class: center, middle ## How Does the Concept of Resuscitation Affect the Afterlife? --- ### Summary Answering the question "what happens after a human being dies physically---where do they go, and what is their experience like?" is deceptively complex. Are we talking about a believer, or an unbeliever? Are we talking before Christ's ascension, or after Christ's ascension? Are we talking in the short term, or what the eternal state will be? We'll get into some of the specifics of all this in this lesson, with the ultimate goal of showing that people who are resuscitated do not ultimately end up in the final state any different than people who die once and stay dead. Both sorts of people (those who are resuscitated, those who are not) ultimately die once for all in the end, and in that unavoidable conclusion to every mortal's time upon this Earth, all humanity faces much the same afterlife. Those who are resuscitated back into their mortal bodies (in a demonstration of God's miraculous power over life and death) will face death again all the same, and end up in the same places as those who were not so raised. Only final *resurrection* (contrast *resuscitation*) will render us truly impervious to death's sting. --- #### Outline - [Q: How does the concept of resuscitation affect the afterlife?](#4) - [On the nature and composition of human beings](#5) - [Types of death](#6) - [Defining terms: physical death means someone's human spirit departs their physical body](#7) - [What happens after that?](#8) - [Before Christ's ascension vs. after Christ's ascension vs. in eternity proper](#9) - ["Heavenly geography"](#10) - [Before Christ's ascension](#11) - [After Christ's ascension](#12) - [In eternity proper](#13) - [Wait, is it just human spirits in these places? But what about resurrection bodies?](#14) - [Interim bodies](#15) - [So answering that question of "what happens after physical death, in the normal case?"](#16) - [And what about for those who are resuscitated?](#17) --- ### Q: How does the concept of resuscitation affect the afterlife? Since I'm unfamiliar with the concept of resuscitation vs. resurrection, I'd be happy to hear more about it generally, but I also have a specific question: How does the concept of resuscitation affect the afterlife? Like where did Lazarus and Jairus’ daughter go when they died (considering that they were resuscitated and not resurrected)? --- ### On the nature and composition of human beings Human beings are "dichotomous"---composed of two distinct parts. Those two parts are the body, and the spirit. There is no "third thing" (what they call in Latin *tertium quid*), even though this point is widely misunderstood, such that people often think that the concept of "soul" is distinct from body and spirit. Biblically speaking, we do not "have" souls, but we ourselves *are* souls. That is to say, a soul is the combination of body and spirit together that makes us "us". The word translated as soul in Hebrew is *nephesh* ([נֶפֶשׁ](https://biblehub.com/hebrew/5315.htm)), and in Greek it is *psukhe* ([ψυχή](https://biblehub.com/greek/5590.htm); cf. the English word psyche). I am not a big fan at all of translating these Greek and Hebrew words with the English word "soul" due to all the problematic connotative baggage that term has picked up over the centuries. These Greek and Hebrew words can be better translated (as appropriate based upon context) with, for example, these other English words: - Heart - Mind - Person - Life (in the sense of "a human life"/"a living being") You might compare hearing something along the lines of "When the ship went down, 200 souls were lost." What is meant in that statement is that 200 human beings/living persons drowned. Also, think about a statement like "He felt the sting of her words deep down in his soul." Couldn't we replace soul with heart there, and have exactly the same sense? At any rate, the point is that humans are made up of body and spirit (two things), not body, spirit, and soul (three things). --- ### Types of death There are three "types of death" that human beings can experience: - Physical death - Spiritual death (spiritual separation from God) - Eternal death (also called the "second death")---spending eternity in the Lake of Fire, eternally separated from God When Satan told Eve that she would "surely not die" in Genesis 3:4, he spoke a half-truth. While disobeying God did not cause immediate physical death for Adam and Eve, their actions caused immediate spiritual death (spiritual separation from God), and in fact would cause eventual physical death... even if not instantaneously. Further, if God had not provided a gracious means of escape for us in the blood of Jesus Christ (symbolized and foreshadowed by God's gifting of the animal skins in Genesis 3:21, which is often called the *protoevangelium*), all of us---Adam and Eve included---would necessarily face certain eternal death as well. Our present topic is focused upon the first type of death: physical death. --- ### Defining terms: physical death means someone's human spirit departs their physical body When someone dies physically, their human spirit leaves their physical body; they cease breathing. Wording things that way is in fact precisely the proper way to think about it since in both Hebrew (*ruach*, [רוּחַ](https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7307.htm)) and Greek (*pneuma*, [πνεῦμα](https://biblehub.com/greek/4151.htm)), the exact same word is used for both spirit and breath. That is to say, the human spirit is present when breath is present, and not when not. I should note that the fact that this identical duality in meaning is present across both languages is at least somewhat noteworthy. Hebrew and Greek are not at all linguistically related (Hebrew being a Semitic language, and Greek being an Indo-European language), so the fact that both languages have this same exact concept points to a universal spiritual truth. (One might also compare Latin's *spiritus*, which also has the same dual meanings, but contrast the two separate German nouns *geist* and *atem*, and the fact that we have two separate words in English too). Regardless, the key takeaway point is that physical death is the removal of someone's human spirit from their physical body. --- ### What happens after that? Finally, after all that groundwork, we are ready to start addressing the main thrust of the question. Put simply, what happens after physical death, and are things any different in the case of a person who will be resuscitated? Let's start with the "normal" case, and explain the general mechanics of things. --- #### Before Christ's ascension vs. after Christ's ascension vs. in eternity proper Discussing what happens after physical death for humans is complicated by the fact that it has not been constant throughout human history, and where/how we will spend eternity with God in the New Heavens and New Earth is yet again different. Since some of these topics are ultimately a bit tangential to the present matter, I'm not going to spend too much time here, but a brief summary of the basics is in order. --- ##### "Heavenly geography" My mentor created a picture to describe what can be termed "heavenly geography":  --- ##### "Heavenly geography" Some brief notes: - The "Waters Above" and "Waters Below" separate the three main divisions from each other. Compare the "sea of glass" mentioned in Revelation 4:6 and Revelation 15:2. - The Third Heaven is where the Father currently resides, separated from the world due to the tainting presence of sin in this current creation. This will no longer be the case (i.e., the Father will no longer be separated from us, but will dwell alongside us) when this current creation is destroyed and replaced with the New Heavens and New Earth at the end of history. - The Kosmos (composed of the Earth and the *shamayim* = "heavens" plural = Earth's atmosphere and the wider universe) is where we currently dwell. - Hades (or "Sheol" or "the Grave") is composed of further subdivisions: - "Abraham's Bosom", or paradise: the "good part" of Hades where pre-cross believers used to be located. (We'll talk more about that in a moment). - "Torments": the "bad part" of Hades where unbelievers go to await the Great White Throne Judgement at the end of history. - "The Abyss" or "Tartarus": where certain fallen angels are currently incarcerated on account of transgressing God's limitations put upon them (see 2 Peter 2:4, and cf. Jude 1:6). - "The Lake of Fire": where all unbelieving humans and angels will be cast for all eternity (although it is presently uninhabited, and will remain as such until that future point of irreversible judgement). I should note that in English, we tend to be a bit loose with how we use the word "hell". In practice, sometimes people mean by it Torments (where unbelievers are before the Great White Throne Judgment at the end of history), and sometimes they mean the Lake of Fire (the final resting place of unbelievers in eternity). Those two places are technically distinct from one another, although neither is pleasant in the least. --- ##### Before Christ's ascension Before the [events described in Ephesians 4:7-10](https://ichthys.com/4A-Christo.htm#3%29_The_Transfer_of_Believers_from_the_Subterranean_Paradise_to_the_Third_Heaven) (Christ's ascension), pre-cross believers went to Hades, into the part of it known as "Abraham's Bosom". This is where Lazarus and Abraham are in Luke 16:19-31. As we mentioned before, Hades contains multiple subdivisions, including Abraham's Bosom and another section (called "Torments") where unbelieving humans go after death. The two sections are separated by a great chasm, such that nobody can cross between the two sections. (This is what Luke 16:26 is getting at). Abraham's Bosom, though separate from the presence of the Father, was not some neutral or negative holding space or prison, but was a form of paradise (cf. Eden). --- ##### After Christ's ascension After the [events described in Ephesians 4:7-10](https://ichthys.com/4A-Christo.htm#3%29_The_Transfer_of_Believers_from_the_Subterranean_Paradise_to_the_Third_Heaven) (Christ's ascension), all of those who were previously in Abraham's Bosom were led by Christ into the presence of the Father in the Third Heaven. This is the victory Christ won for us on the cross: the veil of separation between us and God was completely and utterly split. When the Father accepted Christ's payment for our sins, death was defeated, and God now sees believing humans only through the blood of Christ. Therefore, since then, when believers die, they join all of our previously-departed brothers and sisters in the Third Heaven, where our ancient forebears were led after Christ's ascension. Unbelievers still go to Torments in Hades, however. That part has stayed consistent. --- ##### In eternity proper There is described in Revelation a period of 1,000 literal years known as the Millennium, wherein Christ will rule from Jerusalem in this present creation. It will be a time of overflowing peace and prosperity like no other time before. But eternity proper is different from the Millennium. At the end of history, this current creation will be destroyed (Cf. Psalm 102:26; Isaiah 13:13; Isaiah 34:4; Isaiah 51:6; Matthew 24:35; Revelation 6:14; Revelation 20:11). Then God will create the New Heavens and New Earth, the New Jerusalem will descend, and we will dwell there in perfect bliss for all eternity (with no more tears, no more pain, and perfect fellowship with not only each other, but also elect angels and God). That is the eternal state of believers and elect angels. By way of contrast, unbelievers will find themselves thrown into the Lake of Fire for all eternity, alongside Satan and the other fallen angels. --- #### Wait, is it just human spirits in these places? But what about resurrection bodies? Unfortunately, a lot of "pop culture" representations of heaven involve pearly gates, clouds, floating gold streets, and what have you---things that make it seem somehow floaty and ephemeral rather than physical. This is not compatible with the Bible's descriptions of the afterlife. The Bible is clear that in final resurrection we will be "like" Christ (1 John 3:2, and cf. 1 Corinthians 15:35-58), and will dwell upon the remade Earth (now free from sin and death) rather than up in the clouds somewhere. We will have bodies that are incorruptible, "spiritual bodies" that will be ruled over by spiritual impulses rather than the sinful fleshly ones like we have at present. We can only grasp the barest outlines of exactly what this means, but the key point is that our spirits will still be housed in bodies, even if they are different than the ones we are now in. So what about before the resurrection, we might ask? Did the people in Abraham's Bosom have bodies of some form? What about those in the Third Heaven now? --- ##### Interim bodies The answer to these questions is yes---people in the afterlife (even before the resurrection) have bodies too. Recall at the beginning of today's video how we talked about the composition of humans---how we are composed of body and spirit. How could humans exist as only spirit? It is simply not how God has made us, ontologically speaking. Clothing is a metaphor employed in the Bible for the concept of human spirits being joined with physical bodies (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:1-4; Revelation 6:11, 7:9). For a human to be, well, a human, a human spirit must be embodied and joined with some form of "vessel" = a physical body. Scripture therefore indirectly teaches a concept that my mentor has termed "interim bodies". This is the idea that after we die physically but before the resurrection, human spirits of departed believers (in Abraham's Bosom before, and now in the Third Heaven) are clothed by God in temporary bodies. Bodies of this sort are both distinct from the sort of body we possess in this life (that is, a fleshly body infested with sin), and the sort of resurrection body (like Christ's) we shall eventually possess (the so-called "spiritual body", or *soma pneumatikon*, of 1 Corinthians 15:44). --- ##### Interim bodies One of the reasons why this teaching is often missed or misunderstood is because of [a complex textual issue relating to 2 Corinthians 5:3](https://ichthys.com/mail-Resurrection-Body-Eternal-Future.htm#interim%20body%20taught%20in%202nd%20Corinthians%205:3). Textual criticism is the art and science of figuring out what the original text of the Bible said; since the Bible was copied and recopied many times over the decades and centuries, changes could creep in and corrupt the text. The exact specifics of this particular textual matter are a bit beyond what I want to get into here (although see the link if interested in the gory technical details), but suffice it to say that the proper way to translate 2 Corinthians 5:3 is actually along the lines of "when we are **un**-clothed (i.e., because we have died, and our spirits have left our physical bodies), we will not be found naked (i.e., God will clothe our spirits with some new body)" rather than "when we are clothed (i.e., joined with a body of some form), we will not be found naked (i.e., we will not end up being disembodied)". Note that the meaning is entirely flipped between those two options, and also note the nearly tautological sense of the second (incorrect) option. To put that into a bit plainer English: 2 Corinthians 5:3---when translated using the correct textual base---says that when we put off our present bodies when we die physically, we will not be found naked in the sense of being without a body for our human spirit. Ergo, interim bodies. There is other evidence too: - In Luke 16:19-31, do disembodied spirits have tongues that experience heat (Luke 16:24)? How could one recognize Abraham, Lazarus, and the rich man if they were merely disembodied spirits when in Hades? - Compare again those verses from Revelation that mention the white robes: Revelation 6:11, 7:9. Do disembodied spirits have robes? But they couldn't be resurrection bodies there either, since the resurrection hasn't yet occurred. - Etc. --- ##### Interim bodies I should be clear that there is very much here we do not know. For example, a quote from my mentor: <div class="special-content quote"> <strong> <a href="/site/content-features/#quotes">Quote</a> from <a href="https://ichthys.com/mail-interim%20state.htm">Ichthys</a> </strong> <p>We have very little to go on when it comes to the constitution of the interim body (just the passages I have cited previously [that is, 2 Corinthians 5:3; Revelation 6:11, 7:9]). Revelation calls it a "white sheet to wear"; 2nd Corinthians also uses the clothing analogy saying that we "won't be found naked"; and in Luke 16 both those in paradise and those in torments are recognizable, can speak, reason, and seemingly function in most important ways just as we presently can. Were I to speculate, I would say that the materiality or physicality of the interim body is less pronounced than for either of the other two. We know that we can eat in both the natural and resurrection bodies (cf. Lk.24:40-43), but there is neither need nor (probably) opportunity to eat in the interim state (whether it be the paradise of the past or the third heaven of the present), and I would imagine that this is true of much of the physical interaction which is commonplace now and will be after the resurrection again. Then again, the rich man asks Abraham to have Lazarus dip the tip of his finger into water to cool his tongue - it doesn't happen, of course, but it may be that he was observing eating in drinking across the "great fixed gulf" (I can't say for sure).</p> </div> --- #### So answering that question of "what happens after physical death, in the normal case?" Assuming we are talking about a believer: - Before Christ's ascension, they would have ended up in Abraham's Bosom in Hades, in an interim body. - After Christ's ascension, they will end up in the Third Heaven, in an interim body. And then after the resurrection, each person shall possess a resurrection body, just like Christ's body after he was resurrected. The *soma pneumatikon* of 1 Corinthians 15:44. --- ### And what about for those who are resuscitated? Put simply, matters of the afterlife are no different when it comes to those people who are resuscitated, except they go backwards from the interim body state to the physical world in addition to the normal forward version of that passage, whereas others only ever make that transition in the forwards direction alone. Once they make the transition the second time (i.e., die for the second time after being resuscitated), it is as if there were nothing irregular about their afterlife experience at all. That is to say, when Jairus' daughter died the first time (assuming for the sake of argument she met the standards of belief necessary for salvation at the time of Matthew 9), she would have found herself in Abraham's Bosom in an interim body, until her human spirit was called back to her physical body here in the world, at which point the interim body in Abraham's Bosom would have no longer been necessary. But then, after she lived out the remainder of her days, she would once again have died physically, and if she was still a believer, she would have again found herself in an interim body (although probably now in the Third Heaven, since she would have likely died long after Jesus had ascended, since she was so young at the time of His ministry). <!-- Footnote List --> <div class="footnotes"> <ol> </ol> </div> --- #### Outline - [Q: How does the concept of resuscitation affect the afterlife?](#4) - [On the nature and composition of human beings](#5) - [Types of death](#6) - [Defining terms: physical death means someone's human spirit departs their physical body](#7) - [What happens after that?](#8) - [Before Christ's ascension vs. after Christ's ascension vs. in eternity proper](#9) - ["Heavenly geography"](#10) - [Before Christ's ascension](#11) - [After Christ's ascension](#12) - [In eternity proper](#13) - [Wait, is it just human spirits in these places? But what about resurrection bodies?](#14) - [Interim bodies](#15) - [So answering that question of "what happens after physical death, in the normal case?"](#16) - [And what about for those who are resuscitated?](#17)