DISEMBODIED SPIRITS? Why is there a resurrection and a judgment if the souls of the righteous are already enjoying Heaven?

This series addresses the concerns we all have: the concern for sin, evil, death, dying, and what happens after we die. Is there hope after death? When God created us, humans, he intended for us to live forever in a loving, peaceful relationship with him. But this relationship has been broken by sin.

Here, we address the origin of sin and look more closely at death and dying.

But, instead of looking at death negatively, we look at it in the context of hope, the promised hope based on what Jesus did for us when he died and came back to life again.

From the Sabbath School Adult Bible Study Guide 2022 Quarter 4: Sabbath.School (See also Hope Sabbath School and 3ABN Sabbath School)

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Inviting the Spirit of God

Heavenly Father, it is difficult to adjust our thinking especially when it goes against what we have customarily believed. Nevertheless, give us a heart that is willing to accept truth regardless of what we have traditionally believed. In Jesus’ Name Amen

The popular and most customary belief about what happens when we die is the idea that the souls of the righteous dead go to live with God in heaven after they die. It is believed that the souls of the righteous leave their physical bodies and ascend directly to heaven or hell depending on how they lived in this life.

Some believe that the souls are disembodied spirits, while others believe the dead are disembodied spirits covered by a new spiritual body.

This view has been imposed on many of us since we were children.

But what has been puzzling for me is that if our loved ones are already in heaven, why would Jesus need to come back at the end of this earth’s history and wake up those that are sleeping in the grave?

Much as I would like to believe that my loved ones are in heaven enjoying all the great things that it has to offer, this idea does not align with the Biblical view.  

The idea that the dead are already in heaven doesn’t support what the Bible says about the Second Coming and the final judgment.

For if the dead are already in heaven, why would there need to be a second coming and a final judgment as expressed in Revelation 20:12-14

12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.

13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.

14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. (Revelation 20:12-14)

And who are the righteous since at funerals, regardless of how badly the deceased lived, it is said that they are in heaven with those who appeared to live righteously?

So, regardless of what we may suppose or desire it to be, these beliefs and ideas, the worldview is contrary to what the Bible says about the final resurrection and the judgment of the dead.

We need to know that the final judgment is the time when God will judge His people. This judgment occurs before Jesus returns to this earth. When Jesus returns, God will wake up the righteous dead. Thus, it will be clear who the righteous dead are because it will have already been decided in the final judgment. The decision of who is righteous and unrighteous will not be made by us or some spiritual leader, it will be made by God.

So I ask, why would God wake up the righteous for a judgment if the souls of the righteous are enjoying heaven?

The following verses from the Bible offer a better understanding of what happens when we die and how God will wake up the righteous from the dead.  

Acts 2:29, 34-35

29 “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.

34 “For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand,

35 Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” ’ (Acts 2:29, 34-35)

This lets us know that David, like the rest of the dead, is buried and his body remains in the grave waiting for the return of Jesus.

I Corinthians 15:16-18

16 For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen.

17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!

18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. (I Corinthians 15:16-18)

Likewise, this passage reveals that the righteous dead are asleep in the grave waiting for Christ’s second coming. At which time, he will wake up the righteous dead.

However, the Bible does let us know that a few people are already in heaven. We find that these people were either taken to heaven alive as in the case of Enoch in Genesis 5:24.

24 And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. (Genesis 5:24)

and Elijah in 2 Kings 2:9–11.

9 And so it was, when they had crossed over, that Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask! What may I do for you, before I am taken away from you?” Elisha said, “Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.” 

10 So he said, “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.”

11 Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. (II Kings 2:9-11)

Or God woke them up from the dead and took them to heaven. This is what happened to Moses according to Jude 1: 9

9 Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” (Jude 1: 9)

and the people that woke up from the dead when Jesus was resurrected as in Matthew 27:51–53.

51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split,

52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;

53 and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. (Matthew 27:51-53)

So, the grave is the place where the dead sleep. Therefore, the dead, both the righteous and the unrighteous, are not disembodied spirits floating around heaven, waiting to join their bodies at the Second Coming.

This may be overwhelming for some and difficult to accept when we have believed that our loved ones are already in heaven. But on the flip side, it is also assuring. (Split)

For our loved ones who have lived unrighteously, we have no need to put them in heaven or hell.  God will make that decision at the final judgment. Furthermore, we can be certain that the unrighteous have not been burning in hell since their death.

Death is not something God intended for us humans. We were created immortal. How then did we lose our immortality and become subject to death? And how and when will we regain immortality? Find out, Day 6: The Biblical View

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