Physical and Spiritual Death (KT 11)

As noted before, the human is structurally divided into physical and non-physical parts—material and immaterial. The body is part of human essence: all physical creation that works of, in, and through the body. The immaterial part is the soul, which itself is divided into the psyche (mind, will, and emotions) and the spirit (innate desires God has given us for truth, goodness, and beauty, for life, and for relationship). We can see how those three desires are perfectly satisfied in God, who is the source of TGB and whose relationship is the very definition of life. But the NT uses multiple words translated as "life." For example, bios refers to physical life (of the body). Psyche, as we might guess, regards the life of the soul (mind, will, emotions). Pneuma, usually translated "spirit," is sometimes translated "life" and speaks to the spiritual life of those innate desires. And zoe refers to the life of full relational union with God.

The Bible uses bios for such life as is spoken of in Luke 8:14: "The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches, and pleasures of life [bios], and they do not mature," and Luke 21:4: "They all gave out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live [bios] on." We can see fairly easily in these verses the reference to physical, or bodily, life. We find zoe in such verses as John 5:24: "Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life [zoe] and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life [zoe]," and John 10:10: "I have come that they may have life [zoe], and have it to the full." Again, we can see that "life" in these verses refers to relationship with God.

Now, all death is separation. Physical death is separation from bios (physical life). When we refer to spiritual death, we speak of separation from zoe (relationship with God). But what goes on during physical death? Where are we? What are we experiencing? And, for the Christian, do we receive our new bodies immediately upon death? No. New bodies must wait for the overall redemption of all physical creation at the coming of Jesus. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:20–23, "But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, at his coming, those who belong to Christ."

Well then, if physical death puts our old bodies in the grave, and our new bodies will not come until Jesus returns—but to be human we have to have both a body and a soul—where exactly are our souls when we die? The answer is that we are with and in Jesus—the only redeemed part of all creation! Paul repeats this idea multiple times:

• 2 Corinthians 5:6–8: "Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord."

• Philippians 1:23: "I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far."

• 1 Thessalonians 4:14: "For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him."

How does that look? What is it like to be in Jesus? Well, from this side, we don’t actually know. But our souls, united with and in Jesus—the only redeemed part of physical creation—give us awareness, the ability to think and experience.

For those not saved, who have no place in Jesus, their souls must remain tied in some way to physical creation (because to be human means a body and soul union), but without a specific body with which to experience and think, they remain unaware—a kind of soul sleep. In fact, that was the condition of all people prior to Christ’s atonement. But now, we can joyfully anticipate being with and in Jesus upon physical death.

The one challenge to this viewpoint is the parable Jesus presents in Luke 16 of the rich man and Lazarus. In that parable, the scene is described as one of awareness for the rich man, who is nevertheless without God and salvation. But this is a parable with many elements that do not reflect the reality of the after-death experience. For example, in physical death, we—the faithful—will not be gathered on some plot of land with a canyon between us and the faithless gathered in torment. The parable depicts the rich man as able both to see and speak to Abraham across this chasm. That is not a realistic depiction. Nor is it reasonable to expect a drop of water to relieve discomfort if that were truly the rich man’s condition. We also see the rich man still full of pride, treating Lazarus as a servant—asking Abraham to send him with water.

No, this scene is a constructed one, designed to teach certain points. One point is that the desire for water is a desire for mercy without any indication of repentance. The overall point may be that once physical death has occurred, there is no more opportunity for relationship with God. There is no crossing from one condition to the other. Therefore, this parable does not stand opposed to the condition of the actual physically dead.

As we move from physical death to consider spiritual death, we should remember the two important events of God’s restoration plan: (1) the atonement, when redemption was accomplished by Christ, and (2) Christ’s return, when redemption is applied to those who believe.

During Jesus’s first advent (coming; appearance), the atonement was realized around AD 30. We are now in 2025, almost 2,000 years later. We await Jesus’s second advent, the moment when redemption and judgment arrive. This time period between the advents of Jesus is spoken of figuratively in Revelation 20. It is said to be “1,000 years”—a millennium. But numbers in Revelation rarely, if ever, speak of exact duration. They are usually figurative, and that proves true here as well. The millennium signifies the completeness or fullness of time for gathering all those who will come to God. At the beginning of this period, we are told in 20:1 that Satan is bound. Again, this is not a literal event, but it speaks to the damage done to Satan’s deception that self-preservation, dominance, and self-interest are the paths to power and meaning. Jesus’s crucifixion and resurrection proved that love is the power to remove the curse and satisfy our desire for truth, goodness, and beauty.

The end of this millennial period is detailed in Revelation 20, and we learn how all things culminate when Jesus returns. First, we know that when Christ returns, we will meet the Lord in the air. First Thessalonians 4:16–17 assures us that all who believe in Jesus—both the dead and the living of all time—will be with him and in him at his return. But we also learn in Revelation 20:5 that after the millennium ends (signaled by Jesus’s return), the rest of the dead (the God-rejectors of all ages) come to life (awareness) as well. Verse 7 tells us that Satan is also released, meaning he returns to his deception that self-interest can win the victory for them. These God-rejectors encircle the saints' encampment—which is the literal earth, acting as the representation of the source material for God’s redemptive work of bringing about new, curse-purged material essence for the bodies of believers.

God’s purpose is to redeem. So he is not setting out with a mission of destruction and punishment for non-believers. Yet destruction is what results as creation is purged of evil—including those souls who walk away from relationship with God as well as the spirit creatures opposed to God.

What, then, is the ending for all? For the saved, it is receiving new bodies and entering into a restored new heavens and new earth. Redemption and restoration are realized. For the unsaved, without a place in restored creation and without the possibility of turning to relationship, the souls can no longer be sustained. And without the sustaining hand of God, they can no longer exist.

There is no eternal conscious torment, as if our God, who acts always and only in love, could section off a part of the new, unspotted creation to house unrepentant souls and torture them everlastingly. What’s more, the Bible informs us that death itself dies. Revelation 21:4 says, "Death will no longer exist." Since death is separation, this verse explains that there will no longer be anything separated from God. The end of unbelievers is their sad destruction and disappearance.

The NT imagery of fire is not meant to depict the torture of those who chose not to believe. Scripture uses fire imagery for three primary purposes. First, Jesus spoke of the fires of Gehenna (often translated “hell”), located in the Valley of Hinnom, the refuse dump of Jerusalem. The fire there never burned out, and trash, garbage, and unwanted items were thrown into it to be destroyed. Nothing was ever retrieved from that destruction. So it made a perfect image for the ultimate fate of those who fully rejected God.

Second, fire is used as an image of refinement, as seen in both 2 Peter 3 and Revelation 20. These fires illustrate the removal of the curse and all defilement in God’s rescue.

Finally, Scripture often provides physical images of immaterial action. For example, the OT speaks of God saving by his "strong right arm," though God has no arms. But to express his action to us who understand action in physical terms, Scripture often uses physical imagery. Fire serves that purpose for the disappearance from existence of unbelievers. Not willing to have relationship with God, they—like a log in the fire—simply disappear.

There is sadness and rejoicing in the end of all things. Sadness for those who would not engage with their Creator in love relationship. God could not coerce them, and so they leave his sustaining hand. But glory awaits all who enter into everlasting bliss in relational love with their God.