October 15
PHYSICAL DEATH / PART 2
BODY, SOUL, AND SPIRIT
-Let us now consider what takes place upon physical death concerning man’s body, soul, and spirit. Since
there is no debate as to what happens to our body upon physical death, we will concentrate most of our effort in explaining
what happens to the soul and spirit. We are all fully aware that the body is buried, returning to the earth from whence it
came. We have come to call it the GRAVE. Let us now turn our attention to what happens to the soul and spirit.
According to Dr. Stephen Jones:
-"Death is a return. The body returns to dust, the soul returns to “sleep,” and the spirit returns
to God. A more metaphysical way of putting it is this: the body goes to the tomb; the soul goes to Hades; the spirit goes
to God (heaven). The best example of this in the Bible is Jesus’ death. Jesus’ body was put in Joseph’s
tomb (John 19:38-42), His soul went to Hades (Acts 2:31), and His spirit returned to God (Luke 23:46). The soul had no existence
prior to God breathing the breath of life into Adam’s nostrils, for at that moment, man became a living soul. When that
breath is removed, the soul ceases to exist in its conscious state that we call “living.” The spirit—that
is, man’s spirit, as distinct from the Holy Spirit of God—is the part of man that transcends death. Ecclesiastes
12:7 speaks of death, saying, then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God Who gave
it. In the New Testament we find this idea continued in the death of Jesus. Luke 23:46 quotes Psalm 31:5 in giving Jesus’
last words: And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, Father into Your hands I commit My spirit. And having
said this, He breathed His last. This detail is recorded in Matthew 27:50 in this way: And Jesus cried out again with
a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. So we see that Jesus’ spirit did not go either to Joseph’s
grave with His body, nor did it go to Hades with His soul (Acts 2:27). It went to God Who had given it to Him. The real question
is whether or not a person’s spirit has a consciousness that is distinct from the consciousness of the soul." ( The
Judgments Of The Divine Law, Dr. Stephen Jones )
-DEATH IS A RETURN!-
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