God's Meaning and Purpose for Death

Well, thank you again, Mr. Graham, Mr. Winky, Happy Sabbath, once again to all of you.

Well, if you did attend the Feast of Tabernacles this year, or perhaps you zoomed it, watched it on the internet, you may have noticed during the Feast of Tabernacles that we discussed the importance of resurrections over and over again, that for all the Feast is about the kingdom in which those who were part of the first resurrection, when Jesus Christ returned, ruling and helping to serve as leaders within that kingdom, those who are in Christ and are resurrected at His return. Then later on in the Feast, near the end of it, and of course, the A today, we talked about another resurrection, the Great White Throne Judgment, after the 1,000 year millennium. We talk about the resurrections a lot, and I think what we take for granted is we don't realize that many religious people today don't even emphasize or discuss the resurrections. Many churches don't talk about the resurrections that much because they believe everyone has an immortal soul. We're a culture that everything is wired in the instant gratification, so the doctrine of the immortal soul is very attractive. You don't have to wait. After all, our whole culture is wired around that. Right now, we have a political season. Both candidates are guilty of trying to influence people to follow them due to instant gratification. Why? If I'm president, I'm going to do this, and if I'm president, I'm going to do that. If I'm president, I'm going to do this. Well, I'm sorry, but there happened to be something called Two Houses of Congress in a court system. But people are attracted to instant gratification. Someone's going to fix all of my problems. And again, in a religious realm, as soon as you die, you get your reward. Either bliss in heaven or smoky time down an eternal hellfire. One of the greatest ancient mysteries that has continually perplexed mankind is the subject of death. All major and all minor religions of the world have attempted to answer that perplexing question, just what is death and what happens after death? Why do we die? Some teach that after death, a human soul that is immortal goes to a place of heavenly bliss, or if you were bad, goes to a place of torment. And apparently, there are very few bad people today, because 99.9% of the funerals I've ever attended, people are, the family's assured they're in heaven. I did read an article once where a particular individual died, and the family got a Baptist minister, who they didn't really know, the person was irreligious, who had died, to do the funeral. And the Baptist minister basically told the family their member was tormented in hell for eternity. That didn't go over too well, but the Baptist minister said the person was unsaved, they didn't believe in Christ, they didn't live on and on and on, and basically the family was stunned to learn their loved one was in a place of torment. A few years ago, I heard a baseball sportscaster talking about his grandfather, and now his grandfather, who will remain nameless, was a sportscaster for the Chicago White Sox for decades. Drank a lot, played around a lot, he was quite a character, used to have glasses that were very, very thick. And they were interviewing his grandson a few years ago on TV before a baseball game, and he said this, referring to his deceased grandfather, he said, quote, I just hope he's looking down and not looking up.

I thought that was an interesting statement. So again, some people teach that we're all born with an immortal soul and that remains conscious after death. Others teach that when you die, that your soul is kind of absorbed into a greater consciousness. Well, that sounds appealing.

And then there are others that teach that after death, we're reincarnated into another type of creature. You might become a spider, or I guess if you were bad, you'd be a spider. If you were good, you'd be a butterfly. I don't know how that works, but there are religions that say that we are reincarnated into another form of creature. So where can we find the answers to these questions? Well, there's a majestic being that states very dogmatically in his word that he's the true God, that he's the creator of man and of the universe. And since he created man, and we believe that he is the creator of the universe, I think we should go to his instruction book, his instruction manual today, and see what he reveals to us about death, the purpose of death, what happens after death, and what is the reward of those who are faithful in Christ Jesus. Let's begin about why we die. The Bible actually reveals a number of reasons for death. Let's begin with this most simple, a biological reason. Turn with me to Genesis chapter 2 and verse 7. We'll read a few scriptures from Genesis. Genesis chapter 2 and verse 7.

Genesis chapter 2 and verse 7. And the Lord God formed, banded the dust to the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. And man became a living being. This is rather unique because animals have the breath of life. Dogs and animals, that's how they have the breath of life, but God himself breathed the breath of life into man, and he became a living being. So this is special, and this is why we have all of those intellectual capabilities and desire for creation, why we're so creative, why we've developed languages and cultures, and we look up into the stars, and we've figured out math and science and all of those things are because God created us in his image and his likeness to have those God-like qualities. Here's what the Believer's Study Bible states about this verse, and I'll read this paragraph.

This verse describes the transformation of the lifeless clay into a living being, and the Hebrew word for that is nefesh heya, living being. By the breath of the Almighty himself, the Hebrew word nefesh is a broad meaning, and no one word in English captures it fully. The more common translations are soul, life, and person. Also it can be rendered desire, appetite, emotion, or passion. The same Hebrew phrase is used for other animate beings. Again, animals are also referred to as nefesh. Then it talks about the word formed here in this verse. Formed is used of a potter who makes a vessel. Here God is figuratively depicted as an artisan, meticulously shaping the man. The man received life through a distinct act of divine in breathing.

So God breathed in the man. That's something God didn't do with all the other nefesh, the other animals, but he breathed into the man the breath of life, which of course gave the man unique God-like characteristics. Continuing, quote, breath of life is the source of animation of all living creatures. These living beings are distinguished from plants which were not considered alive by the Hebrews. The difference between man and animals indicated by the way in which man received his life from the breath of the Lord. So love is in that verse, Genesis chapter 2 and verse 7. So the first point is this man was made a living being, a nefesh.

And we experience death because it's the consequence of being a nefesh. Nefesh is our physical, everything physical. I think we understand the cycle of life. Everything physical eventually ages and begins biologically to break down and then ceases to exist. That's the way the physical world works. I think we can understand that. Before Adam, God had also created beings such as angels. They weren't physical. He could have made us out of spirit so we wouldn't age or become diseased or eventually grow old and die. So why did he create us as physical beings? Well, since we're physical and we slowly age and we eventually grow closer to death, we should acknowledge and realize, if we're living in the real world, that we're aging, that our biological systems are breaking down, that someday they will cease to function. But that's no accident. It's part of God's plan. God really wanted mankind to look at their life and to realize that I have a time span. You know, at 67, I re-asick almost 67, I realize that I'm in the checkout generation. I acknowledge that. I realize that. I'm just hoping I'm not in the express lane. But as you get older, and especially if you've had a life-threatening disease, it changes your life forever. You process, if you ever have a life-threatening disease and you're looking at the cusp of possible death and you're aware of it and you have time to think it through, it literally will change the rest of your life. It changed what I experienced. It changed my whole perspective about life. You see, I consider each day part of a bonus round. Because any other time in human history, I would have died by now. So I had, that changed me and that gave me a different perspective on life than I ever had before and the purpose of life and the fact that life is indeed very short and precious. And what God wanted human beings to do is realize that and understand that, as it says in Ecclesiastes chapter 3 and verse 2, there is a time to be born and a time to die. Death is a natural part of the physical life cycle. Look around at nature. All living processes are inherently designed to eventually break down and die. The yearly seasons show us that there's a time of birth and death. Springtime, things came out of the ground. Things grew for the first time ever. Seeds sprouted. Now it's getting cold and ugly out there and we have frost and many of those things are dying. But they left over seeds that will continue another cycle next year. But that's a cycle, the natural intended cycle of biological life, even ancient rocker roads, and it eventually crumbles to become soil. So what Solomon's saying in a book of Ecclesiastes is death is a natural and necessary part of the life cycle.

Also consider the implication of God Himself breathing the breath of life into Adam's nostrils.

By this time, other mammals and other creatures had already been created and they were breathing, but God was breathing something special into Adam. He was just going to be biological and physical and hopefully being physical, God would hope that human beings in their lives would say, hey, I'm getting older, I'm getting diseases, I have a limited lifespan, therefore maybe I should ask some perplexing questions like, is there a God? If there is a God, what does He require of me? Does He have an instruction book that I should be living by and following? Does He have a plan? Will my life continue to exist beyond this earth? These are questions that God hopes people would ask themselves and plant in their hearts, knowing they're physical and knowing that their lives are temporary. Let's go to Genesis chapter 1. We're going to go back to chapter chapter 1 and verse 24 and see something a little different here. So add something to this puzzle we're talking about. By this time, other mammals had already been created and they were breathing.

They weren't given the breath of life from God Himself, however. God was breathing something special into Adam, the rational conscious mind. So let's take a look at chapter 1 and verse 24. Then God said, let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind, cattle, and creeping thing, or creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its own kind, and so it was. The word I want to focus on here is living creature. This is the same Hebrew word nefesh that I touched upon a minute ago that was used in chapter 2 and verse 7 referring to man. It's translated into English as soul or creature. So I want to emphasize again that this Hebrew word is used for both humans and animals in the Old Testament, but God gave humanity a special gift and a special ingredient. Chapter 1 and verse 26. Let's take a look at what this says.

And then God said, let us, grief God, the Father talking to Jesus Christ, perhaps also the heavenly host who were listening in on this creative process, then God said, let us make man an hour image according to our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fishy the sea, over the birds of the air, over all cattle, over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So they were given dominion. And dominion here, by the way, doesn't mean they were commissioned to destroy, rape, and pillage the earth. They were commissioned to be good stewards and trustees of the creation that God gave them. So as a race of people, we are expected to not abuse the resources of this earth, to use it respectfully and use it so that when we're done taking minerals, we're done doing certain things, replanting trees that we're trying to restore the earth to its natural environment and not just pull things out of the earth and abuse it and leave junk everywhere. That was never the Creator's intention. So when the Creator made mankind, we were created in God's image and likeness. The word image comes from the Hebrew word telechlam, which means a phantom or a shadow. This means much more than simply being created in a physical image. It means we were created to have some of the very intellectual capacities of the Creator Himself. That's why we study mathematics and science. That's why we've developed so many thousands of languages on earth, why we built great civilizations throughout history, why we keep trying to better, in spite of ourselves, keep trying to better the quality of life for people on earth in many ways. These are all qualities that God has that He gave to humanity. When God created Adam in His likeness, He gave Adam more than just physical existence. He gave him the unequal capacities of the human mind, the same mind that you possess that gives you intellectual capabilities and creativity that a dog or a donkey or any other life on earth simply does not have. We're going to see a little bit more about this unique human spirit a little bit later. So what's God's message for us for the purpose of life and creating us biologically so that we experience physical death? The fact that we're all slowly dying should prompt us to search for the meaning of life, should prompt us to ask those questions, perhaps the most important questions there are. Is there a God? What does He require of me? How can I learn about those expectations and requirements that He has? And what kind of future do I have? Is there life after death? Some of the most perplexing questions that people should ask themselves, but you'd be amazed how many people don't. I've had a few conversations with people who basically said, I think this is all there is and I don't believe in an afterlife and I don't think there's a God and I'm okay with that. And they exhibited no fear or no sense of loss or frustration in their personal belief that this is all there is. If they're just kind of an accident of the cosmos, the fact that they have life at this time in history, and some people are okay with that, unfortunately. Let's go to Romans chapter 6 and verse 23. The second reason that we die, the first one, is because we were simply created to be biological creatures. Anything physical and biological eventually breaks down. Scientists believe, and I forget what the exact figure is, but in theory, in so many millions of years in the advanced, our sun will explode and become a nova and it'll wipe out the earth and all life because that's what they see going on in other areas of the universe. That's part of the universal life cycle. Stars are born, old stars die. That's what they see in the observable universe when they look up into the heavens. Romans chapter 6 and verse 23.

Paul writes, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. So Paul states that the result of sin is the sentence of death. So sin, the consequence of sin, living a life of sin, committing sin, is ultimately our death. God created us to be biological creatures who would die without his intervention. Unless God intervenes, we eventually get a disease or we grow old and we die. Sin separates humankind from God. It becomes a barrier, it becomes a wall. It's very difficult for God to intervene when we have created this wall and this barrier between ourselves and our God. The result of sin, which began with Adam and Eve, is that God chose not to intervene and mankind has died generation after generation. The human life cycle just goes on and on ever since the time of Adam and Eve. However, the context of this scripture is not just speaking about physical death. It's referring to a permanent state of separation or consciousness of existence. The Bible does not teach an immortal soul. And I want you to notice the latter half of this scripture. This is an answer for those who say, well, I think people are an immortal soul. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. If we already are an immortal soul, then eternal life is not a gift because we already have it. That's the answer to those who want to believe that human beings possess an immortal soul. We're not immortal. As a matter of fact, in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 24, God purposely blocked access for Adam and Eve to the tree of life. And he did that because of his great love and compassion.

Can you imagine all the havoc that we could cause because the wages of sin is death? All the havoc humanity could cause if we live forever? Could you imagine with people living with some of their dysfunctions for eternity, hatred for eternity, mental illness for eternity, physical chronic diseases for eternity? God, because of his great compassion, said, no, I'm just going to allow this biological life that I created to have a certain lifespan. Then there's going to come a time when I'm going to reboot and I'm going to bring people up in resurrections in a different world at a different time and give them an opportunity to be all that I intended them to be.

So let's take a look now at 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 20. Again, the scripture we just read has said, the gift of God is eternal life. If we already possess immortal souls, then we already would have eternal life. It wouldn't be a gift if we already have it. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 20. See what Paul told the congregation in Corinth. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 20.

But now Christ has risen from the dead and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man, he's referring to Adam here, came death, by man, capital M in most translations, meaning Jesus Christ, also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. Now if you have an immortal soul, you never really died.

If you have an immortal soul and you're already flittering around in heaven, playing the Welsh harp, and what other harp would you play in heaven? Playing the Welsh harp, then you're already alive. Then what Paul said here really wouldn't make any sense. I want you to notice, the first thing to notice here is Paul's analogy to describe death. He says it's like falling asleep. When you're asleep, you're not conscious. You're unaware of time. You're unaware of what's going on when you fall asleep. So he likens death to sleep. In beginning with Adam, a man, death came on all mankind, is what Paul is saying here. Also by another man, capital M, Jesus Christ came, the hope of the resurrection of the dead. Paul's saying that all who become followers of Jesus will indeed die physically. They'll fall asleep. That's what Paul is saying here. But one can look forward to being made alive again in a resurrection, just like Glenn Greenfield, who died yesterday morning, can look forward to a resurrection. He can look forward to the promise of the resurrection from God's Word. So why didn't Paul believe mankind had an immortal soul?

Well, why does he describe death as kind of like being asleep? That's the phrase, falling asleep here in these verses and in other verses. Remember, Paul was a Hebrew, and he was brought up in a Gentile society. He was brought up in a Greek city, Tarsus, so he knew Greek philosophies, and the Greek philosophies of the day already believed in the immortality of the soul. So he was fully aware of what other people believed and what other people taught. But in Acts 22 and verse 3, it says, he was learned at the feet of Gamaliel. Gamaliel was a highly respected Pharisee who was a teacher, a rabbi, and Paul was probably trained to be a rabbi. He learned the Scriptures at the feet of Gamaliel, again, who was highly respected and appreciated as a coach, as a mentor, as a teacher of Hebrew and of the Jewish way of life. Paul knew the Greek world believed in the immortality of the soul, but he based his belief on the Hebrew Scriptures. What did the Hebrew Scriptures tell us? Well, aside from what we've already taken a look at in Genesis, I could read you a whole lot more scriptures, but I think the thing to do is just go to some sources and let them tell us. I'm going to start with the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. You may not even know that the United Church of God exists. This is not from one of our booklets. What I'm about to read you isn't what Greg Thomas says. It's what a respected secular source says about the meaning of death. This is under their article, Death in Volume 2 of the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, page 812. Quote, For we are influenced always more or less by the Greek Platonic idea, that means something that came from Plato, who was a Greek teacher and philosopher, Platonic idea that the body dies yet the soul is immortal. Such an idea is utterly contrary to the Israelite consciousness and is nowhere found in the Old Testament. I'm going to read that again. It's not Greg Thomas saying that. It's not a booklet from the United Church of God saying that. That's from a respected Bible-oriented encyclopedia saying this. Such an idea is utterly contrary to the Israelite consciousness and is nowhere found in the Old Testament. The whole man dies, continues this article. When in death the spirit or soul goes out of a man, not only his body, but his soul also returns to the state of death and belongs to the netherworld. Therefore, the Old Testament can speak of the death of one's soul. End of quote. So that's from a respected source. Let's take a look at another source. This is from the Jewish Encyclopedia. Inside the Encyclopedia under their article, The Immortality of the Soul, Volume 6, pages 564.

Let's take a look at what they say. Now, this isn't the United Church of God. This isn't Greg Thomas saying this. This is what the Jewish Encyclopedia says. They may know a little bit about the Hebrew Bible being the Jewish Encyclopedia. Quote, the belief that the soul continues in existence after the dissolution of the body is speculation nowhere expressly taught in the Holy Scripture. I'm going to read that again. Nowhere expressly taught in the Holy Scripture. The belief in the immortality of the soul came to the Jews from contact with Greek thought and chiefly through the philosophy of Plato, its principal exponent, who was led to it through mysteries in which the Babylonian and Egyptian views were strangely blended. Quote, that's from the Jewish Encyclopedia. So the concept of the soul being immortal didn't come from Hebrew Scriptures. It came from ancient Egypt and Babylon, and it was adopted by Plato, who was a Greek philosopher, and from there it took hold in the church. Now, when did that happen? How did modern Christianity acquire this belief? I'm just going to quote from one more source. This is the Encyclopedia Britannica. Again, this isn't United Church of God literature. This isn't a booklet. This isn't great Thomas saying this. This is a very noted and respected brand of Encyclopedia known as the Encyclopedia Britannica under the article soul. And here's what they say. And I'll quote, the early Hebrews apparently had a concept of the soul but did not separate it from the body, although later Jewish writers developed the idea of the soul further. Old Testament references to the soul are related to the concept of breath and establish no distinction between the soul and the body. Christian concepts of a body-soul dichotomy, that means body and soul being kind of different, two contradictory parts, continuing Christian concepts of a body-soul dichotomy originated with the ancient Greeks. I've already read that from two other sources. And were introduced into Christian theology at an early date by Gregory of Nisa, no relation, Gregory of Nisa, and by Saint Augustine. Now, when did they live? So when did they introduce this into Christianity? 100 AD maybe? 125 AD? Real early? Well, here's what history tells us.

Gregory of Nisa was alive at 375 AD in Augustine at 390 AD, so over 300 years after Jesus Christ lived his life and died and was resurrected 300 years later.

This idea of the soul being immortal is introduced to the church by these individuals before 300 AD. The most crucial and critical period of the birth of the New Testament church they believed with the Hebrew scriptures taught, and that is we are not immortal. We are very mortal and are in need of a resurrection. So here's secular sources being very honest about when the idea of the soul being immortal was introduced into Christianity. And in a nutshell, here's basically what happened. By 100 AD, the apostles are dying. And if you've ever done research into the so-called early church fathers, and I have, I've read their writings, I've studied them, they all have one amazing characteristic. Not a single one is Hebrew. That whole generation of the apostolic age dies out, and they're already, the new leaders are all people from the Greco-Roman world. They weren't brought up with Hebrew, they weren't brought up as Jews, they have a distinctly Greek-Roman perception on life because of their culture and on faith because of their culture, and they begin to change the church dramatically after 100 AD. So by the time you get to 375, 390 AD, they're literally introducing false doctrines like the immortality of the soul.

But brethren, there's something vastly different between our human minds and other animals on the planet. We've got some beautiful animals I watch, I enjoy watching nature shows and PBS, but they're not building civilizations. They're not creating written languages. They certainly can be taught things, and they have a high level of instinct, and they can reason to a certain degree. All that is wonderful and is part of God's creation, but there's a huge gulf between what human beings can do and what other primates, or if you want to call them other primates, depending on your biological perception of human biology or other animals, there's a huge gulf between what we can do and what any other form of life on this earth can do. Yes, animals have a physical brain that are capable of memory and instinct and learning and comprehension, but they don't have the intellectual firepower of the human mind. It's obvious that the human mind, with its ability to reason, analyze, create, design, build, is far superior to the brain that any animal has. Let's go to Job, chapter 32 and verse 6 and look at a scripture regarding this very special component we have that's been given to us and gives us added intellect and comprehension. And this is a statement made by Elihu in the book of Job. Elihu was patiently sent by and watched a lot of people express their opinion to Job. What was it that Mr. Miller said in Berlin that I enjoyed? He said something like, let's see if I can remember this correctly, opinions are like belly buttons and everyone has a belly button. So Elihu sat by and just listened to everyone else give Job advice. And then finally he spoke. Here's what he says. So Elihu, the son of Berachael the Buzzite, answered and said, I am young in years and you are very old, therefore I was afraid and dared not declare my opinion to you. I said age should speak and multitude of years should teach wisdom. In other words, he was saying, I'm letting the older speak first because in theory they're much wiser because they have lived longer. By the way, that's rarely true, but that was a good approach for him to take. Verse 8. But there is a spirit in man and the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding. Great men are not always wise, nor do the aged always understand justice. Therefore, I say, listen to me and I will declare my opinion. Of course, everybody has an opinion. So what Job is telling us here is that there is a spirit in man. It's a phrase that Eli who uses here that gives us the god-like intellect to have some of the capacities that God has, but we have to understand it is not immortal. And perhaps one of our modern technologies can help us to understand the difference between the two. In our modern advanced age, most of us have personal computers and we have software on that computer. If it's a Windows, then you've got Windows software. If it's Apple, then you have Apple software. What happens if you remove the software from the computer and you turn it on? Well, you might get a partial boot and it sits and it blinks at you. You see, you need to combine the hardware and the software to make computing possible, separated from each other. Neither hardware nor software can function independently. The human body is our physical hardware. The spirit of man, that unique gift that God gave humanity by creating us in his likeness and his image, is our software.

It includes our intellect and reasoning, our God-given human traits, our personality, and when our body and mind are separated at death, our hardware, which are flesh and software, our mind cease to exist. They cannot operate independently. And that's from some modern technologies that give you an analogy of what it's like when a human being dies. Let's see that Paul also uses this phrase, spirit in man. If you'll turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 9.

1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 9. We'll see where Paul uses this phrase as well.

1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 9. Paul writes again to the congregation at Corinth. We read from chapter 15 a little earlier. But as it is written, I has not seen nor ear heard nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him. Joys and a level of fulfillment and purpose beyond what we're able to describe in human languages. That's what is waiting for us in the kingdom of God. Verse 10. But God has revealed them to us through his spirit, for the spirit searches all things. Yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man, except the spirit of the man is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God, except the spirit of God. I want you to notice that Paul is distinguishing between the spirit of God, which is a gift given to those upon repentance and baptism, and makes him a child of God, and a spirit in man, which, as Paul says, gives us the ability to know the things of a man. In other words, to have the intellect, the added capacity to create, and the other wonderful attributes we have as a race of people. That is because if that spirit in man dwells within us, and every human being has that who's conscious and aware of life and not suffering from a severe type of disability, people have that spirit in man. The spirit of God is given to those whom God loves.

So the spirit in man is a quality that human beings possess that makes them intellectually and uniquely human. And again, just a reminder going back to my software program analogy, when you separate the spirit in man, which is our mental capacity from our hardware, which is our biological body upon death. Those are separated and they do not function independently. As a matter of fact, in, let's turn to Ecclesiastes chapter 12 and verse 7, and see what happens to this spirit in man upon death. Ecclesiastes chapter 12 and verse 7. Ecclesiastes chapter 12 and verse 7, it says then the dust will return to the earth as it was, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, Adam was created from dirt, Adam means red mud, and that's what he returned to upon his death. Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. By the way, as an added dimension, God's Holy Spirit upon our death also returns to the God who gave it. So when we die, the spirit in man, which gives us our intellect, personality, character, individuality, that returns to God to be preserved. It's unique. It's us.

Us in a nutshell. Us totally encapsulated, ready to once again be united with hardware, with the body, in our case a spiritual body, thanks to God's promises and thanks to God's mercy and blessings, but it's preserved and it's restored at the time of a resurrection. The point for us to understand is that the spirit of man is not conscious after death. It goes back to God. It doesn't reason. It's not aware of time. It doesn't have its own consciousness. It's not immortal in the sense that it has an awareness or consciousness of time. It's not an immortal soul. It does not live on when the body has died, thinking consciously and independently. It is God who gave to man our rational comprehension and our ability of thought beyond mere animals, and when we die, this attribute of God, which came from God from his breath, simply returns to God, the owner, the possessor of that quality. So since the soul is not immortal and upon death the spirit of man returns to God, what's our reward? What reward can we as God's people look forward to beyond the grave?

Well, we are going to die, and temporarily we will fulfill that slogan that's on so many tombstones in this world. The slogan that says, Rest in Peace Upon Our Death. We will indeed rest in peace. It's like a sleep, as Paul says in numerous scriptures, but there's a special reward for God's people. Let's begin by looking at a scripture from the Old Testament, Daniel chapter 12 and verse 1, that actually mentions the reward of the faithful, and it also, by the way, mentions two different resurrections. Daniel chapter 12 and verse 1.

This is the promise that we can look forward to.

Daniel chapter 12 and verse 1.

At that time, Michael shall stand up, a great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people, and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, in other words, the great tribulation, in the day of the Lord, even to that time. And at that time, your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book. And that's referring to the book of life. Verse 2. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake some to ever-lasting life, from mortal to immortal, from biologically corruptible to incorruptible, some to shame an everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament. They will have the glory of God reflecting their existence, and like the stars in the sky, they will reflect the brightness, the radiance of God himself, because they're part of the family of God. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. Daniel writes about a time of tribulation on the earth that, unfortunately, is ahead of us, and he also speaks of two separate resurrections in this verse. One for the righteous who will inherit eternal life, and another resurrection at a later time for condemnation. Now let's take a look at our final scripture today in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, and take a look at a New Testament scripture in a little bit of detail. Chapter 15 in verse 35. This is 1 Corinthians, and see what God's promises are for us. It's our reward, and it's the reason we talk about the resurrection so much, and don't just assume that when people die, they either go to heaven or they go to the eternal barbecue pit for all eternity. We don't teach that. We don't believe that. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 in verse 35. But someone will say, how are the dead raised up?

And with what body do they come? Foolish one. What you sow is not made alive unless it dies.

Have you ever planted anything in a garden? About a month ago, I purchased hibiscus seeds from a supplier. The seeds came. They shriveled up little black dots. You do this hard as a rock, right? I plant them into the ground according to the planting instructions, and now I have 24 beautiful little hibiscus plants about that tall. And as Paul says here, what you plant looks dead. And when we die and we go into earth, we're dead. But what comes out of the earth, whether it's a seed or God's promise for his people, is different. Looks remarkably different than the dead thing that was placed into the ground. Verse 37. And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be. That's just a dried up shriveled seed. Put merely grain, perhaps wheat or some other grain. But God gives a body as it pleases, and to each seed its own body. All flesh is not the same flesh, but there's one kind of flesh for man, another flesh for animals, another for fish, another for birds. There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies, bodies in the sky, bodies on the earth. But the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, another glory of the stars, and stars differ from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead.

Some people will have different roles. Some people will be of a greater radiance than others in the kingdom of God because they are spiritual bodies. The body is sown in corruption.

It's raised in in corruption today that we're very, we're pretty corrupt, right? There's not much left of us, just a shell of what we once were. So we're sown in corruption, raised in in corruption, sown in dishonor. There we are, dinner again, after a few days if you don't involvement. It's not really pretty. You imagine Jesus going to resurrect Lazarus. What it has said in dead was it three days or whatever? I bet it wasn't smelling very... how many? Four? Okay. I'll bet it wasn't smelling very good around there, right? Because, unfortunately, we're sown in dishonor when we die. We begin getting pretty smelly rather rapidly, but it's raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. It's raised in power. It's sown a natural body, biological, programmed to grow old and die of disease or age, but it's raised a spiritual body, Paul says.

There's a natural body and there's a spiritual body, and so it is written, the first man Adam became a living being. The last Adam, referring to Jesus, became a life-giving spirit. What did Adam ever give us? Well, he gave us the biological DNA in which we are programmed to grow old and die, but Jesus Christ is giving us a life-giving spirit, eternal life. Verse 46, however, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. We all have to live physical first and go through the trials and live the things that God wants us to learn in this physical life before he's going to give us the gift of spiritual life. Verse 47, the first man was of the earth, made of dust. The second man, again referring to Jesus, is the Lord from heaven.

Verse 48, as was the man of dust, Adam, so also are those who are made of dust, and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are heavenly. So Adam bequeathed to humanity, more physical life that grows old and dies, and Jesus has bequeathed to his disciples, to the faithful followers who have become the sons of God, a heavenly promise, a reward that Jesus Christ will bring back with him when he returns to earth, and we experience the first resurrection.

Verse 49, and as we have borne the image of the man of the dust, and we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man. So right now we look like any other physical human being, right? You look in the mirror, you go, ahh! Then you calm down a little bit. That's the way we're created, and we're all physical, and we're all aging, but in contrast to that, we shall bear the image of the heavenly man. Remember when Jesus Christ was resurrected? He walked through solid walls, the disciples are all gathered in a room, suddenly Jesus shows up, he doesn't, can I come in? No, he transcended the physical barriers of those walls, and he walked right in that inner room and began a discussion with the disciples, because he was different, and we will bear the image of the heavenly man.

He manifested himself in the flesh only so the disciples, to a flesh-like structure, I should say, only so the disciples could communicate with him. And he allowed Thomas, no relation, who was doubting, to say, touch my side, look, put your finger in here, you'll feel matter, put your finger in here, you'll see, look at the wounds that I have, and they felt what sensed to them like matter, like a usual human side, but yet, again, he had walked through a little literal barrier to have a discussion with them. So he's of a totally different essence, and we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man, Paul says here.

Verse 15, now this I say, brethren, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery, we shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed. And when he says change, he doesn't mean an upgrade from version 1.0 to version 1.2. No, he means an upgrade from human being 0.0, which is what it's like to be a human being, to eternal spiritual immortality. That's the kind of change that Paul's talking about here, verse 52. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, instantaneously at the last trumpet, and we talked about this on the Feast of Trumpets, for that trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, no longer physical, no longer slowly dying, slowly aging, needing to put on deodorant or bathe regularly, no more corruptibility like we have today as physical human beings, but raised incorruptible.

And we shall be changed, for this corruption must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible is put on incorruption, and this mortal is put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. These people have victory over death. It no longer a sting to them.

They no longer have to worry about growing old and dying. They are victorious over the concept of death, of a ceasing existence like they had when they were mere physical beings. Death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death, where's your sting? Oh Hades, where's your victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.

The law reminds us that we're sinners. The law says don't do this, and we've done that. The law says you need to repent because you're a sinner, and you need a savior. You need someone to plead to God on your behalf, someone to shed his blood so that you can be saved. That's what the law reminds us of. So it says the strength of sin is the law. It condemns us. Verse 57, but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast.

We determined after the Feast of Tabernacles this year to be steadfast in our faith, in our calling, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, or we just kick into autopilot.

Sadly, brethren, some in our congregation the last few years have kicked into autopilot, and it's obvious. It's obvious to me, and I'm sure it's obvious to others.

So are we going to be abounding into the work of the Lord, or are we now on autopilot, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord? Whatever you do isn't in vain. God's watching, and Jesus Christ is bringing a reward with him. So we shouldn't think that the things that we do and the way that we serve others is vain in any way, or isn't noticed by God in any way. Verse 58. I'm going to read this from the New Century version. So, my dear brothers and sisters, stand strong. Do not let anything change you.

Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your work in the Lord is never wasted.

Good quote. Again, that's from the New Century version.

So in conclusion, brethren, the idea of the soul being immortal is very popular. It's going to be popular until the return of Christ, because it offers what people want. People want instant gratification. People don't want to wait for anything. They want the goodies now. And our whole culture is built upon the concept of instant gratification, and that includes the religious world. My brother in the resurrection is the reward of all of our brethren who have fallen asleep, and it's our reward.

We need to remain faithful. Their names have been written in the Book of Life.

The story of their lives hasn't ended. Yes, they were physical. They lived lives, and they died. They've only completed chapter one of their Book of Life, and God has so much more planned for each and every one of them. Their hopes, their dreams, their personality, their character will live on again, beginning in the first resurrection and into all eternity. We miss them because we loved them, and we enjoyed sharing our lives with them. But what would they want us to do? Think of all of those who have died in the faith that you may have known. What would they want us to do? Well, they would want us to continue to teach, continue to live by the same values they lived by, and to celebrate their life by believing and respecting the same values that they lived for, that they lived with until the day that they died. God gave them physical lives as a training ground to experience the joys and trials of this life, and our lives are filled with joy, and sometimes they're filled with sorrows. But in their resurrection to eternal life as God's children, those who have died in the faith, God will greatly magnify their acquired knowledge and their understanding through the same spirit that he used to create the universe. So all of those good qualities, all of those talents, all of the things that they developed in this lifetime will be magnified a hundredfold to first resurrection when they receive a full measure of God's Spirit and are changed in the twinkling of an eye from this corrupt mortality that we experience as human beings into the spiritual being that God wants us to be. May God hasten that day, and let us patiently wait for that day because it's our reward as well. They're faithful in Christ, their journey's over. They're awaiting the resurrection. We're still hanging on the baton.

We still have work to do. And as Paul said, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. So let us continue the role and the job, the journey that we're on in this Christian faith. I wish all of you a very fulfilling and an awesome Sabbath day.