The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.”
Revelation 11:15
The Left Behind series of books by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins,1 later turned into a popular series of movies starring Kirk Cameron,2 is once again in the spotlight in 2014 with announcement of a major motion picture starring Nicolas Cage.3 This popular series of books and movies is based on a particular Christian theological view of the “end times” called dispensationalism. Utilizing biblical texts from the books of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Revelation, dispensationalism posits a series of Christian epochs that culminate in the “rapture” of the church, the judgment of humankind, and the coming of the kingdom of God in fullness to a renewed earth.4 The popularity of this view in North America, and the United States in particular, is its claim to predict the return of Jesus contingent upon the appearance of certain biblical signs. Since its inception, dispensationalists have made many predictions regarding the return of Jesus and the rapture of the church.
This fascinating phenomenon of predicting the date of Christ’s return continues into the twenty-first century. One such timetable, well covered by the media, was that of radio evangelist Harold Camping of Family Radio Inc. Camping forecast a September 1994 date for Jesus’s return in his book 1994?5 That specific date, of course, like the others before it, is past, and “the end” is still not here. Interestingly, Camping later updated his prediction of the end of the world to October 21, 2011. Camping died in December 2013 without having seen any prediction come to pass.6
As the examples of this phenomenon of forecasting dates suggest, the sense that the end could come soon remains strong. And rightly so. The Bible clearly declares that one day God will bring down the curtain on human history.
But when and how will this happen? Will we destroy the planet, perhaps by igniting a destructive nuclear war or by producing an ecological disaster? And how should we respond to the prospect of an imminent end? These questions take us into a realm commonly called “eschatology.”
When you hear the word “eschatology,” perhaps you immediately think about predictions about the end times. Your mind may be drawn to these popular questions about future dates and events:
And perhaps you are reading the newspaper with these questions in mind:
These matters are indeed among the topics some Christian theologians and teachers treat under the heading “eschatology.” Yet the crucial issues lie deeper. Eschatology pursues questions of telos, of goal or purpose:
In short, eschatology asks:
Christian eschatology explores the biblical answers to these questions. In so doing, we speak about God’s purpose. We articulate what the Bible says—and therefore what we must say—about God’s telos (“goal”) for creation, for human history, and for our personal existence. In this chapter and the next, we seek to offer a Christian perspective on these questions:
Where Are We Going?
On their afternoon stroll Blondie and Dagwood came upon a street-corner preacher. With a thick Bible tucked under his arm, he was haranguing the passersby from his soapbox. “The world is coming to an end,” he announced, pointing his finger at the surprised couple. But then Dagwood interrupted the monologue: “You’ve told us that a dozen times.” On cue Blondie completed the sentence: “And it hasn’t happened yet.” As this broadside sank in, a downcast look came over the preacher. “I know,” he stammered, “I’m really on a losing streak.” And with a brisk movement he picked up his soapbox, declaring optimistically as he made his exit, “Maybe I’ll get lucky tomorrow.”
The preacher’s approach was, of course, misguided. But his message was basically sound. The world is coming to an end. Yet acknowledging the imminent end of the world does not automatically make us doomsayers. Our focus is not on the end of the world but on the end (i.e., telos) of human history. As Christians, we affirm that history has an end—that is, a goal or purpose toward which it is moving. We explore this claim by posing two related questions:
What Is the Meaning of History?
One of the hallmarks of life today is the widespread conviction that our world is ending.7 We are witnessing the shattering of the unbridled optimism that dominated the attitudes of our culture for over a hundred years.
What do we have to say in the midst of this situation? What message can we offer to a generation raised under the specter of nuclear war, the menace of worldwide famine, and dire predictions that overpopulation and commercial exploitation will strain our environment beyond its capacities? What hope can we offer to a world in the throes of unrelenting crises? What dare we say to people living under the shadow of economic chaos and portents of ecological disaster? In the midst of the gloom rampant today can we still claim that history has a unifying meaning? And if so, what is the telos toward which human history is moving?
History is “his story.” The Bible itself informs us that “the end of all things is near” (1 Pet. 4:7). But in contrast to the doom and gloom that haunts people around us, we believe that history is going somewhere. And this somewhere is glorious. As trite as it may initially sound, we believe that history is “his story.”
This phrase embodies a great truth: the human story is not meaningless. God is at work directing history to a glorious goal. The world as we know it will soon come to an end. But the curtain of our age will be brought down by nothing less than the return of the risen and exalted Lord Jesus Christ.
This promise lies at the heart of Scripture. The Bible presents the human story as the acts of the sovereign Lord of history accomplishing his goal. This biblical understanding stands contrary to two other widely held alternative outlooks.
Israel’s neighbors accepted this cyclical understanding of time.8 And their religious rituals reflected their belief in the circle of life. In early summer as the coming drought began to dry out the vegetation, the Canaanites lamented the death of the fertility god Baal and the triumph of Mot, the god of death. Then as the winter rains began to replenish the dry ground, bringing the promise of good crops, they celebrated Baal’s rebirth.9
God directed Israel to view time in a different manner: time is linear, not cyclical. Events don’t merely follow a repeatable pattern. Rather, each occurrence is ultimately unique. Taken together, events form a trajectory that moves from beginning to end. Hence, occurrences form a history—a narrative. And this history is the activity of the one God asserting divine rulership over all the nations. God’s actions move from creation to final redemption, from the primeval garden to that day when “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Hab. 2:14; see also Ps. 102:15; Isa. 66:18–19).
The results of this innovation have been disastrous. The secular progressivists brought the goal of history into the historical process itself. However, when clouds began to darken the horizon of the future, belief in human progress faltered. With no vision of God establishing a glorious goal beyond time, pessimism loomed as the only possible response.
We declare, in contrast, that history is not our story—it is not the story of the progress of humankind. Rather, history is the narrative of God at work bringing creation to a divinely intended goal. And the unity of history lies ultimately in the activity of the one God.
This understanding of history as “his story,” as the story of the unfolding of God’s purposes for humankind, offers a message of hope in the midst of a pessimistic world. The Bible presents history as meaningful, for it is directed toward a goal; it is going somewhere. This “somewhere” is not an illusive human utopia that we are ultimately powerless to create. Rather, history’s goal is nothing less than the realization of God’s purposes for creation. The grand culmination of history arrives only because God stands at the end of the human story. By grace, God is ordering our story to its intended goal. And this telos will be realized when Jesus returns in glory.
But what exactly is that goal?
History is God at work establishing community. The Bible leaves no doubt as to the actual content of God’s goal for human history. God is directing history toward the fulfillment of Jesus’s petition: “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10). And God’s reign—God’s will—is reconciliation and fellowship—community. The Scriptures assert that God’s goal is a redeemed people living within a renewed creation enjoying fellowship with the Triune God.
Where can we find God at work in our world? Wherever genuine community is being established.
John describes this future community. The seer pictured a new heaven and a new earth beyond the present age. He envisioned the new order as a human society, a city, the new Jerusalem (Rev. 21:9–21). Its inhabitants will be those whom Christ purchased for God “from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Rev. 5:9). Nature will again fulfill its purpose of providing nourishment for humans (Rev. 22:1–4). Most glorious of all, God will dwell with us on the new earth (Rev. 21:3; see also 22:3–5).
In our closing chapter we will look more closely at our eternal home. Here we need only add that although the fullness of community comes only at the culmination of history, we can enjoy fellowship in the present as well. Such experiences of community are a foretaste of the complete fellowship we will enjoy with God, one another, and the renewed creation in eternity.
This means that we ought to join with others in seeking to promote the goal of community on a variety of levels. We can seek to foster fellowship in our families and even in human society. Wherever people are promoting wholesome relationships in the midst of a fallen world, Christians should be providing active assistance, for this is “kingdom work.”
But as was implicit in chapters 9 and 10, the focal point of God’s work in establishing community is the church, the fellowship of Jesus’s disciples.
How Will History End?
We know that history is not the story of human progress toward a utopia on this earth. Instead, it is the story of God at work bringing creation to its goal—the eternal community for which we were created.
What marks the transition from this age to the age to come? We have already mentioned the central event—the return of the risen and exalted Christ. But can we say more? Is the second coming one aspect of a series of events that together mark this transition?
In one sense, the answer is yes. Connected to Jesus’s return are the resurrection of all humans, the last judgment, and the inauguration of eternity.
But in what order do these events occur? And does the Bible describe a host of other events that must transpire as we move toward the consummation of history? About these matters—matters relating to the exact chronology of the end—Christians differ.11
Many of the differences revolve around a central question: What is the significance of John’s vision of “a thousand” year reign of Christ (Rev. 20:1–8)? That is, do the second coming of Christ and the resurrection of all humankind, together with the judgment and the inauguration of the eternal kingdom, occur as one grand event? Or are they separated by an earthly rule of Christ lasting one thousand years? In other words, does eternity arrive as the catastrophic end to human history? Or are time and eternity separated by a thousand-year golden age on earth (the millennium)?
Competing visions of the millennium. The question concerning the correct interpretation of John’s vision of the thousand years has intrigued and exercised Christians since the second century. The basic answers have solidified around three major positions. Although there are differences of detail within each, we may designate the positions as “premillennialism” (which may be subdivided into two types), “postmillennialism,” and “amillennialism.” Each view offers a specific answer to the question of when Christ will return relative to the thousand years of John’s vision.
If you have heard any detailed end-times chronology, it has likely been the premillennialist.
Premillennialists anticipate that the present age will climax with a period of tribulation, when the world will languish under the sway of the antichrist, until Christ interrupts the rule of this “man of lawlessness,” binds Satan, and commences his reign of peace and righteousness. After the millennium, Satan will be freed from his prison to gather the unbelieving nations in a rebellion against Christ’s government. Satan’s treason will be short-lived, however, for it is squelched by fire from heaven. Then will follow the general resurrection (including the resurrection of the unrighteous), the judgment, and eternity.12
All premillennialists agree on these general features. They disagree, however, on certain particulars surrounding the tribulation and the millennium.
“Historic” premillennialists13 assert that both the tribulation and the millennium focus on the church. The antichrist will direct his persecution against Christ’s disciples. But during the millennium our Lord’s faithful followers will be the recipients of God’s blessings.
“Dispensational” premillennialists, in contrast, view the future tribulation and millennium as stages in God’s purposes for national Israel rather than the church. Many dispensationalists teach that the church age will climax in the “rapture,”14 when Christ meets his faithful followers in the air and takes them to heaven to celebrate “the wedding supper of the Lamb” (Rev. 19:6–9).15 With the true church out of the picture, the way is open for the antichrist to launch his seven-year diabolical rule, while God pours out wrath on the earth. The tribulation will climax with a military conflagration in Palestine,16 in the midst of which Christ will return with the armies of heaven and rout his enemies.17 Israel will then acknowledge Jesus as Messiah, and the thousand-year kingdom will be established. During the millennium, Israel will enjoy a presence in the land of Palestine and a prominence among the nations.18
The premillennial chronology embodies an underlying pessimism concerning the role we play in the culmination of history. Despite all our attempts to convert or reform the world, the church age closes with the antichrist in control of human affairs. Only the catastrophic action of the returning Lord will bring about the glorious age of blessedness and peace. In this manner, premillennialism is a stark reminder that ultimately the hope of the world rests in God, and not in our feeble actions.
Postmillennialists anticipate that the church age will witness the spread of the gospel throughout the earth. As this happens, evil (and perhaps its personal representation in the form of the Antichrist19) will eventually be routed, and the millennium then arrives. The one thousand years will be a period of time much like our own but with a heightened experience of goodness. Because of the pervasive influence of Christian principles throughout the world, the nations will live in peace.
After the one thousand years have ended, the devil will launch the final conflict of evil against righteousness.20 Satan’s rebellion, however, is short-lived. Jesus will return in triumph, followed by the general resurrection, the judgment, and eternity.
Postmillennialism embodies a basically optimistic outlook toward history and our role in the attainment of God’s program. Despite Satan’s seduction, treachery, and persecution, we will be successful in the completion of our divinely given mandate. And the principles of peace and righteousness will permeate the whole earth.
The postmillennial worldview leads to engagement in the world.21 It forms a reminder that before we can become the church triumphant, we must be the church militant. Through Christ, our sovereign God has commissioned us to participate in the divine work in the world. En route to the end of the age there are battles to be won. And our ultimate victory is assured, because the divine power is now at work through the church. This should motivate us to redouble our commitment to work and pray, in order that God’s will might be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Some amillennialists see the one thousand years as a symbol for the church age in its entirety. It refers to the victory the church experiences now.22 Others believe that John had conversion in view. Through the new birth, we come to live and reign with Christ over sin, temptation, and the devil.23 Or the one thousand years might refer to the reign of departed saints in the heavenly realm during this age.24
Regardless of their actual interpretation of John’s vision, all amillennialists anticipate that the second coming of Christ will mark the beginning of eternity without an intervening thousand-year period. Amillennialists, therefore, propose a simple chronology.25 The time between the two advents will be characterized by a mixture of good and evil. At the close of the age, this conflict will intensify as the church completes its mandate of evangelism and the forces of evil coalesce (perhaps in the appearance of the antichrist). In the midst of a final, intense time of persecution, Christ will return26 to complete his redemptive work27 by routing the forces of evil. Also connected with his return are the general resurrection, the last judgment, and the inauguration of eternity.
The amillennialist chronology is neither overly optimistic nor radically pessimistic about our role in God’s program. Victory and defeat, success and failure, good and evil will coexist until the end. This means that we cannot inaugurate God’s reign by our efforts to cooperate with the divine power currently at work in the world. But neither should we simply wait expectantly for God to act to bring history to a close.
Amillennialism calls the church to realistic engagement in the world. Under the guidance and empowerment of the Holy Spirit, the church can be successful in its mandate; yet ultimate success will come only through God’s grace. Therefore, God’s people must expect great things in the present, but they must never forget that the telos of history will not arrive in its fullness within history.
Regardless of our millennial view, we eagerly anticipate above all the coming of God’s eternal community.
What can we conclude from the debate among the classical millennial viewpoints? In the end, we must lift our gaze beyond the specific question of the thousand years. Regardless of the exact chronology of the end, our ultimate goal is not a golden age on earth, whether preceding or following the return of Christ. Rather, we await with eager anticipation the eternal community God promises us in the new heaven and new earth. This alone forms the final fulfillment of God’s promises to his people. This alone marks the fullness of our participation in eternal life—full community with nature, with each other, and most importantly with God our Creator and Redeemer—as proclaimed in the New Testament. Indeed, it is for this community that we were created.
To this we must add an additional note. Although its fullness lies in the future, God has already inaugurated the eternal community.28 Despite the brokenness of the present, through Christ and because of the presence of the Holy Spirit, we now can enjoy a foretaste of the complete fellowship that will one day be ours.
But what about the end of the age? We still haven’t addressed the questions of when and how. Does the Bible have nothing to say about these matters? To respond to this question, we must inquire about the New Testament conception of the end of the age.
The era of the imminent end of history. We may capsulize the biblical understanding with one terse statement:
We are living in the age of the imminent consummation of history.
The biblical writers repeatedly speak about the end of history. One day, God will bring the divine program for humankind to completion in the glorious return of Christ. But what events must transpire en route to that day? What we may say with certainty arises from the biblical understanding of our era as the age of the imminent end, the epoch of the consummation of history.
According to the New Testament, we are living in a special, “eschatological” era. This age is bounded on the one side by Christ’s first coming and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. It is bounded on the other side by the return of Christ in victory and judgment. When viewed from the Old Testament perspective of promise, this is the time of fulfillment (1 Pet. 1:10–12). These are “the last days,” the final era before the consummation of God’s activity in the world.
The biblical writers suggest that the era between the ascension and the consummation is filled with tension. On the one hand, it is marked by the onslaught of evil. Persecution, heresy, deception, and seduction will increase as the evil one attempts to neutralize the gospel message. Satan’s efforts are partially effective, for many fall away, become deceived, or lose heart. On the other hand, the New Testament indicates that our era is also marked by the progress of the gospel. The Spirit-empowered church will complete its mandate before the end comes.
The early Christians themselves experienced both dimensions. They knew firsthand the onslaught of the forces of evil, even as the gospel was spreading throughout the world. To them, this was the sign that the eschatological age had indeed dawned. The last days were already upon the world (1 John 2:18–19). And these believers anticipated the day when Christ would return to vindicate those who acknowledge his lordship. On that day he would exercise dominion over every cosmic power, including our great cosmic enemy, death. For this reason, the apostles saw Christ’s return to raise the dead as the crucial future event.
What does all this say about how history will come to an end? The Bible clearly declares that the central event with which the human story closes is the final triumph of good over evil. One day the forces of evil will regroup for one last onslaught. But they will be routed by the victorious return of Jesus Christ himself. On that day we will be united with our Lord through resurrection. And this union will be the doorway to our enjoyment of eternal fellowship with our God.
Beyond this basic sketch, the Bible does not intend to provide dates and detailed sequences. We cannot glean from the Scriptures a group of isolated incidents that together form a series of mileposts from which we can construct an end-times checklist. Nor can we determine what length of the distance from the first to the second advents the world has traversed. On the contrary, we say with John the seer, “the time is near” (Rev. 22:10).
Where Am I Going?
In the minds of many people, discussions of the end of history only lead to speculation about some distant future day. Of greater immediate concern to them is the question of the end of personal life. “Where am I going?” they (and we) wonder.
In an uncharacteristically sober installment of the famous comic strip bearing his name, Garfield reflected on this question. “Good heavens!” he thought as he stared at the calendar. “I’m going to be eight years old this Thursday!” Turning to the viewer, he remarked, “I hate birthdays. They’re a lot like calendars.” Then placing his head in his hand, he sighed, “They remind you your days are numbered.”
Garfield is not far offtrack. His candid musings remind us of the words of the psalmist: “Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.” Then the inspired writer adds, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Ps. 90:10, 12).
But what does it mean to “number our days”? And why should we bother? Isn’t life in the end meaningless? Do I not simply live my days and then die? Doesn’t life simply culminate in death?
Indeed, we all wonder, does death end it all, or does God have a purpose for me? Is there a divinely intended goal to my existence that extends beyond death? Does my earthly sojourn culminate in some higher life that overcomes death?
Life beyond Death
The place to begin our inquiry is with death itself—that abrupt end to life that stalks us throughout our days. Death marks the end of life. But is death life’s end (telos)?
The Christian faith answers this question with a resounding no! The gospel declares that death need not speak the final word. It is not the goal of our existence. This is good news!
What is death? As we all know, death is universal. All people die. Although we all know about death, it remains a great mystery—perhaps the greatest mystery of human existence.
Death is not merely the cessation of biological functioning; it marks the end of personal life. Death means the end of my life. Death calls my existence into question.
Because we know that we will die, death—so it seems—undermines all our attempts to find meaning in and for life. The inevitability of death suggests that life is a meaningless absurdity. As the Teacher concluded: “All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not” (Eccles. 9:2). They all “join the dead” (v. 3).
Does our Christian faith shed any light on the apparent absurdity of death? Yes! To discover this, we must look to the Bible and see how death is ultimately understandable only in the light of God’s purposes as revealed in Jesus Christ, for Jesus has gone through death on our behalf.
In contrast to life, which is connected with God (1 Sam. 2:6; Job 1:21), the Hebrews viewed death as ambiguous. On the one hand, it is the inevitable result of the aging process (1 Sam. 2:6). Therefore, to die “old and full of years” is one of the highest blessings God could bestow upon the righteous person. On the other hand, the Old Testament speaks of death as an evil, alien power over which humans have no control (2 Sam. 22:6; Ps. 89:48).
What happens when we die? Like death itself, the Hebrews viewed the situation of the dead as ambiguous. To die is simply to be gathered to one’s people (see Gen. 49:33). Yet to die is also to descend into Sheol (Job 21:13; Ps. 55:15; Prov. 15:24; Ezek. 31:15–17).29 In Sheol the dead cannot praise Yahweh (Ps. 6:5) or see him (Isa. 38:10–11), for they “go down to the place of silence” (Ps. 115:17). We can well understand why the Old Testament saints raised the question, “If someone dies, will they live again?” (Job 14:14).
Although the Old Testament hints at the answer to this question,30 the grand event that shattered death and unleashed a new hope came later: God’s power raised Jesus of Nazareth from the dead! Jesus’s resurrection eliminates death’s ambiguity. He has unmasked death, showing it to be a sinister force (Heb. 2:14).
Death gains this sinister power, because it is the outworking of sin (Rom. 5:12; 6:23). In fact, sin and death form a law at work in us, an alien power to which we are slaves (Rom. 7:21–25; 8:2; see also 7:5; James 1:15). Sin reigns through death (Rom. 5:21) and gives death its sting (1 Cor. 15:56).
Hope in the face of death. But Sheol (Greek: hades) does not speak the last word. Christ “has destroyed death” (2 Tim. 1:10), demonstrating thereby that God is greater than death’s power. And his resurrection shows that God’s goal for us is not death but life—eternal life—life in fellowship with him. We are created for community!
We now bring this into sharper focus. Like sin, death is contrary to our divinely given destiny—namely, that we enjoy eternal fellowship with God, one another, and our environment. Death marks a breach in this community. Biological death functions as a vivid sign of this breach. Even though a person may die surrounded by a crowd of people, in the end each human goes through death totally alone. No one can experience death for us; nor can anyone travel through death accompanied by another. And death calls into question whatever meaning we seek to devise in life, thereby casting the shadow of meaninglessness over our entire existence. Death, therefore, is a breach of community, a fall into isolation, a loss of identity.
Through Christ, however, we can look beyond death to the eternal community God promises us. One day we will join Christ and enjoy fellowship with him forever.
Because we have this hope beyond death, we also have hope in the face of death. The prospect of dying and the thought of our own death need no longer hold terror for us. Death is no longer the isolating, solitary experience it once was. On the contrary, because Jesus has tasted death for us, we do not die alone. We are not abandoned in death. Instead, even in death we enjoy community. We are surrounded by God’s love in Christ (Rom. 8:34–39); indeed, we are “with Christ” (Phil. 1:23).
Having lost its ultimacy, death can even carry positive significance. Divested of its sting, the last enemy of humankind is now a picture of the transformation that occurs through conversion. In baptism we “died to sin” (Rom. 6:2–4)—that is, we laid aside the old estranged manner of living. Further, our old foe now marks the completion of our earthly vocation in service to God (2 Tim. 4:7). And the sinister power that led to the shadowy realm of Sheol marks our entrance into rest (Rev. 14:13).
Because of Christ, death can even become a special way of sacrifice. For those who are martyred because of their testimony to their Lord, death is the means through which they give their own life in praise to the one who suffered for us all (2 Tim. 4:6; Phil. 2:17; Rev. 6:9).
Overcoming Death in the Resurrection
Death is a defeated foe. Indeed, because we experience community with God, we have in a sense already passed from death to life (John 5:24; 8:51; 1 John 3:14). Nevertheless, our final victory over death lies in the future. Death, our “last enemy” (1 Cor. 15:26), will only be fully overcome when our mortal bodies are clothed with immortality (vv. 54–55). Then God will banish death from our experience (Rev. 21:4, 8), for “death and Hades” will be “thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:14).
But how does this happen? In what manner do we finally overcome death? What event will inaugurate our eternal participation in community? People today have varying opinions about this topic.
Competing visions of life beyond death. We must place the biblical answer to this question in the context of three contemporary conceptions of life after death.
Monism does not view God as personal but speaks of the divine in impersonal terms—as “the Absolute,” for example. Union with the divine, therefore, means the dissolution of all personal distinctions. At death, we lose our personal identity. As a drop of water disappears into the vast ocean, so also we dissolve into the Absolute, of which we are already a part.
This chain of death and rebirth continues indefinitely as the soul either progresses or regresses from one earthly life to the next. Eventually, however, sufficient progress allows the cycle to end and the soul to merge with the divine as in monism.
The Christian vision. The Bible answers the question as to how we overcome death with the word “resurrection.” We will overcome death on that great future day when we join Christ in the resurrection. Through this event we will share together in the eternal community God has in store for us.
Can we say more? What exactly is this experience the Bible calls “resurrection”?
This reminds us that God does not intend to “rescue” us from the body or the earth as each of the alternative visions suggests. Rather, we will participate in the eternal community as the embodied, earthly creatures we are.
We enter into the fullness of God’s design only as we undergo a radical change. This change is, of course, ethical. Our susceptibility to sin (“flesh”) must be rooted out. And we will be completely conformed to Christ. But this change is likewise physical. Our mortality—our susceptibility to disease and death—must be transformed into immortality (1 Cor. 15:42–43). For this reason, the Bible declares that through the resurrection we will be changed into a “spiritual body” (v. 44)—that is, a body transformed by God’s Spirit so as to fit it for the new creation where God will dwell.32
Beyond this, however, the Bible does not take us. It does not speculate on exactly how God will bring us into fullness of life. Although God’s precise method remains unknowable, that God will do so is clearly evident in Scripture. In addition to the written promise, we also have an internal witness. As believers we already experience the foretaste of the resurrection. The Holy Spirit dwelling within is the down payment guaranteeing our future fullness of life (see Rom. 8:23; Eph. 1:14). And this Spirit testifies to the truth of the biblical promise.
Our Situation in Death
We believe that one glorious day we will join Christ in the resurrection. This hope offers us solace in the face of death. One question remains, however. What happens immediately at death? Do we go somewhere when we die? Once again, people have differing opinions.
Competing visions. Some Christians believe that death is the doorway to eternal life; at death we enter the fullness of God’s eternal community.33 Others offer a diametrically opposite vision often called “soul sleep.” On the basis of biblical references that speak of death as sleep (e.g., 1 Kings 2:10; John 11:11; Acts 7:60; 13:36; 1 Cor. 15:6, 18, 20, 51; 1 Thess. 4:13–15), they suggest that at death we enter an unconscious state of existence.
More widely held than either of these is a third expectation. At death we experience continued personal, conscious existence beyond death, albeit in a disembodied state. But where do our disembodied souls go when we die?
The most obvious possibilities are a place of bliss (e.g., heaven) and a place of torment (e.g., hell). Many Christians, therefore, believe that after death the righteous consciously experience God’s presence, whereas the unrighteous know the pain of retribution.
Some believers offer further speculations about this intermediate state. After death, believers are able to converse with the saints of ages past, as well as with deceased loved ones. And we are able to view events transpiring on earth from the vantage point of heaven.
If death is the gateway to the realm of disembodied conscious existence, there might be additional repositories of the souls of the dead. Perhaps at death the vast majority of people enter purgatory, a place where we are purified—fitted for heaven by undergoing disciplinary suffering.34
In the face of these varying opinions, what can we confidently conclude from the Bible?
The Christian hope. We know that death does not simply mark the end of personal life, because every human will be present at the final judgment (Rom. 14:10; 2 Cor. 5:10; 2 Pet. 2:9). As Christians, however, our hope does not focus on any conception of life after death. On the contrary, our hope is directed toward the promise of resurrection. Therefore, anything that we say about the status of the dead must arise out of our hope for resurrection. The Christian hope of the resurrection leads to three central statements about the situation of Christians who die.
Death is not the entrance into the higher existence God intends for us. Only when we are resurrected at the consummation of history will we enter into the fullness of our salvation (Matt. 25:34; 1 Pet. 1:4–5), for God’s intention includes the physical or bodily aspect of human life.
Because we know that at Christ’s return we will be united with our Lord, we may rest assured that even in death we are secure. Our greatest enemy is powerless to separate us from the love of God in Christ. Even in death, we remain surrounded by God’s loving presence (Rom. 8:35–39).
What, then, can we conclude about the situation of the dead? Simply stated, they are “held by God.” God “holds” us—that is, our personhood—until the final judgment. On that day, each one appears before God bearing the marks of personal continuity—bodily identity, memory, and similarity of character or mental characteristics. Until that day, the unrighteous are kept by God unto judgment and eternal death. But the righteous are kept with God unto resurrection and eternal life.35
One question still needs to be answered. Are the dead who are held by God aware of earthly events? Here we can only conjecture. From the perspective of those who remain on earth, the dead appear to be sleeping. This picture language means that they are no longer participants in the ongoing flow of earthly time. But this does not mean they have no cognizance of these occurrences.
Regardless of what actually happens at death, we can face death with confidence, knowing that even then we are not separated from Christ and his eternal love.
It would seem that the dead are aware of what is happening on earth, yet not like we are—not as those who move from a known present to an unknown future. They perceive events from the vantage point of the glorious completion of God’s program in the resurrection. They are cognizant of earthly events in their unity and interconnectedness.36
A specific situation may serve to illustrate this. When my father died over twenty years ago, my mother often asked whether he was conscious of events surrounding his family. The possibility that he remained cognizant of her offered my mother comfort, for thereby she sensed that she was somehow still connected to her husband despite their physical separation. But this also had a downside. If he were aware of us, then he was also aware of her grief. And seeing her grieving would surely cause him pain.
So I have asked a number of times through the years, “Does my deceased father know what has transpired in our lives?” And my speculation is, “Yes, in a certain sense.” He is aware of earthly happenings but not as isolated events in the process of time. He is conscious of them but not as one who moves with us from the present into an uncertain future. Hence, he saw our grief—yes—but in the context of the interconnectedness of events that culminate in the joy of our reunion with him in the resurrection.
So what is the bottom line? The Christian hope of resurrection means we have good news to proclaim in the face of the apparent meaninglessness of our existence, which tragically ends in death. Just as history will one day culminate in Jesus’s triumphant return, so also we are destined to share one great day in Christ’s resurrection.
Therefore, we can confidently sing:
I know where I’m goin’, and I know who’s goin’ with me;
I know why there’s music in the quiet summer morning. . . .
I’m goin’ where He goes, and He’ll be there beside me,
The love for which He died is all I need to guide me.37
Mastering the Material
Having Read This Chapter, You Should Know:
For Connection and Application