THE church age or dispensation of the church which Apostle Paul calls “the mystery… which in other ages was not made known” (Eph. 3:3-6) being “hid in God” from “the beginning of the world” (Eph. 3:9) comes between Pentecost and the Second Advent of the Lord. And so the ‘‘end of the church age” will be marked by the ushering in of Christ’s glorious Kingdom.
The fate of living believers at the end of their earthly uniting force – the Body of Christ or the church — in the glorious Kingdom of Christ that will take place, and not less, the issue of whether they have a place in it, and if they do, how they get into it; are the subjects of the gospel truth, revealing the mystery of the place of living saints with Christ at His second coming.
The following exposition may be difficult to follow unless the Gospel Truth is accepted as the revelation of the mind of God which deals with ultimate and eternal realities. The carnal mind may find them impossible to appreciate, but they are TRUTHS. How one feels about them cannot alter the truth about them.
God’s first revelation of human immortality came about 162 years pre-deluvian era, before the earliest stages of the Mesopotamian culture and the beginning of the chalcolithic (stone – copper) age, when a man called Enoch, son of Jared, a descendant of Cain, Adam’s first son who “walked with God, and was not; for God took him”. (Gen. 5:24, Heb. 11:5). “To walk with God” is to be upright, righteous and acceptable to God. Even at this earliest stage of human existence, God rewarded righteousness and abhorred sin as was the case with Adam and Eve (Gen.3) and Cain (Gen.4).
Another experience of immorality is recorded of Elijah, a prophet of Israel in the Book of II Kings 2:1-13, who was translated into heaven around c.824 BC. Elijah’s character is known and recorded to be of moral sublimity. His faith in God knew no limits. His zeal for Jehovah was an all-absorbing motive of his life. No danger nor, duty was too severe to shake his confidence. He was by nature a recluse; only appearing before men to deliver his message from God, and enforce it by miracle if need be, and disappear again.
The voice of early ecclesiastical tradition is almost unanimous in regarding Enoch and Elijah as “the two witnesses” of Rev. 11:13.
Again, between c. AD 14 – 38, when Rome was the master of the world under Tiberius Caeser, Jesus of Nazareth lived on earth. He was crucified. He resurrected and ascended into heaven. The “Nazareth Inscriptions”, — an imperial ordinance brought to Paris from Nazareth (1878) now in the “Bibliotheque Nationale” – which stipulated the death penalty for crimes of the violation of tombs, has been interpreted as evidence of Christ’s resurrection. This proof of course, is for those who would rather die than believe the sacred truths contained in the gospel, for according to Apostle Paul in I Cor. 2:14, “…the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned”. And, the Scripture is replete with authentic records of Christ’s resurrection and ascension into heaven (see Mark 16:19, Luke 24:51, Act 1:9, Rom. 8:34, Eph. 4:8, I Peter 3:22 etc.).
The believer certainly has a place in the glorious Kingdom which will be ushered in at the second coming of the Lord. Jesus Christ who Himself testified to this in John 14, “And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again, and receive you unto myself: that where I am there you may be also”.
The Greek word “ean” translated “if” in the passage was not intended to introduce uncertainty rather it has a temporal force and ought to have been rendered ‘when” as in 1 Cor. 14:16, and John 2:3. It is clearly evident that Christ ascended unto the Father to prepare a place for the saints – living and ‘dead. Verse 2 of John 14 assures that there are many “abiding places” or “places of abode” “residential places” as the Greek “monai” rendered “mansions” correctly indicates. The English “mansion” is derived from Latin “mausio” and like the Greek equivalent “mone” the singular of “monia” did not carry the meaning of a building of some size or pretentiousness at the time John wrote the gospel. The meaning now attached to the word cannot be correctly applied to this verse.
It is also certain that Christ will come again. The reference is clearly to the personal advent of Jesus who had been taken up at Mount Olivet. The disciples had been advised to wait for His second advent as the moment they would be reunited with the Lord Jesus Christ. It is important to emphasize here, therefore, that this passage does not, and should never, be associated with the false doctrine that the spirits of believers go to be with the Lord at the time of death, as there is no Scripture attesting to this doctrine.
THE SPIRIT OF THE DEAD SAINTS
The assertion that the spirits of dead believers DO NOT go to be with the Lord at time of death raises the question of: where are the spirits of the dead saints now? The digression, the answering of this question creates here, is a necessary one, that is worth-while, because a lot of theological and philosophical controversies have been generated by this question, usually referred to as the “Intermediate State”. As it is, no attempt will be made here to go into the details of the Intermediate State question, except as is unavoidably necessary in answering the question, because the issue is beyond the scope of this discourse.
However, to begin with, it is an established fact that correct answers to questions about the Scriptures — be they theological or philosophical — can only be found within the Scriptures. Therefore the effort here will be more of Bible exegesis and very much less of any theological system and philosophical argument or speculation.
The prophets of the Old Testament prophesied to literal Israel. And, the fact that some of the prophecies are being fulfilled today, indicates that the prophecies and references are also intended for spiritual Israel this gospel era, better known as the ‘Dispensation of grace with the Holy Ghost and the Administration of church’. This granted. Some light is therefore shed on the question in Dan. 12:13 – But you, go your way till the end; for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days”. (NKJV).
Although this was addressed to prophet Daniel by “the man clothed in linen who was above the waters of the river” (v 7) believed to be pre-incarnate Son of God; against the time when “the power of the holy people” will have been scattered (v 7) i.e. end of the church age when the Lord will return in His glory. This means that the passage is also addressed to people of God through out the ages even up to today, and until Christ returns.
Three principles emerge here. One: is that this prophecy will extend to the end of times. Two: is that there is rest for the body (in the grave) for the saints. Three: is that there will be a general resurrection (cf Isa. 57:1, 2; 2Thess. 4:l3 – 17).
For the spirit of the dead saints, the period between death and resurrection is referred to as “intermediate State”. This period is neither one of painful purgatory (as the Roman Catholic Church teaches) nor one of unconscious “sleep” of body and soul. “For you shall rest” in Dan. 12: 13 is referred to, and restated by Apostle Paul in Phil. 1:23 – “… to depart and be with Christ” (where) and Jesus Himself says “… in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).
Apostle Paul’s “to depart” in Phil. 1:23 is a euphemism for “to die” and “be with Christ” in the passage does not imply being physically united with Christ, but a figurative reference to the surpassing excellent condition and bliss of being with Christ that will be experienced in His presence. And in Luke 23:43 our Lord Himself indicated “Paradise” as the place where the, spirits of believers on being disembodied rest and await resurrection. The Spirit of Christ Himself, on being disembodied at Calvary, went to Paradise (from where He went into the deeps to preach to the spirits in the prison of (Gr) hades or (Heb.) Shoel. (See 1 Peter 3:19 – 21) All this is intrinsic in: “Assured1y, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43 NKJV)
This definitely now leads to the question: Where is Paradise? Perhaps, it is better to define paradise before attempting to locate it. The word “Paradise” is a Persian word which creates a vivid picture of a scene of a wide open park, inclosed against any form of injury, yet with it’s natural beauty unspoiled, with stately luxuriant forest trees, many of them bearing fruits, watered by clear streams on whose banks roved herds of harmless well fed mammals.
The writers of the Greek Suptaugint (LXX) chose the word “Paradise” for a new usage which added to its significance and secured for it, a more perennial use. They used it to denote or express any allusion, however remote, to the beautiful region which was once the first blissful home of man on earth – the Garden of Eden. (Gen. 2) In the later Books of the Old Testament “Paradise” (Heb. “pardes” and Greek “Paradeisos” appears in the sense of a “park or pleasure ground”. It is rendered “forest” in Neh. 2:8; “orchard” in Eccl. 2:5. Naturally this Jewish meaning attached to the Persian concept, has continued to be used in higher and deeper concepts of spiritual relationships and associations.
In the concept of the Scriptures, “paradise” has come to be associated with the bright region which man had lost, which is now guarded with flaming swords. And it has become a common appellation for the state of bliss which awaits the just and the faithful, righteous believers after their death. This implies that the delights like those of Eden are enjoyed by the souls of departed believers awaiting the second coming of the Lord – Jesus Christ. With reference to this use of the term, but with a deeper insight into the spiritual relation of things, and, the connection between the past and the future, it is employed in the New Testament to indicate the destiny and experience of the redeemed. (See Luke 23:43).
Now, where is Paradise? Apostle Paul in 2 Cor. 12:4 speaks of: “How that he was caught up into Paradise and heard unspeakable words which is not lawful for a man to utter”.
The Apostle in this passage does not locate “Paradise”. His reference to “Third Heaven” in verse 2 does not help matters any more than verse 4. However, it remains difficult to locate “Paradise” from Paul’s references in 2 Cor. 12:2, 4.
However, some commentators think that “Paradise” is nearer to earth than the Third Heaven (Whedon); others like Mayer say: “The Paradise is here, not the lower; i.e., the place of shoel, in which the spirits of the departed righteous are until resurrection, but the upper, the paradise of God (Rev. 2:7) in heaven, where God’s dwelling is”.
In the midst of this human difficulty, it ought to be remembered that things of the spirit must be accepted by faith. References to faith here are to the Scriptures in Dan. 12:13; Luke 23:43; Phil. 1:23; 1 Thess. 4:14-17 and Luke 16:22-31. It is the spirit that inhabits the Paradise of the Scriptures, after being separated from the mortal body. Therefore Paradise must also exist in the realm of the spirit — not in utopia and not in fantasy. It must be accepted by faith as a spiritual reality by virtue of the Lord’s prophetic testimony in Luke 23:43 – “today you will be with me in Paradise”. The dying thief who repented on the cross at Calvary received his forgiveness at the last minute for his faith in believing that Christ was the Son of God, the Messiah and the sinless.
Luke 16:19-31 sets forth the Lord’s configuration of the blessed condition of the righteous and the damnation that awaits the wicked even in the Intermediate State. This account of the rich wicked man and Lazarus – the poor righteous; strictly speaking was not a parable, but at least, an allegorical or prophetic representation indicating that in the progress of God’s dispensations, a separation had come to be made between elements (spirit of the dead) that were originally mingled together so that Greek “hades” and Heb ‘Shoel’ — the common place for all disembodied spirits of both the saved and the unsaved dead, was appropriated, both in the name and in the reality, to the spirit of the wicked dead reserved in darkness and misery to the great day – “the Day of the Lord’s vengeance”. And other names like Paradise with other brighter ideas of blissful and splendid experience were employed to designate the intermediate resting place of the spirits of the righteous dead, awaiting the second advent of Jesus.
The spirit of the redeemed immediately upon disembodiment at death, pass into figurative presence of the Lord, Jesus Christ (cf John 14:2, 3; Phil. 1:23). And the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:21-31 confirms the existence of this difference in hades after the ascension of Christ. Before this far-reaching event, however, it seems clear that hades was in two compartments – one for the saved, and the other for the unsaved spirits. “Paradise” and “Abraham’s bosom” were adopted by Christ to designate the condition of the righteous in the Intermediate State. The blessed with Abraham are conscious and comforted in the splendour and bliss of Paradise (figuratively said in Phil.1:23 “to be with the Lord” i.e. being in the presence of the Lord). The unsaved are separated from the saved by a “great gulf fixed”, and await the day of the Lord’s vengeance in gehenne.
The rich man (in Luke l6:18,31) who is evidently still in gehenne is a representative case and describes the unjudged condition in the intermediate State of the wicked. In this state, his spirit is fully conscious and alive; and exercises fully, his mental faculties, but is in torment.
It is thus clear that insofar as the unsaved dead are concerned, no change in their state is revealed in connection with the ascension of Christ. On the second advent of Christ, gehenna will surrender the wicked and they will be judged and be cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 2O:,l3,l4): With regard to the state of the righteous and the location of Paradise, Christ’s ascension has evidently worked a great change and Paradise therefore now denotes the immediate presence of God. “When He” (Christ) “ascended up on high He led a multitude of captives” (Eph. 4:8) Apostle Paul in this passage which begins with a quotation from Psalm 68: 18 applies the words of the Psalmist to the ascension of Christ as the guarantee of His ability to give the gifts of the spirit to men (cf I Cor. 15:12 – 22) The captives here refers to those righteous held captive by death who were raised with Christ at His resurrection. And, verse 9 adds “that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth” evidently into the Paradise section or compartment of hades reserved for the righteous from where He freed the saved spirit denizens of the underworld.
The apocalyptic seer in Rev. 2:7 talks about “…the tree of-life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God”. The “Paradise of God” in this passage is no reference to the Intermediate State — Paradise is a section of original Hades or Shoel, but a figurative reference or expression to the extent the human vocabulary could describe the beauty and splendour of heaven with its resultant blissful experience in general and original Persian and later Scriptural sense of the word.
Again in John 20:17 Christ told Mary on the Easter (Resurrection) morning “Do not cling to me for I have not yet ascended to my father… I am ascending to my father and your father; my God and you God” (NKJV).
This passage is a reflexive further confirmation that “Paradise of God” is a figurative reference to Heaven in the sense stated earlier. And proves that the Paradise to which Christ’s disembodied spirit went was not heaven – the dwelling place of God, the Father. The “ascending” in the passage, again, is no reference to His final ascension which was to take place 40 days hence at Mount Olivet. It refers to His re-embodiment (and resuming His state of immortality on resurrection – the beginning of His glorification) to commune with the Father and receive assurance that His propitiatory sacrifice has been accepted. If the Paradise to which His Spirit went with the thief were heaven – the dwelling place of the Father, Christ would have no need to go back a second time for the most important communion with His Father for assurance on being re-embodied – on resurrection.
Thus, during the present church age, the spirit of the redeemed who die — that is fall asleep in the Lord — are only disembodied or absent from the bodies (which rest in the grave – Dan. 12:13) are at home with Christ – in the spiritual realm of paradisiacal state, awaiting the second advent of the Lord in glory.
(To be continued next week)
