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NASB | Ecclesiastes 12:7 then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Ecclesiastes 12:7 then the dust [out of which God made man's body] will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. |
Bible Question: When we die where do we go until the new heaven on earth |
Bible Answer: Greetings kathy_41! Human beings are made up of both a material aspect (the physical body) and an immaterial aspect (the soul or spirit). When a human being physically dies, his or her spirit departs from the body (2 Corinthians 5:8). The New Testament word for "death" carries the idea of 'separation.' At the moment of physical death, man's spirit separates or departs from his body. This is why, when Stephen was being put to death by stoning, he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" (Acts 7:59). At the moment of death "the spirit returns to God who gave it" (Ecclesiastes 12:7). Verses such as these indicate that death for the believer involves his or her spirit departing from the physical body and immediately going into the presence of the Lord in heaven. Death for the believer is an event that leads to a supremely blissful existence (see Philippians 1:21). For the unbeliever, however, death holds grim prospects. At death the unbeliever's spirit departs from the body and goes not to heaven but to a place of great suffering (Luke 16:19-31). Both believers and unbelievers remain as spirits (in a disembodied state) until the future day of resurrection. And what a glorious day that will be! God will reunite believers' spirits with their resurrected physical bodies. These bodies will be specially suited to dwelling in heaven in the direct presence of God- the perishable will be made imperishable and the mortal will be made immortal (1 Cor. 15:53). Unbelievers, too, will be resurrected, but they will spend eternity apart from God. Blessings to you, Nolan |