exploring my strange bible with tim mackie Tragedy and Hope: Biblical Perspectives on Heaven and Hell Traditional View vs. Biblical View Traditional View PRESENT AGE LIFE AFTER DEATH Heaven Password Earthly Life Moment Hell PHYSICAL DEATH Biblical View PRESENT AGE INTERMEDIATE STATE AGE TO COME Image Of God Eternal Life Heaven w/ Christ Resurrection Living Death The Grave Separation from God SIN & DEATH JESUS’ RETURN PHYSICAL DEATH The Life of the Image Bearers Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” GENESIS 1:26-28 • “Image” (Hebrew tselem): physical representation of the king to the world • “Rule” (Hebrew radah): stewarded authority over the world’s resources • Humans are royal representatives of the Creator called to oversee the flourishing of God’s world. And the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed‚... GENESIS 2:7-8 • Humans: dirt and divine breath (ruakh) = living being (nephesh) • “Soul” is a common (and unhelpful!) translation of nephesh. • “A ‘soul’ is the living individual, not in the sense of a separate indestructible spiritual sub- stance, but in the sense of concrete, needy, physical life.” WILLIAM DYRNESS, OUTLINE OF OLD TESTAMENT THEOLOGY. SEE ALSO PSALM 42:1 • Humans do not have souls; humans are souls. The Sin and Death of the Image Bearers The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” GENESIS 2:15-17 Summary: • Trust and obedience results in life. • Rebellion and mistrust results in death. - “Death”: a separation of what was never intended to be separated. » Relational Death: isolation and fear of others. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. GENESIS 3:7 » Spiritual death: moral and spiritual separation from God. And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in those who are disobedient. EPHESIANS 2:1-2 » Physical death: a schism between the material and immaterial. By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.” GENESIS 3:19 Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come... before the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. ECCLESIASTES 12:1, 7 If God were to take back his spirit and withdraw his breath, all life would cease, and humanity would turn again to dust. JOB 34:14-15 Key Implications • Humans are not inherently immortal, nor is the human soul an immortal, separable part of the human person. Humans have a material and immaterial makeup. Death brings an unnatu- ral schism between those two that is not permanent or desirable. • According to Genesis 2-3, human immortality is a gift from God which we forfeited through our sin. The rest of the story is about that gift. • All humanity exists in a state of living death because of sin. Christ Conquers Sin and Destroys Death God enters sinful humanity and bears the pain of sin and death. Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying. HEBREWS 2:14-15 Through his resurrection he conquers sin and death and offers us life. For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. We know that our old sinful humanity was crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. ROMANS 6:4-10 Eternal life and eternal death are present realities that will continue on into the future. “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man. “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. JOHN 5:24-29 “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. JOHN 17:1-3 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. COLOSSIANS 1:13-14 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in those who are disobedient.... But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions— it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. EPHESIANS 2:1-6 Life after Death: The Intermediate State Meaning: temporary state of existence between physical death and physical resurrection Biblical teaching .Hades (ᾅδης): ”grave, tomb,” the place where all the dead go ,(שאול) Sheol • All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but Jacob refused to be comforted. “No,” he said, “in mourning will I go down to the grave to my son.” So his father wept for him. GENESIS 37:35 Those who belong to Christ—in heaven with Christ Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” LUKE 23:42-43 For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die. For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better. I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live. PHILIPPIANS 1:20-24 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight.