All my life as a Christian, having been brought up predominately in a Baptist church, I was taught that humans are not just physical but also have a spiritual entity that can continue to live beyond our phyisical death. However, recent study of the Bible teaches me that this is untrue.
I believe that we have been interpreting and using the word spirit as if that word means the same thing of given the same classification.
The bible does tell us, and I am sure most will agree that God is spirit. I also believe God exists as God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Other created spiritual beings are the angels, both holy and fallen angels, including Lucifer, plus the Beasts mentioned in Revalation.
Now, when it comes to humans, Adam being the first created human, the bible states
Gen 2:7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. This verse is plain and simple stating the two ingredients of which humans are made/created. What we are told by bible teachers that this verse is saying we received a 'soul' or 'a spiritual entity' that now never dies. Why do they interpret that the breath of life or spirit of God that makes us alive as being an actual spiritual entity? God clearly states to Adam that due to his disobedience to God, that Adam would,
Gen 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. While we are alive,
Job 27:3 All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;.
Ecclesiastes 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. This clearly says that the spirit of God is the breath of life that sustains us as living human beings, not a separate spiritual being!
The bible does teach us that we (believers) will become spiritual beings in the future as Christ did after he died on the cross as a human being. The Son of God became a sinless human being through the union of the seed of Mary and the Holy Spirit. Jesus lived in complete dependence on the Father, Greek term Kenosis.
Philippians 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:. Jesus emptied himself, however not completely cut off from divine knowledge. Jesus still read peoples thoughts and performed miracles, through the will of the Father.
John 5:19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
When we read the whole chapter of 1 Corinthians 15, Paul fully explains the resurrection. Yet most Christians use, misquote and take out of context,
2 Cor 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord., to explain away every other verse and the entire chapter Paul wrote on the resurrection. I would describe
2 Cor 5:8 in this way... Imagine you have a wonderful holiday booked in a month's time, however you are still stuck at your mundane job. You could quite easily think, 'Oh, how I would rather be enjoying tha holiday now rather than being here at work!' It will happen, but I still have work to do first. Yes, we would rather be in heaven with Christ, however we still have many 'not yet Christians' to show them who Jesus is, the way, the truth and the life.
! Cor 15:
20 But now is Christ risen fro
23 I believe all believers go to heaven at the same time. Not before Christ returns. What do you believe the bible teaches? Not what man teaches; what does the Word of God tell us?
