Physical death of spiritual people
September 12, 2007(GB Message)
Death is inevitable
All living beings under the sun above the earth including all human beings— believers, unbelievers, heathen or any one else, for that matter. Psychologists believe that strangely very few think of death consciously because of some inbuilt mechanism in the brain that induces it to avoid such thoughts. The mind repels unpleasant thoughts in general. It is only spiritual people who can overcome such tendencies. The reason for this courage is their faith in the facts mentioned in the Bible. The Bible actually teaches that death is really very fearsome to everyone in this world except to those who are genuine believers. This leads us to the classification of death.
Classification of deathe
According to the Bible, death is one of two kinds:
- Physical Death, that which is faced by every human being
- The Second Death, this is far more dreadful and is beyond the purview of our current subject.
We are now concerned with physical death, and before we do so, we must know something about the structure and composition of human beings.
Composition of a human being
During one’s lifetime, man comprises broadly speaking, of two components.
- Physical body – which is visible.
- Spiritual threesome – the mind, the soul, and the spirit. This is invisible and beyond the purview of science.
The physical body is mystically attached with the spiritual threesome. Only a spiritual man can understand and be benefited by this valuable information. It is for the sake of this threesome that the physical body is provided and not the other way round. There is an important reason for it. Just as the Garden of Eden served God to keep Adam and Eve in quarantine to see if they could survive the test of the forbidden fruit, all human beings with a physical body are kept in quarantine on this temporary earth. After the time of quarantine is over they will either be taken to heaven for glorification, or be destroyed by the phenomenon called the second death, as the case may be.
Classifying mankind
I could classify people as:
- Those who are not being aware of it- They will be utterly destroyed by the sting of death, which is the case with those who will experience the Second death. . . . This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power (2 Thess 1: 7 – 9).
- Those who have some vague idea but not according the Bible
- Those are aware of it but are not in an anointed church
- Nominal Christians
- Those who are in a delusion, because of their earlier disobedience, and imagining that they will be in heaven. (2Thes 2:11)
- Those who are in an anointed church but have not organically united with the church in the spiritual sense. Although they have a chance of escaping the sting of death, it is not certain
- Those who are in an anointed church, in close contact with it, and organically connected to it in the spiritual sense. These are those who will escape the Second death.
- Those who strive to enter through the narrow gate Luke 3:24
Escaping the sting of death
Only those in the last two categories noted above are sure of escaping the sting of death, the Second death. They are the ones redeemed by the atoning blood of Lord Jesus Christ. They are, until their death, in temporary bondage as a result of the physical body. To live in this world, undismayed and enduring the problems arising on account of the spiritual life they have lived with this physical body until one’s liberation, is a condition to be in heaven. While we are in this world, we are in this body. We cannot live as we please, but only according to the rules and commands of the Bible.
All the redeemed people were purchased by Lord Jesus Christ by His blood (Acts 20: 28) because Satan had earlier made all mankind his captives after their fall. We had no one to save us. But when we heard from the gospel of Christ that the Son of God had come down to this earth to redeem mankind, we were drawn to him and were saved by the sheer mercy and grace of the Lord Jesus. Subsequently, we are progressing in the path of sanctification to inherit the kingdom of heaven.
Satan being a persistent evil agent in blinding the eyes of people and drawing the followers of Lord Jesus to his side, we must be ever vigilant and prepared in whatsoever vocation we may be engaged. If we are honest to God, we will strive and focus on our spiritual pilgrimage with much striving and effort. The Lord also, on his part, will assist us in a big way.
Be that as it may, let us ponder over the following verse: Who (the Holy Spirit) is a guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possessions . . .” (Eph 1: 14) This verse contains many valuable ideas but the one we are concerned in this context is the first highlighted word ‘redemption.’ Here, this word does not refer to our salvation because we are saved already. It refers to the liberation from our various ties and handicaps with which we are entangled in this earth, especially as a result of the physical body known as the body of death (as Paul refers to it in Rom 7: 24). We also see the phrase ‘redemption of our body’ in Rom 8: 23.
The ties of the physical body with the threesome of mind, soul, and spirit are like conjoined twins. The babies go on living together with this handicap, becoming even comfortable with the condition. Only others realize their miserable plight. Our ties with this body of death are rarely considered a handicap human beings unless and until the person has grown to be a mature spiritual person. As stated in the following verse, “even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body”, Rom 8: 23.
This redemption takes place at the time of our physical death, when the physical body gets disentangled from the spiritual of threesome of mind, soul and the spirit. Every believer will enjoy that time in an unspeakably immense measure. Just as there is always a psychological fear for the unknown, the thought of this glorious separation does bring some apprehension to the believer initially. But as he becomes saturated with the word of God, with the help of the Holy Spirit, he begins to realize the glory of that occasion. That will indeed be a great day for the redeemed person, redeemed from both the Second death and from all the earthly ties, handicaps and limitations. Thereafter he becomes an immortal blessed soul.
That is the time he begins to experience the glory of the liberation, which throws open myriads of celestial scenes hitherto invisible to him. Believers so liberated are welcomed by Lord Jesus Christ Himself. We know this from the experience of Stephen, the first Christian martyr who exclaimed, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right-hand of God”, (Acts 7: 56).
Only then does the believer understand the horrible nature of the earthly situation from which one has just been released and the glory of the situation into which he enters. He is not controlled anymore by earthly forces and influences whatsoever. On the other hand he comes under the direct control and influence of Almighty God who is the source of life and power and other divine qualities. This will be the beginning of joy unspeakable for all true believers. It was for this that they had lived their earthly lives. No such blessed release awaits the disobedient, unbelieving, and carnally-minded people who form the majority of the world’s population.
Once the time of quarantine is over and death knocks at the door, the believer is severed from the physical body to meet the Lord who will greet them personally, waiting as He does, to receive redeemed souls as and when they leave this earth and ascend above.
On that bright and golden morning, when the Son of Man shall come,
And the radiance of His glory we shall see;
When from ev’ry clime and nation He shall call His people home,
What a gath’ring of the ransomed that will be!
Thus will commence our life with the Lord Jesus and the myriads of wonders of heaven that He will introduce to us. This glorious time is ushered in at the time of the physical death in the case of every spiritual person.
