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INDIVIDUAL ESCHATOLOGY
("Let us consider this settled," said Calvin, "that no one has made progress in the school of Christ who
does not joyfully await the day of death and final resurrection" [Institutes, 3.10.5].)
Biblical eschatology is a vast field of study encompassing far more than merely "end-time" events, or
what we customarily speak of as "prophecy". Also included within the discipline of eschatology is the
destiny of the individual, most often conceived as entailing 4 phases or experiences: (1) physical death,
(2) the intermediate state, (3) the bodily resurrection, and (4) the judgment of the believer,
Individual eschatology refers to events which occur to each individual as he or she dies (Erickson).
A. DEATH IS CERTAIN
1. Death is real and certain (Hebrews 9:27; 1 Cor. 15:54-56; 2 Cor. 4:11-12)
2. Death has three kinds.
a. Physical death
This is the cessation of life in the physical, mortal body. (Matt. 10:28; Luke 12:4-5;
14:26)
This is the separation of the soul (or spirit) from the body. (Ecc. 12:7; James 2:26)
This is not extinction but transition to another state of existence.
This is not natural to man.
- Physical death came through one man (1 Cor. 15:21).
- Physical death is one of the evils overcame by the resurrection of Christ.
- Physical death is pictured as an enemy (1 Cor. 15:26)
- Physical death is one of God’s expression of His disapproval of sin (Gen 6:13; 9:6;
Gen 19; Num. 16)
b. Spiritual death
This is the separation of the person from God because of sin. (Eph. 2:1-2)
c. Eternal death
This is the final state of separation from God-one is lost for all eternity in his or her sinful
condition.
This is being referred to as the “second death” (Rev. 21:8)
This is a state of eternal punishment. (Rev. 21:8)
This will not be experienced by the believers of the Lord Jesus Christ (Rev. 20:6).
- (1) Sleep implies rest from earthly toil, the cessation of activity in this
realm. Thus one is asleep to this world, but alive and "awake" in the
next.
- (2)The imagery of sleep is used to describe death because the body does
sleep, in a manner of speaking. I.e., it is at rest, without activity or life.
But nowhere does the Bible say that the "soul" or "spirit" sleeps or is
unconscious.
- (3) Sleep is used to illustrate that the pain of death as a penalty for sin is
gone for the Christian. Death for the believer, rather than something to be
feared, is like dozing off for a nap.
- See esp. Lk. 16:19-31; Mt. 17:1-8; Mark 12:26-27; Rev. 6:9-11.
Unbelievers are also conscious and disembodied but in Hades. Later with the resurrection
bodies, they will be tormented eternally in Gehenna (Mark 9:43-48; Matthew 10:28; Rev.
20)
A. Unbelievers
Essentially, unbelievers can anticipate, whether they know it or not, that they may be experiencing,
upon their physical death, torment and punishment as they await the final judgment of Christ. There are
a couple of passages that indicate this. 2 Peter 2:9 is the first one we will look at.Peter says here,
"The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment
awaiting the day of judgment." Here is a very clear statement that those who are unrighteous are not in
some kind of unconscious experience, soul sleep or something like this, but rather they are consciously
experiencing punishment awaiting this day of judgment. The term that is used there, that they are under
punishment, is a present passive participle, indicating the ongoing nature of this punishment the are
enduring. Another passage that I believe is relevant to this is Luke 16, where Jesus tells the story of the
rich man and Lazarus. You may recall this. Beginning at verse 19, the rich man enjoyed many benefits in
this life.The poor man, Lazarus, used to lay at his gate covered with sores and long to be fed with crumbs
that came from the rich man's table. But now, they both have died, and the
rich man is in Hades, it says, while the poor man is at Abraham's bosom. We read this concerning the rich
man, in verse 24,"He cried out and said 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he
may dip the tip of his finger into water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.
But Abraham said to him, 'Child,remember that during your life you received good things, and Lazarus
bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. And besides 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 to do
so, and that none may cross from there to us.' And then the rich man in Hades said, 'Then I beg you,
father, send someone to my father's household, for I have five brothers, in order that he may warn them,
so that they will not come to this place of torment.' And Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the
prophets; let them hear them.'" A couple of things about this are interesting. It is very clear that this is
happening in the intermediate state. This is not a statement of the final judgment. This is not hell or the
lake of fire, as we read about it in Revelation 20. Rather, this is a time period between this man's physical
death and the coming of Christ. How do we know that? Because he appeals for someone to go and
speak to his brothers who are still out there. Other people have not died yet. This is prior to the end of the
age Another interesting thing is that this man is conscious and experiencing torment during this time. He
wishes for just a drop of water to be brought to him, but nothing of the sort can b e done; there is this
chasm fixed. Finally, notice that, because this chasm is fixed, there is no way in which one could transfer
from one side to the other. People who are in this horrible place of torment cannot move to the place of
Abraham's bosom of blessing nor the other way around. So, it seems to be clear from this that our
ultimate destiny is secured at the point of our physical death; there is no point after our physical death in
which it can be changed. Hebrews 9:27 confirms this when it says, "It is appointed unto men once to die
and after this comes the judgment."
In summary: the intermediate state for the Christian is immediate transition upon death into the presence
of Christ during which time we experience holiness (no longer being at war with the flesh, although final
glorification awaits the resurrection), happiness, a heightened sense of consciousness, and knowledge of
Christ in its fullest. For the non-Christians a heightened sense of consciousness, but one of torment,
agony, irreversible separation from Christ (Luke 16).
Conclusion:
1 Corinthians 15:12-49
Dr. Kevin DeYoung “We are all natural evangelist for the things we love the most, and when we
love the Lord Jesus, we talk about Him.
This November 1…