Christ showed us this pattern - He was Incarnated, Died and was in the grave 3 days, and was Resurrected in His new Body... Hallelujah!

--------------Act I - Body –

We come into existence. Two strands of DNA, and the Life-giving power of the Spirit create us. We are born a living soul in a living human body. This gives us a unique perspective on Gods creation. We can see, feel, hear, taste, smell, touch all of what He has created for us and we can enjoy it in our current position of dominion over all the earth’s creatures.

Make no mistake - having a body is a huge deal - we don’t appreciate the gift we have been given because we think this is the just the way it always works...!!!

It’s such a big deal because Man is a new creation of God - there never was anything like him or will be! Our bodies are made of the same building blocks that stars are made of, and even if they do limit us in some ways, what they allow us to do is amazing!

Now add to that the mystery of consciousness/ God-person-likeness that resides in these lumps of matter and you begin to realize what He has wrought!

Now cap it all by adding the mystery of redemption.... look at what the book of Hebrews says...

Hebrews 2:14–15 : “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”

Wow!!! We can just sit and look at this passage for days while our minds try to unpack the implications of what it says... God Himself partook of human life so He could use death itself to destroy the devil! There is so much more here but we must move on..

Sadly, because of the Sin inherited from our original parents, we are in bondage & captive to Sin and Death... after a lifetime of soul-development on this plane, Death comes to claim us. Though our bodies were originally capable of repairing themselves forever, the Fall introduced the time-bomb of aging to us - and that’s why we all die. Even the most sanctified and holy Christian.... our flesh has to die, but isn’t Gods plan wonderful that He already had a plan to trash this corruptible body and give us a new incorruptible one!

To understand the end of Act I and the transition to Act II - consider Ecclesiastes 3:18–21 (KJV 1900): “I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity. All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. —-Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth—-“.

Remember we are a trinity of body,soul and spirit!

The body of men and beasts alike turn back into stardust.The Life-giving Spirit that animates both Man , Beast and all Life, is of course the same for all and returns to God who gave it. But.......

The souls of men and beasts are a different matter and go in different directions. Amazing!

---------------Act II - No body

We are now “dead”. This existence is that of a soul WITHOUT a body, but with all the characteristics of a person still present! Is this “living”? In a sense, yes, but it’s a different kind of “living” from what we know now. So what does the Word teach us about this state? Here are the major points of view:

1. Soul Sleep. Based on Daniel 12:2 (KJV 1900): “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” and Hebrews 9:27–28 (KJV 1900): “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” - some theologians believe our souls are sleeping in a state of suspended animation only to be woken up at the last judgment in Rev 20.

This is comforting... I go to bed, wake up, get judged and then go to heaven...because there’s nothing to DO till then but wait!

Is this why the preacher says ?.... Ecclesiastes 9:10 (KJV 1900): “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.” This is one opinion, but it has fallen out of favor because of the other two we shall look at...

2. The Pit. A second opinion is that the souls of all the dead are somehow imprisoned below the earth in a place called Sheol.

If you have an electronic Bible, searching for Sheol will bring you to some very interesting passages indeed.Job 17:13–16 (NKJV): “If I wait for the grave as my house,If I make my bed in the darkness,If I say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’And to the worm, ‘You are my mother and my sister,’Where then is my hope?As for my hope, who can see it?Will they go down to the gates of Sheol? Shall we have rest together in the dust?”

A famous messianic Psalm reads - Psalm 16:9–11 (NKJV): “Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope.For You will not leave my soul in Sheol,Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.” This is referring to Christ! In the Apostles Creed, it says - “I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,suffered under Pontius Pilate,was crucified, died, and was buried;—-he descended to the dead—-.On the third day he rose again;”

This seems to be confirmed by Peter ...1 Peter 3:18–19 (KJV 1900): “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: - By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;” - Again, this seems to locate Christ’s 3 days in Sheol - and (may) be interpreted to suggest that He was preaching to intelligent “awake” life there. We will come back to this in point 3 below...

Isaiah 14:14–17 (NKJV): “‘I (Lucifer) will ascend above the heights of the clouds,I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit.Those who see you will gaze at you, And consider you, saying:‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,Who shook kingdoms,Who made the world as a wilderness And destroyed its cities, Who did not open the house of his prisoners?’” Certainly seems that there is a Pit and awake people in it.

Saul ( through the medium of Endor ) in the OT seems to be able to call up the Spirit of Samuel which ‘rises up ‘ from ‘the earth’( though the medium just says she sees “Elohim”, gods or ‘a god’ - the Hebrew Word is plural by default ). 1 Samuel 28:3-15.

3. A third opinion is that there are TWO paths. One path that goes to Sheol(Hebrew)/Hades(Greek), another that leads to Paradise or Abraham’s Bosom.

The parable of the rich man and the beggar Lazarus ( Luke 16:19-29 ) shows us living souls behaving like humans, after death, and in two different places.

Christ’s Word to the Thief on the Cross ( “ Today you shall be with Me in Paradise “ ) indicates that was where the -thief- was going. Now, coming back to what was said in 1 Peter above, was -Christ- going directly there (Paradise) too? instead of to the dead as in the apostles creed?

Depends on which member of the Trinity spoke these Words... it is ‘possible’ the thief was gathered to God, and Christ continued on His personal mission to Sheol... It is also possible that Christ DID go to Paradise - the spirits in Hades/Sheol deserve their torment there ( like the rich man) and the other spirits are already in Paradise. In this context, the 1 Peter passage simply means that the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead, gave Him the Words of Life to speak to those living then ( their “prison” being captivity to sin and the devil ).

We cannot be dogmatic here.. but just point it out as one solution to the question of where did Christ go for three days? ).

The apostle Paul says - Philippians 1:21–24: “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. “

Paul is clearly saying that when he dies, he goes to be with Christ - which is best, but living on is necessary for the Philippians’ benefit. Last of all, in the book of Revelation we see ‘souls’ of people under the altar and before the throne of God behaving like intelligent persons, singing, praying, praising, waving palm branches, dressed in white etc. These all have no body yet! See Act III below.

It is also possible that ALL three scenarios are true - some are soul-sleeping, some are in torment, some are in Paradise all at the same time! There are benefits to considering this (fourth?) scenario as well , but we will leave that to you to ponder, as we ourselves are doing. Suffice it to say we should not attempt to put God in a man-size box!

----------------Act III - New Body!!!

As of this writing, there is only one Person who has it. Christ. The rest of creation picks it up at different times - here they are:

1. @ The Second Coming of Christ. ALL The dead IN Christ/WITH God in Paradise rise first ( get a new body ) , followed by the transformation of those that are alive at the time. When this occurs is in Rev 14:14 (our view), after the Great Tribulation. Paul speaks about it in 1 Thess 4:13-18. It’s important to note that Paul says “God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.” The fact that WE think someone is “asleep” ( that sleep word again ) does not mean they are not awake WITH God. This population includes Christians and OT saints.

2. @ Before the Millenium. A short time after the Second Coming ( after 7 bowls of wrath have been poured and the armies of the beast and false prophet defeated ) we see a First Resurrection. Revelation 20:4 :”Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.” Interesting population of martyrs, including some who are -possibly- not Christian, but who stood up to the beast and refused to worship him. These and those before, now “live” reign and rule for a thousand years and on them “the Second Death has no power”.

3. @ The Last Judgment. 1000 years later, after the final struggle, the souls of the REST of the dead- in Sheol ( Revelation uses the Greek word Hades ), Death or asleep(?) in the ‘sea’ ( hint: this is why we are thinking of the fourth scenario ) are resurrected, and they are judged out of the Book of Life, and by their works. Some receive New Bodies and a new life (These are non-Christians!), others (May) receive a new body, but have to suffer the Second Death, which is the lake of fire.

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For space reasons, we have only lightly touched upon these areas to give you a broad understanding of this topic - hopefully it whets your appetite for further exploration!

Let your mind be at peace. Death is not the horrible fate we think it is. It is a gate that leads the elect to the presence of God! It is why Solomon can say “A good name is better than precious ointment, And the day of death than the day of one’s birth;” Eccl 7:1.

Paul says - “For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living. “- Rom 14:7-9

Psalm 23:4 (NKJV): Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me;

Psalm 49:15 (NKJV): But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, For He shall receive me.

Psalm 31:5 (NKJV): Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.

Isaiah 57:1–2 (NKJV): The righteous perishes, And no man takes it to heart; Merciful men are taken away, While no one considers that the righteous is taken —away from evil.—-He shall enter into peace; They shall rest in their beds, Each one walking in his uprightness.

Luke 20:37–38 (NAS): But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the burning bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now He is not the God of the dead but of the living; for all live to Him.”

Hallelujah!!!! Let us Praise and give Thanks to our Creator, Savior, Redeemer!!!