Genesis 3:1-4
The Temptation and Fall of Man
1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.
The Garden of Eden was the scene for the very first lie told to the human race. This is a huge issue. The Devil is trying to deceive the human race. Tonight in 2011, is the Devil still deceiving the human race?
Yes! Did Adam and Eve die? Yes! Their death did not come instantly. They died slowly. You and I will die. If we hang on to sin, we will die. If we repent and turn to Jesus for salvation, we only die the physical death.
Ecclesiastes 3:19-21
19 For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity. 20 All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust. 21 Who knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth?
Psalms 146:3-4
3 Do not put your trust in princes,
Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help.
4 His spirit departs, he returns to his earth;
In that very day his plans perish.
Breath and the spirit mean the same thing in the Bible. The Hebrew word ‘ruach’ means spirit. The day you die, your thoughts perish.
Ecclesiastes 9:5-6
For the living know that they will die;
But the dead know nothing,
And they have no more reward,
For the memory of them is forgotten.
6 Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished;
Nevermore will they have a share
In anything done under the sun.
God’s word is not contradictory. God says in the Bible: “I do not change”. The Bible says the dead know nothing. Your emotions are no more. You are asleep. If you die and know Jesus, you will be in a temporary sleep.
Ecclesiastes 9:10
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.
The Bible clearly says we have no knowledge or wisdom. You are sleeping in the grave waiting for Jesus to come. Anytime someone says they have seen their dead relative has seen an evil angel. Spiritualism is a false truth. There are programs on television that are based on spiritualism. This is the occult.
Acts 2:29
Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
David died a saved man. The Bible says he is dead and buried. Why do we think we can go to heaven when we die and David cannot?
Acts 2:34
For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: ‘The LORD said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand.’
When you die you go to dust.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
The dead in Christ rise first before those who are alive. If you have already gone to heaven, verse 17 is impossible. As a human being we have electrical currents moving in the brain to control body movement. When you have lack of oxygen, you become some what unconscious and experience out of body experiences.
Would God be merciful if you were in heaven watching what is going on today on this earth? Starving children, murders, wars, earthquakes, and tsunamis.
John 5:28-29
Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29 and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.
Job 14:10, 13-14
But man dies and is laid away; Indeed he breathes his last-And where is he?
Oh, that You would hide me in the grave, That You would conceal me until Your wrath is past, That You would appoint me a set time, and remember me!
14 If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, Till my change comes.
Genesis 2:7
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
To be a living soul, you have to have Breath + Life = Living Soul
Neshama means soul. God breathed into Adam’s nostrils.
Ecclesiastes 12:7
Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it.
We know from the Hebrew word ruach that spirit means breath. Cremation is just a speeding up of the return to dust.
Job 27:3
As long as my breath is in me, And the breath of God in my nostrils.
1 Timothy 6:15-16
Which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.
If you die and go to heaven, you have been given immortality. But the Bible says only the King of Kings has immortality. Jesus is God manifested in human form.
Romans 2:6-7
Who will render to each one according to his deeds: 7 eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality.
Immortality happens when Jesus comes.
Psalms 115:17
The dead do not praise the LORD, Nor any who go down into silence.
Silence is a sleep.
Psalms 6:4-5
Return, O LORD, deliver me! Oh, save me for Your mercies’ sake!
5 For in death there is no remembrance of You; In the grave who will give You thanks?
John 11:11-14
These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.”
12 Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.” 13 However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.
14 Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.
Jesus and Lazarus were close friends. Jesus often rested there at Lazarus house.
John 11:22-23
But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
John 11:38-44
Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”
Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”
40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” 41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” 43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” 44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”
Jesus would have been extra cruel to have caused Lazarus to come back down to earth-get in the grave-then come out of the grave and live again on this sinful earth. Jesus wants us to understand that when you die, you are asleep in the grave until Jesus comes again. Satan wants to deceive people with Spiritualism and the powers of darkness.
This was Pastor Korter’s Bible Study from 23. March 2011 at Bellingham Seventh-day Adventist church.