Is there immortality for both the saved and unsaved? There
are varying opinions, but only the inerrant Word of God has the truth, and the
truth begins with the creation of man.
Created Immortal: “And God said, “Let us (Trinity) make man
in our image, after our likeness:” “So God created man in his own image…”
(Genesis 1:26-27) But, what is God’s likeness, His image? Scripture tells us
that God is a living, eternal spirit (John 4:24), and He “… formed man of the
dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and he
became a living soul.” (Genesis 2:7) God literally breathed His eternal
(never-dying) spirit into man, making man immortal. Also, since God is a
Trinity, Father, Son and Spirit, we were made in a trinity type, consisting of
body, soul and spirit. (I Thessalonians 5:23)
But, what about our bodies? God, being omniscient, knew in
the fulfillment of time His Son, Jesus, would come to earth as a man (Luke 1:35)
to become the atoning sacrifice for mankind’s sin. Therefore, at man’s creation
God formed a body appropriate for Jesus’s future earthly ministry (Philippians
2:7-8); a human body prepared to be the sacrifice for all men. ( Hebrews 2:9/I
Peter 3:18) A body suitable for resurrection; a body in which He shall return!
“…Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which
is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen
him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11)
Immortal In Death: The body is the only part of man that dies
a physical death because only man’s body was made from dust. The invisible part
of man, his soul and spirit, were not made from physical substances, causing the
soul and spirit to remain immortal! Therefore, at physical death the believer’s
soul and spirit ascend into Heaven to await his/her resurrected body, while the
unbeliever’s soul and spirit descend into Hell to await his/her resurrected
body. The believer is resurrected into eternal life. The unbeliever resurrected
into the second death, being everlasting separation from God, and eternal
punishment! So terrifying is this reality that Jesus issued a warning. “ …fear
not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul (because it is
everlasting): but rather fear him which is able to destroy (ruin, not
annihilate) both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28)
For the believer, physical death is nothing to fear; they
don’t face the second death. (Revelation 2:11). But for the unbeliever, the
second death, (not annihilation), awaits. “…the hour is coming, in the which ALL
that are in the graves (bodies) shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they
that have done good (believed), unto the resurrection of life; and they that
have done evil (denied Jesus Christ), unto the resurrection of damnation
(eternal state of torment).” (John 5:28-29). What a frightening truth for those
who die without Jesus Christ!
Don’t accept my opinion on immortality, accept and believe
the Word of God! I ask you to read the following verses with an open mind, being
ever mindful of the word “everlasting”, whose definition is ‘existing or
continuing without end’!
Immortal In Hell, Judgment And Lake of Fire: (1) “ And I saw
the (unsaved) dead, small and great, stand before God (White Throne Judgment
)…and the dead (unsaved) were judged out of those things which were written in
the books, according to their works. ……and death and hell delivered up the dead
(unsaved) which were in them…and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.
This is the second death.” (Revelation 20:11-15)
(2) “And these (unbelievers) shall go away into everlasting
(not temporary) punishment (not annihilation): but the righteous into life
eternal.” (Matthew 25:46)
(3) “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)
(4) “…it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than
having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched.”
(Mark 9:43/44-48)
Immortal Forever: These Bible verses, along with others,
plainly teach immortality for every individual. Just as Jesus’s soul and spirit
returned from Sheol to reunite with His body in the tomb, and was resurrected,
so shall every individual be reunited with his/her soul and spirit as each body
is resurrected to face an eternity in Heaven or the Lake of Fire.
The Bible plainly reveals there is NO salvation without
repentance; no salvation after partial punishment. There is ONLY salvation
through faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ! “He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life
(only damnation), but the wrath of God abideth on him.” (John 3:36)
God made us immortal, but we choose our eternal destination.
