Denver Seminary

IT MAY NOT BE A FREQUENT DINNER PARTY TOPIC, BUT THROUGHOUT HUMAN HISTORY THERE HAS HARDLY BEEN A MORE WIDESPREAD AND WEIGHTY QUESTION. ACCOUNTS OF NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES AND POST-MORTEM RESUSCITATIONS ARREST OUR ATTENTION. THE BEREAVED MAY TAKE EITHER COMFORT OR GRIEF FROM ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THE CONDITION OF THEIR LOVED ONES. CAN WE SEE THROUGH THAT OPAQUE VEIL BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH AND KNOW WITH ANY REAL ASSURANCE WHAT HAPPENS AFTER WE DIE? Those who embrace a strictly materialist view of life insist that we are nothing more than our biological existence and dismiss the question as irrelevant. All who hold that there is anything more to human existence than the merely biological have to wrestle with what that "more" involves after biological life ceases. Does the Bible offer any helpful guidance? Even with the Bible in hand, not all Christians come to the same place in answering the question, "What happens after we die?" Some may consider the answer too obvious to warrant a conversation, simply responding, "Your body goes into the ground and your soul—the real you—goes either to Heaven or Hell for all eternity. End of discussion." Others will elaborate on that view, claiming that immediately upon death those who had faith in Jesus Christ are complete and whole, dancing and singing and frolicking. This image affords considerable comfort, especially when deceased loved ones suffered immensely or tragically. If the Bible offers such strong assurance of post-mortem blessedness for those in Christ, why should we bother with the question? As often happens in Christian doctrine, assumptions and images have snuck in unrecognized from places other than Scripture and bumped the conversation wide of the mark. The result? We easily miss the vivid and powerful hope that God has offered. Certainly, elements of truth reside in the familiar responses just described. Yet, the Bible actually provides both more substance to our ultimate hope and less detail than we might want about the immediate post-mortem condition—even for believers. As it turns out, however, that lack of detail is not so bad. Theological discussions can seem like exercises in abstraction or mere curiosity until something of value is at stake. Nowhere in life is this so true as in death. From inside his lingering and beleaguering troubles, Job mused that plants "die" and come back to life, "but man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last and is no more" (Job 14:10). 1 Everyone dies. What then? First, we must consider what it means to be alive, which impacts the meaning of death and what happens afterward. The typical Greek words for "life" have different connotations. Bios refers to organic or biological life (e.g., Lk. 8:14). Zoe, by comparison, portrays the fuller dimensions of life with and before God (e.g., Rom. 8:2). Some Christian responses to the question of the afterlife draw more heavily on ancient Greek philosophers than on the Bible. In Scripture, both the Hebrew and Greek terms often translated as "soul" generally refer simply to the person as a living being (e.g., Gen. 1:20; Matt. 2:20) or to the core identity of the person (Rev. 6:9). The concept of "spirit" is used in multiple ways and often refers to the unique life that God grants to human persons or to that innermost realm of a person's life (e.g., Gen. 2:7 and 1 Cor. 4:21) rather than to a discrete and detachable component of a person. The notion of soul or spirit as distinct and separable parts of the human person (and the "real" part of the person) with their own immortal energies is more Platonic than biblical. It falls short of Scripture's powerful promise because it disregards our embodiment as having value to God and it overdevelops what takes place in the interim. First, we must consider what it means to be alive, which impacts the meaning of death and what happens afterward. Second, what happens during this interim state? If we follow Scripture's teaching closely, we realize that what happens immediately after we die is not our final destination. It is in fact an interim—something between one condition and another. Though that interim state has immense significance, it's not the end game! Its significance derives from both what it is and what it anticipates. It involves being "with the Lord" and it anticipates the resurrection. Let's consider those in that order. ENGAGE 13 1 All Scripture quotations are taken from the NIV.

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