(PART 4)

In this account of Adam and Eve you can see how they were denied eternal life-

And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. ~ Genesis 3:22,23

When Adam and Eve rebelled against God and ate of the forbidden tree of knowledge of good and evil, they lost the right to eat of the tree of life. God denied them eternal life because they had sinned. They had to die because of their sin. Death did not give them instant access to heaven. When Adam and Eve died, they lost the God-given spark of life and perished. In other words, they returned to the dust.

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. ~ Genesis 3:19

All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust. ~ Job 34:15

Look at how Jesus Himself describes death…

These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. ~ John 11:11-14

He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. ~ Matthew 9:24

And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. ~ Mark 5:39

And all wept, and bewailed her: but he said, Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead. ~ Luke 8:52,53

In Jesus own words, death is described like a sleep.

So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep. ~ Job 14:12

Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death; ~ Psalms 13:3

Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. ~ James 4:14

When someone dies, they don’t awake until the end of time. They are asleep.

In this passage Paul seems to contradict this because he says that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. But take a closer look.

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. Phillipians ~ 1:21-24

Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. ~ 2nd Corinthians 5:6-9

Since Jesus equated death with sleep is Paul overriding what the Son of God, the Great IAM said? Absolutely not. Paul is saying that should he (Paul) die, he would sleep the sleep of death, and next see Jesus Christ after the resurrection. Paul saw the passing of time after death an instant (the blink of an eye) and the next thing it would be the second coming, and the resurrection of the righteous.

The Bible says that dead are asleep in the grave. The Bible says that the dead don’t know anything.

For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun. ~ Ecclesiastes 9:5

When someone dies, everything about them perishes. This includes their conscious mind and they remain this way. That is, until their resurrection.

Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. ~ Psalms 146:3

Even the very thoughts of the dead perish with them when they lose their soul (the spark of life).

And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. ~ Daniel 12:2

The dead are sleeping until their resurrection, that is when they will awake.

And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. ~ Matthew 10:28

This verse is used by many churches to "prove" that the soul can't be killed, that the soul is immortal. When in fact it means not to fear those who can kill your physical body and have no say over the second death (the lake of fire), which is obliteration. Instead, fear God, who does judge who goes into the lake of fire (eternal death) to be forever destroyed, body and soul, and who gets eternal life (an immortal soul). Actually, the choice is ours. God simply affirms the choice we have made.

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. ~ 1st Corinthians 15:20-22

And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. ~ Matthew 27:52,53

The dead are asleep not to be awakened until the second coming. The above mentioned saints DID NOT, I repeat, DID NOT come down from heaven to re-inhabit their bodies. They were resurrected from the grave in a victory over death, at the time of Christ's resurrection.

It says that many saints rose, yet the Bible says that King David is not in Heaven. God said that David was a man after His own heart (Acts 13:22). Who better then to be in heaven?

Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. ... ~ Acts 2:29

For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, ~ Acts 2:34

King David is still in the grave. He is still asleep and still dead. According to the Bible, David is not in heaven. WHO then, has immortality? What does the Bible say?