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    Heaven, Hell and the Intermediate State
    Heaven, Hell and the Intermediate State
    Heaven, Hell and the Intermediate State
    Ebook103 pages1 hour

    Heaven, Hell and the Intermediate State

    By Grace Communion International

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    About this ebook

    Do we go to heaven when we die? That's what many Christians hope for, but other Christians say that no, we are asleep until the resurrection. No one is in heaven, no one is in hell. What does the Bible say about what we are between death and the resurrection at the return of Christ?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGrace Communion International
    Release dateJun 7, 2016
    ISBN9781311214393
    Heaven, Hell and the Intermediate State
    Author

    Grace Communion International

    Grace Communion International is a Christian denomination with about 30,000 members, worshiping in about 550 congregations in almost 70 nations and territories. We began in 1934 and our main office is in North Carolina. In the United States, we are members of the National Association of Evangelicals and similar organizations in other nations. We welcome you to visit our website at www.gci.org.

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      Book preview

      Heaven, Hell and the Intermediate State - Grace Communion International

      Heaven, Hell and

      the Intermediate State

      Copyright 2016 Grace Communion International

      Thank you for downloading this e-book. It is the copyrighted property of Grace Communion International, and it may not be reproduced, copied or distributed for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy. Thank you for your support.

      Scripture quotations, unless noted, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

      Cover art copyright Grace Communion International.

      Table of Contents

      We Say Goodbye… But Then What Happens?

      Heaven

      What Is Heaven?

      Heaven’s Above – Or Is It?

      Do We Go to Heaven When We Die?

      The Rewards of Following Christ

      A Ticket to Paradise

      Between Death and Resurrection

      What About the Intermediate State?

      The Intermediate State

      Sinners in the Arms of a Loving God

      Hell

      What Does Perish Mean?

      About the Authors…

      About the Publisher…

      Grace Communion Seminary

      ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

      We Say Goodbye...

      ...But Then What Happens When We Die?

      A much-loved relative had died full of years, as the King James Bible quaintly puts it. Family and friends gathered in the funeral home to say goodbye. Open-casket funerals are the tradition in our area. So we sat sadly before the mortal remains of our loved one. A solemn recording of a well-known hymn provided an appropriate background for the snuffles and choked-back tears of the mourners.

      That was her favorite hymn, said someone. She would have liked that. And that is when the words of an old Beatles song suddenly popped into my head.

      You say goodbye, but I say hello.

      Hello, hello.

      I don’t know why you say goodbye, I say hello.

      I had to suppress a chuckle. Funerals are serious occasions, and certainly a time to keep one’s sense of humor in check. A Beatles song would not have gone down well. But, I asked myself, could those words actually reflect what was happening?

      God did know why we were saying goodbye. Death seems so final. The skillfully made-up mortal remains of our loved one was not actually her. She had gone. Death is a frontier, and it is one we rightly fear to even approach, let alone cross. It is, as Paul wrote, an enemy, and we hold it at bay as long as possible. But in the end it conquers us all.

      But then what? Most people have some kind of belief that death is not the end. The people who joined together to say goodbye came from many religious persuasions, and it was obvious, talking with them afterwards, that they had different ideas about what happened to their departed loved one.

      Some were convinced she was in heaven with Jesus. Others believed she was asleep, awaiting the resurrection. Maybe some believed she was in Purgatory (but surely not for long, as she was a devout and sincere Christian.)

      What is interesting is that all of us get our ideas about life after death from the Bible, or at least we think we do. Who is right? What has God told us happens to us when we die?

      The answer is not what you might expect. God has not told us precisely what happens immediately after we die. He has told us enough for us not to worry about it. He tells us that through Jesus, we have victory over death. He assures us that he wants us to join him, to experience life in a way that we cannot begin to imagine, and his promise is that it will last forever. But beyond that, the Bible is vague about the details. Especially the details of what happens immediately after we die.

      Many ideas

      Wait a minute! Doesn’t the Bible say in…? I can hear you protesting, as you reach for a familiar scripture to reinforce your own belief. Yes, it does. But in other places the Bible tells us something that seems to contradict that, or at least modify it. It is important to be specific and dogmatic where God is specific and dogmatic. But if he is not — and on this topic he is not—we need to approach the subject with caution and humility.

      You may be surprised to know that the Bible has little to say specifically about what happens immediately after we die. (I keep saying immediately — that’s important.) By emphasizing some texts over others, you can build a case for any of several points of views. But the result can be a theological house of cards.

      Some scriptures suggest that the dead are safely asleep, and will know nothing until the moment of resurrection when Jesus returns. But others imply that they are in some way conscious, and experience emotions. Paul had no fear of death. He had, at some time in his eventful life, been given a visitor’s pass to heaven, and this had transformed his worldview. Life here below was difficult, and he was eager to begin the next step.

      As long as I’m alive in this body, there is good work for me to do, he wrote to the Philippians. If I had to choose right now, I hardly know which I’d choose. Hard choice! The desire to break camp here and be with Christ is powerful. Some days I can think of nothing better (Philippians 1:22-23, Message Bible).

      But what did he mean by be with Christ? He does not elaborate.

      Another Bible writer with a day pass to heaven was John, the author of Revelation. He tells us:

      I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, ‘How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?’ Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed. (Revelation 6:9-11)

      Leaving aside the question of how literally he saw these things, the point is that he does not describe the dead as being asleep and unconscious. He

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