The word “Death” is used three ways in the Bible. And, in every case, it is not the end of a person. It is a separation.
One, death sometimes refers to the separation of the living lost from God. The living lost are alive physically. But they’re dead spiritually because they haven’t accepted Jesus as their Saviour (Eph. 2:1 ff; Luke 15:24).
Think about it. God is saying that those who haven’t accepted Jesus are like zombies. They’re like wandering corpses waiting to be put back in the grave. They’re wandering around dead in their trespasses and sins. They don’t have eternal life. They need a new heart. They need to be born again (Jn. 3:7).
Two, death sometimes refers to physical death. Physical death is theseparation of the soul and spirit from the body (Jn. 11:4; Acts 2:24; Phil. 2:27, 30). I often tell people, “You don’t see the real me. You see my house, my tabernacle, my tent, my dwelling place, my body. The real me is not this house, tabernacle, tent, dwelling place or body. The real me is a soul and spirit that lives in this house, etc.”
If the Lord tarries and blesses me with long life, the roof on my house will grow thin (my hair will grow thin and I may get bald). The sound system in my house will start to malfunction (my voice will grow weak and I will start to lose my hearing). The windows in my house will cloud over (my eyesight will start to decline). The electric system in my house will start to fail (my nervous system will begin to malfunction). The plumbing in my house will start to plug up (my blood vessels will start to clog up). Ultimately, my old house (my body) will become unfit to live in. I (my soul and spirit) will eventually leave it, move out or separate. That’s physical death. As long as my soul and spirit are in my old house (body), I can tell my head, feet and legs to move and they will move. But when my soul and spirit separates from my old house (physical death) there won’t be anything in it to tell my head, feet and legs to move so they won’t move.
When the soul and spirit leaves or separates from the body (physical death) the body should be buried, cremated or whatever. The Scriptures compare the death of the body to going to sleep and the resurrection of the body to waking up. Sleep (death of the body) is temporary. When we go to sleep we should expect to wake up and when we die we should expect to be raised from the dead.
The word cemetery comes from the Greek word koimeterion. It means resting place or sleeping place. Bodies are taken to the cemetery or sleeping place, but they will wake up (be resurrected). So sleep refers to what happens to the body not what happens to the soul and spirit.
What happens to the soul and spirit when it separates from the body (when a person dies physically) very much depends upon whether that person was lost or saved (Luke 16:19-31). The soul and spirit of those who are not saved will immediately go to hell. But the soul and spirit of those who are saved will immediately go to be with the Lord. Passages such as the one about the rich man and Lazarus inLuke 16 and the martyred believers in Rev 6:9-11 and 7:9-10 shows that they are awake and they have at least four of their five senses (they can see, hear, feel and taste). They can also sing, cry, talk, walk, etc.
Three, death sometimes refers to the eternal separation of the lost from God by being cast into the Lake of Fire (Rom. 1:32; Rev. 20:14; 21:8). God loves us. God sent His only begotten Son to die for our sins. God wants to save us. If we accept Jesus as our Saviour, we will spend eternity with Him. But if we don’t accept Jesus as our Saviour, we will drop into Hell. And ultimately Hell and everything in it will be cast into the Lake of Fire. Multitudes will spend eternity separated from God. That’s more horrible than physical death. It’s just my opinion, but I believe Jesus suffered a separation from God on the cross. He said, “My God, my God why hast thou forsaken me” (Matt. 27:46)? He was separated from God for just a short time. But that separation was horrible. I believe God’s separation from Jesus hurt Him more than the nails and whip.
Prophecy Plus Ministries
Daymond & Rachel Duck