A Place of Refuge
In the first part of this series according to the teaching of
Jesus, the soul maintains consciousness after death. This is undeniable,
but because it does not fit the narrative of select groups, Jesus' lecture is
reinterpreted as a parable rather that an illustration of life. The authority
on life, death, the soul, and resurrection reside with the Christ. Therefore,
we should study closely the thoughts that are attributed to him. The
illustration given in Luke 16: 19-23 provides all of the necessary data for
formulating the status of the righteous and the unrighteous souls at the time
of death. There is no need to use words like, Paul said or Ecclesiastes
said, Jesus said is the only citation needed to establish the concept and
status of the righteous and unrighteous soul. The problem is many of us
are not prepared to accept the cold reality of Heaven and Hell.
To promote a false type of rhetoric the altering of the definition
of the soul, and heaven is in line with the different religious beliefs or lack
of religious belief. Wealthy talk show host and even Tele-evangelist have
altered the spirituality of Christ, now he is presentented as just another
prophet. The believability of God is at an all time low as men and women
search out ways to challenge the Christian belief. The Christian belief,
which is based upon the teaching of Christ, should be uniform in its belief and
application. Yet such things such as salvation, soul sleep, the
reincarnation of the soul and even the non-existence of the soul has become a
part of the so-called Christian experience. Much of the confusion is
derived from referencing the writing of other authors in an attempt to explain
what Jesus said. We should remember the trick the Devil preformed in the
Garden of Eden, how he was successful in explaining to Eve what God said.
In the narrative of Lazarus's death there are numerous keys to
understanding the events taking place. "And it came to pass, that
the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich
man also died, and was buried;" (Luke 16:22). From this verse, we
learn that both men died, but it is what took place after they were buried that
should be of great interest to the Christian. Death can be thought of as
separation. Physical death is the separation of our body from our soul/spirit,
while spiritual death is the separation of our soul from God. The simplicity of
that statement indicates that Adam died a spiritual death the day he
sinned. Jesus died a physical death on the cross. Jesus taught that we ought not to fear
physical death, but we should be most concerned about spiritual death. (Luke
12:4-5)
Luke 16:22 also reference a place called Abraham's bosom.
Jesus did not say Lazarus was carried into Heaven, or before the Throne of God.
In Luke 23:43, Jesus has a conversation with one of those crucified with
him. The thief who was hanging beside him asks Jesus, "Remember me
when you come into your kingdom." Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell
you today you will be with me in paradise.” The simplest explanation is that on
that same day the thief and Jesus would enter the intermediate resting place of
the dead who were waiting for the Resurrection. What is and where
is the resting place of the dead? In the Jewish theology, there were
three "heavens." The first heaven deals with the atmospheric region
(Deuteronomy 11:17; 28:12; Judges 5:4; Acts 14:17). The second heaven deals
with the region of outer space (Psalm 19:4,6; Jeremiah 8:2; Isaiah 13:10). The
third heaven is God's dwelling place (1 Kings 8:30; Psalm 2:4; Matthew 5:16).
Luke 16:26, " And besides all this, between us and you there
is a great gulf fixed: so that they who would pass from here to you cannot;
neither can they pass to us that would come from there." A barrier or gulf that separates the spiritual
world from the natural world and man in his natural state cannot cross over.
John20:17, sheds light on the ideology that upon his death Jesus
did not return to his Father's side. "Jesus said unto her, Mary. She
turned, and said unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Teacher. Jesus said unto
her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my
brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to
my God, and your God." Eight days later, he allowed Thomas to touch
and handle him.
There are many exotic messages designed to stimulate based upon
the resting place of the souls as they await the resurrection. We are
told that the dead is in Heaven looking down on us, yet the scripture says, the
rich man saw Lazarus resting, but it did not say Lazarus saw the rich man being
tormented. If Lazarus were able to see the tourment of his fellowman this
no doubt would have cause him to suffer a form of tourment. Thus it seems
as if he was able to enjoy a perfect state of bliss, resting in the "Bosom
of Abraham."
On the cross, Jesus referred to Paradise as the next step, and in
the story of Lazarus, he referred to it as Abraham's bosom. Thus they both are
the same. "Bosom of Abraham" refers to the place of comfort in
the Biblical Sheol (or Hades in the Greek Septuagint version of the Hebrew
scriptures from around 200 BC, and therefore so described in the New Testament)
where the righteous dead await Judgment Day.
Next
The Spirit World
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