After Death, Then What? Matthew 22:23-33
At a time of death there are always a lot of questions that people have. There are all kinds of ideas as to what happens when a person dies. Some people think that when someone dies, that's it, it is over with, and they are just non-existent anymore. There are others who think that everyone goes to heaven, some place of bliss, of happiness, and that it doesn't matter what has happened in this life, everyone shows up in this sort of paradise beyond this life.
There are others who recognize that there is some sort of accountability and that there is going to be some kind of judgment. But for many they somewhat back away from the teaching of Scripture that there is going to be some sort of horrible enduring, everlasting fiery punishment, and so they question what Scripture says there.
What is important is that we understand what God has revealed to us and why we need not fear punishment but can anticipate a full abundant life, life in heaven that is beyond anything that we can possibly imagine.
Thinking through what the Scripture teaches about what happens when we die, it doesn't teach a lot. Even though there is one book out there that is fairly good called Heaven, it is still speculation. I believe that heaven is so far beyond our comprehension that the Lord just hasn't revealed much because we couldn't comprehend it if He did.
But one thing we know for sure is that we are not going to spend eternity in heaven if we are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. That may surprise some, but we saw in our study of Revelation that our eternal destiny is on the earth. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit will take up their abode on the new earth when the new heavens and new earth comes into existence. Church age believers will have their abode in the New Jerusalem.
We now want to build off where we studied last time and wrap up a few loose ends from Matthew chapter 22 where there is an attempt to trap Jesus with a question by the Sadducees about the resurrection. So we will look at the question: After death, what?
We saw in this section of Matthew that Jesus taught three consecutive parables, and each of these focused on judgment. This section of Matthew isn't one of those feel good sections because chapters 21-23 all focus on God's condemnation of the religious leaders of Israel and the judgment that is going to come to that generation of Israel. It is followed by a very important section of Scripture that focuses on the end times, Matthew 24 & 25. But what we saw is that each of these parables focused on a question and answer related to Jesus' authority. Each involved a father and a son, a rejection of the father's authority, and each parable was addressed to the unsaved, unbelieving religious leaders of Israel, not the multitudes. Each one built a case for God's rejection of the religious leaders and the announcement of coming judgment on Israel because they have rejected the kingdom offer, rejected Jesus as the Messiah, and the consequence would be temporal judgment on the nation.
The Sadducees asked the facetious question about the resurrection, when they didn't even believe in resurrection. They had an annihilationist view that at the point of death a person was just gone, that was it, because they had a materialistic view of a human being. This is not uncommon today.
When we think about resurrection we think about physical death and what happens to a human being at physical death. There are three basic questions that are raised. The first is, what actually happens when a person physically dies? What happens to the essence of that person, the identity, the subconsciousness of that individual? Part of that is, we need to ask what happens when a believer dies physically, and then what happens when the unbeliever dies physically.
The first question focuses on what happens to our identity, the real person, when we die physically. Is there some sort of interim body prior to the reception of a resurrection body? There are some who think that we go into some sort of spiritual hibernation called soul sleep and that we don't have consciousness again until the resurrection occurs, and then we are face to face with the Lord. That is not a belief that is held by Bible-believing Christians.
A third question is: What is the nature of the punishment for unbelievers? Is this punishment that the Scripture talks about in reference to the lake of fire? Is it a conscious eternal torment? Is there a soul or identity immediately annihilated?
Another view is that there is a temporary period of torment that is followed by annihilation.
To begin with I want to go through several points related to what the Bible teaches about the makeup, what makes a human being a human being, because we have to understand that before we can understand what happens at the time of physical death.
First, we need to recognize that the Scripture teaches that a human being is comprised of three components: a physical body that is made from the chemicals of the soil, a human soul and a human spirit. Sometimes the words spirit and soul are used almost synonymously and that has confused some people into thinking they are identical. But there are passages such as Hebrews 4:12 that talks about the Word of God being so powerful it is like a sword that separates the soul and the spirit. So there are passages where God makes it clear that there is a distinction at some point between soul and spirit when they are used in a more technical sense. Paul talks about the fact that we are made up of a body, a soul, and a spirit; he uses all three terms. That indicates that there is a tripartite nature to man.
We have a human body that was formed from the chemicals of the ground—Adam's original human body. God built into that a capability to generate itself through procreation so that that allows for reproduction from generation to generation. It is a material body that is distinct from an immaterial soul.
We can see at least four distinct components for an immaterial soul. It has self-consciousness. When you look in the mirror we recognize ourselves; we recognize who we are. Animals do not identify themselves; they don't have self-consciousness as human beings do. We also have a mentality: we can think, we can reason, we can reflect, we can develop thoughts based on logic and observation. We have a conscience, which means that we have a sense of norms and standards, what is right and what is wrong. These are where our moral and ethical categories are stored as to what we ought to do, what we should do. Then we have volition, a will, the ability to choose, to do right or to do wrong, to follow the correct standards of our conscience or not. That is the component of our soul. That soul relates to ourselves and to the creation around us.
Then we have another component that I call the human spirit, and this intersects and inter-reacts with the components of the soul. It is also immaterial and it allows the components of our soul to relate to God. So in self-consciousness we can relate to God in terms of God-consciousness. In our mentality we can think God's thoughts after Him. In our conscience we can reflect God's absolute standards of right and wrong. In our volition we can make decisions to obey God and to serve God.
In the Garden of Eden when God first created man, man was created in His image and likeness, and that meant that man was created righteous. But it was a sort of probationary or provisional righteousness in that it could be lost, because there was a test in the Garden and that was whether or not man would obey God at the point of the prohibition to not eat from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If man used his volition to disobey God then there were consequences, called spiritual death, which was separation from God. What would happen at that point is that the human spirit, that capacity to relate to God was lost and something was acquired that we call the sin nature—a capacity to sin, a capacity to disobey God, and it is a constitutional defect in every human being, passed on from our original father, Adam.
When we trust in Christ as savior the Bible says we are reborn. The idea of a rebirth indicates that something comes alive. There are some within Christianity who think that regeneration just means that the sin nature is limited and you get eternal life, but the idea of birth is that something comes into existence. What happens is that there is the restoration of the human spirit, which enables us as new creatures in Christ, those who are born again, to have a relationship with God through our soul. This, then, is a restoration.
We still have a sin nature, and it is not until physical death that we lose the attachment to this fallen corrupt body that has the sin nature, and then we are then without sin and face to face with the Lord.
This physical human body is important. By the middle to late second century (150-200 AD) a secular philosophy came out of Platonism—a sort of revision of Plato's ideas, called neo-Platonism. In Platonism Plato came up with the idea that this world is inherently corrupt. So far, so good. But reality existed in the idea world, and so he makes the separation between the physical and the ideal. His thinking was that anything associated with the physical was inherently corrupt and that we needed to focus on the ideal.
One of the consequences of that idea was that Christians began to minimize the importance and significance of the human body and of anything in the physical world, and they put all of the emphasis on “other worldliness”.
That was not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that God had a specific intention and purpose in creating the physical body, and originally it was good. It only became corrupt as a result of sin; therefore we should not minimize or denigrate the role of the physical or the role of the body.
Genesis 1:26 NASB Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” This is talking about that which distinguishes man from all other creatures.
Other creatures were called nephesh, a word that is often translated soul. Some animals, not all, have nephesh. But that which distinguishes animals from human beings is not that they have an immaterial nephesh, but that they are not in the image and likeness of God. That is ultimately what distinguishes man and makes him distinct from all other orders of life. Man is made in the likeness of God and that has a function, a purpose: to rule as God's representatives (the idea of an image is representation) over creation.
Genesis 1:26 is one of the most hated verses by environmentalists because they don't want man to rule over creation. They look at this as a mandate to destroy the creation, and that the Judeo-Christian view of the planet is inherently destructive.
Genesis 1:27 NASB “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” One observation here is that this imageness is not gender specific; it is related to man and woman. Male and female are seen as physical characteristics, although we also recognize that there are soul distinctions between men and women.
A lot of that has been corrupted because of sin, which is why we have some folks who have some gender confusion and gender identification issues, but ultimately what we can say at just a superficial level here is that because of this distinction—male and female physically—the imageness is basically this manifestation of the soul that is designed as a representation of God to rule over the planet.
So the body is important and God breathes the immaterial part into man so that together they become a human being. That shows that both are important and the soul was not pre-existent (another Platonic idea).
The third point I want to make is that as the triune God created—primarily the role of God the Son, according to Colossians 1:16—He is thinking, 'I am now going to become a human being; I am going to incarnate myself. What is the best physical shape and form that I can create through which I can reveal myself?' That is why we are shaped the way we are. Our physical, bodily shape is not some accident; it is designed specifically this way because, as Hebrews 10:5 says, a body that God was preparing for the Messiah to reveal Himself through.
The fourth thing we learn from this is that the human soul never exists independently of the body. It never just free floats like Casper the ghost. This demonstrates that the soul is dependent upon a body to manifest itself. It doesn't have ears and eyes, feeling, smell, or any way to interact with the created universe around it without having some form of body.
This leads to questions about the immortality of the human soul. The soul is going to last forever because of its nature. The house that we now have, according to 1 Corinthians chapter five, is just an earthly tent. When it dies it will be replaced with a different kind. Whether a believer or an unbeliever there is another kind of body that will immediately house the soul. At physical death the immaterial part of man survives and continues into the next phase of existence, whether a person is a believer or an unbeliever.
In the fifth point we see that after death there is some sort of interim body. It is temporary and it has some similarities to the resurrection body for the believer, yet it is not yet a resurrection body. We see this in Luke chapter sixteen, beginning at verse 19. This entire story is not a parable. It has become a little more popular by some writers in recent years, especially those who deny an eternal death in the lake of fire. There has been a trend towards denying this as a reality and just looking at it as a parable.
A parable by definition is a fictional story that is not related to specific times, places or people. A parable is a story with a moral and spiritual principle that is being taught; it is not a story about a specific individual or event. In this story we have one individual named—Lazarus--and by identifying him as a real person, and by identifying a rich man as one who has brothers is beyond a parable. The Lazarus here is not to be confused with the Lazarus of John chapter eleven.
This event takes place prior to the cross and therefore it is depicting the way things were in the Old Testament period up to the point of Christ's resurrection. His physical bodily resurrection is the firstfruits of resurrection. No one was resurrected prior to that. There were people raised from the dead (resuscitated) but eventually they died.
This story that Jesus tells is an important one to help us understand a few things. He talks about this rich man who dresses well, eats well, in contrast to the beggar who is homeless and is eating the leftovers from the rich man. The beggar lives outside of his gate, has physical illnesses, sores on his body, and this is just a horrible, revolting description.
Luke 16:22 NASB “Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried.”
Note that he was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. That tells us that when the believer dies physically his immaterial nature is escorted to heaven by the angels. The rich man was buried, and then we find that he was in torments in Hades.
Luke 16:23 NASB “In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom.”
In Sheol [Hades] prior to the cross there were three compartments. We learn this from other Scriptures. There is the compartment of Abraham's bosom, which is also called Paradise, and this is where Old Testament believers went before the cross. We are told that after Christ's resurrection He escorted Paradise to heaven, according to 2 Corinthians 12:1-4.
There is another compartment known as “torments” from this passage, and this is where all unbelievers from all dispensations go. This is not the lake of fire but it is not dissimilar from the lake of fire; it is a fiery torment.
What we also see in this story is that apparently in the Old Testament period those on the one side could see those on the other side, but they couldn't get to them because of an impassable barrier called a “great gulf fixed”.
A third division here is called Tartarus (2 Peter 2:4), which is where the angels who violated God's standards in Genesis chapter six are chained in chains of darkness.
We see here that Lazarus is in Abraham's bosom; the rich man is in torments. Eventually those in Abraham's bosom are taken to heaven, after the resurrection, and Paradise is now in heaven.
Notice in the text the emphasis on physical features. We see that the rich man is able to lift up his eyes. He has some kind of immaterial body there and he can see Abraham. And he can talk.
Luke 16:24 NASB “And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’” So Lazarus has some sort of body that has fingers.
Luke 16:25 NASB “But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. [26] And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and {that} none may cross over from there to us.’”
Luke 16:27, 28 NASB “And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house--for I have five brothers--in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’”
What is interesting in this statement is that he still has a conscious memory of his family. He knows who he is and can recognize Lazarus on the other side, and that tells us that when we are in our resurrected state in the future we will be recognizable. We will have a memory. When we are in heaven we will recognize others and will be known by others.
Remember that in Matthew 22:30 Jesus said, “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage ...” This bothers some people, but it doesn't say that you won't have a relationship with your present spouse. It says that marriage is not operational in heaven. This is because it doesn't have a function.
Thinking through the first three divine institutions, there is individual responsibility where everyone is responsible to God. In the original state Adam had the freedom to obey or disobey. But volition will not be operational in the next life. That doesn't mean we wouldn't be making choices. We are going to be locked into a positive volition to God. We will be able to choose but we won't be able to choose to disobey God and do something that violates His will.
Volition in that sense was designed for this life. Free will was designed for this life and just as the angels, after a certain probationary period--after the rebellion of Satan--the fallen angels were locked into negative volition and the elect angels were locked into positive volition. It will be that same way for us when we get to heaven.
The divine institution of marriage was designed to fulfil the mandate to be fruitful and multiply, to protect the propagation of the species. That will not be part of the next life when marriage doesn't have a purpose. Family will not have a purpose and will not be functional as such in the next life, but we will remember who our family members are.
After the resurrection Paradise goes to heaven, so that all that we have now is torments where the unbeliever goes at the time of death. That helps us to understand a little about the unbeliever when he dies. When the believer dies he is absent from the body and face to face with the Lord. At the Rapture of the church all believers receive their resurrection bodies (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). We will have an interim body until the Rapture and then the dead in Christ will rise first. That is when they receive their resurrection body. How that happens, I have no idea.
When we look at the pattern of Jesus' body it wasn't that God gave Him a totally unrelated new body. When Peter and John went into the grave, what did they see? They saw nothing. That prior body was somehow transformed into the new body.
For Old Testament saints, their resurrection doesn't occur until the end of the Tribulation period.
1 Corinthians 15:23 talks about the first resurrection and that there are ranks or groups that are resurrected at different times. Christ is the firstfruits. All that are Christ's at His coming is the second group. Then there will be those who are martyred in the Tribulation period who are given their resurrection bodies. So there are different ranks in the resurrection process.
At physical death all believers are immediately absent from the body and face to face with the Lord, in our interim body. 2 Corinthians 5:6-8 describes this. NASB “Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord--for we walk by faith, not by sight--we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with [Gk: face to face with] the Lord.”
At physical death we are immediately absent from the body, are immediately given an interim body, are escorted by the angels to be face to face with our Lord and savior. Then when Jesus returns at the Rapture we will receive our resurrection body.
Unbelievers get an interim body as well, a body that can endure the torments and suffering that occurs in torments—a fiery punishment, as we have seen. They are not judged and do not go to their ultimate destiny until the great white throne judgment, which is described in Revelation 20:12-15, and anyone whose name is not written in the book of life is cast into the lake of fire.
This has bothered people for a number of different reasons but we have to be honest with what the text says. It is a punishment of unimaginable suffering. People might say they didn't commit that many bad sins. Yes, but sin in and of itself has so many unattended consequences that bring so much sorrow and heartache to people that we can't quantify it. Adam didn't commit a tremendous sin in the Garden; he ate a piece of fruit. But because God prohibited that, eating that piece of fruit brought on all human suffering. And ultimately all of that began when Lucifer decided he wanted to be like God. That started the dominoes falling.
Christ paid the penalty for human sin. Therefore even though we sin and are worthy of eternal death, because Christ bore in His own body on the cross our sin we can have eternal life. We don't get what we deserve, we get grace, and we get life. That is salvation.
But for those who have chosen to do it on their own, to do it their way, there no provision for them because they are still dead in their sins, because they are still spiritually dead and corrupt, and they are destined for the lake of fire.
In the Old Testament there is a verse that indicates this. Daniel 12:2 NASB “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace {and} everlasting contempt.”
There are those who think there has to be some sort of punishment that may go on for a while but that eventually God is going to annihilate them, they will be gone. How could God let them suffer forever and ever? Unfortunately, when we look at the language here the word that modifies life is the same word that modifies contempt or condemnation. It is the word olam, which can mean just a very long period of time but in many contexts it means forever and ever. So if we are going to believe in everlasting, non-ending life, eternal life in heaven, then we have to apply that same meaning the second time the word is used here.
The same thing happens in Matthew 25:41, 46 after Jesus talks about the judgment of the surviving Gentiles at the end of the Tribulation period. Those who are righteous, the sheep, and those who are unrighteous, the goats, are separated. Matthew 25:41 NASB “Then He will also say to those on His left [goats], ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.” So this judgment wasn't created for mankind, it was created for Satan and the fallen angels. But those who follow him by not believing in Christ will have that as their destiny. It is the same word that is used is verse 46: “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” In all three places, everlasting fire, everlasting punishment, and everlasting life, the same Greek word is used—aionios, which means forever and ever in this context. If it is going to mean life forever with God it has to also mean punishment forever and ever.
But God has provided a solution, and that solution is described in John 3:16 NASB “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”