Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | 2 Corinthians 12:2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago--whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows--such a man was caught up to the third heaven. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 2 Corinthians 12:2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago--whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, [only] God knows--such a man was caught up to the third heaven. [Luke 23:43] |
Bible Question: were will the souls of the Lord who dead in the Lord goes as soon as they are dead.if paul say that we they sleeping 1 thes 4;13.then what about lazarus who did not sleep to wait for the Lord coming.Luke 16;22 |
Bible Answer: Greetings nii quarcoopome, As I interpret Luke 16:19-30 (the rich man and Lazarus), this is a parable. Yes, I agree that Jesus could have had an individual in mind here, and He does not usually mention people by name in any of His parables, even though He doesn't mention the rich man's name in this case. However, within the context of the passage, He speaks of this parable only after taking a brief time after the parables of the prodigal son and the dishonest manager to explain the Law and the Kingdom of God and divorce. And as the parable of the prodigal son set before us the grace of the gospel, which is encouraging to us all, so this parable of the rich man and Lazarus sets before us the wrath to come, and is designed for our awakening; and very fast 'asleep' are those are in sin that will not be awakened by it. The Pharisees made a jest of Christ's sermon against worldliness; now this parable was intended to make those mockers serious. Unlike His other parables, Jesus provides direct illustrations to heaven (Abraham's bosom) and hell. Death is the common destination of both the rich and the poor, the godly and the ungodly; there they meet together. Death favors neither the rich man for his riches nor the poor man for his poverty. When believers die, they may bring their sorrows to an end, and may enter upon their joys in heaven. Unbelievers die, so that they may go to give up their account. But there are several Scripture verses that indicate that the souls of Old Testament believers, as well as Christ, went directly to heaven the moment they died. In support of this view, Jesus affirmed that His spirit was going directly to heaven, declaring, "Father, into Your Hands I commend My spirit" (Luke 23:46 NKJV). Also, Jesus promised the thief on the cross, "Today you will be with Me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43 NKJV). But "Paradise" is defined as "the third heaven" in 2 Corinthians 12:2-4. Also, on a side note, Ephesians 4:9 states "what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth?" The 'descending into the lower parts of the earth' is not a reference to hell, but to the grave. Hell itself is not in the lower parts of the earth- it is "under the earth" (Philippians 2:10 NASB). Jesus was not a sinner (John 2:25; 3:3,6,7) and His work for our salvation was completed on the cross (John 19:30; Hebrews 10:14) before He entered the grave. Therefore, there is no Biblical support that Jesus descended into hell. However, 1 Corinthians 15:20 states "But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep." [ESV] So, does this mean that Christ led the Old Testament saints from Abraham's bosom (Luke 16:23) into heaven for the first time after He was resurrected? 1 Corinthians 15:20 is stating that Christ's resurrection is the first of a new kind of resurrection - the resurrection of believers (those in Christ). The order of resurrections is as follows: first, Christ's; then that of believers at His coming (1 Thess. 4:13-18); and finally, the resurrection at the end of the millennial kingdom. So Christ, who has been raised, is the guarantee of the resurrection of all of God's redeemed people (1 Cor. 15:20; 1 Thess. 4:13-18). In that way, we can understand what 1 Cor. 15:20 is saying about Christ as the 'firstfruit.' 1 Corinthians 15:18 speaks of those who have 'fallen asleep' (NKJV) in Christ. "Falling asleep" is a common euphemism for death in the Bible that does not mean that the soul, or spirit, supposedly rests in unconsciousness when the body dies. 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 thus an event that leads to a supremely blissful existence (Philippians 1:21; 2 Corinthians 5:8-9). Also, the Old Testament mentions followers after God who went to heaven when they died (Enoch - Genesis 5:24; Elijah - 2 Kings 2:11 and Matthew 17:3; Moses - Deut. 34:5 and Matthew 17:3). Now, did Moses and Elijah go to the "heaven of heavens" (Nehemiah 9:6 NASB), or to the "highest heaven" (1 Kings 8:27; 2 Chronicles 2:6)? All we need to know for now is that they did go to heaven when they died. Therefore, we can rest assured that for those who believe in Christ, when our bodies die and wear out, then our souls will be with the Lord, and not sleep as our bodies do, awaiting resurrection. Blessings to you, Makarios |