The Eternal Now--Part 1

“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 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 not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words” (I Thess. 4:13-18 NASB UPDATE).

Duration of Divine existence is from eternity—the eternal NOW. That which is future to man is a present fact to God. There is no inconsistency with foreknowledge in respect to God. There is nothing more common in Scripture than God speaking of Himself to man after the manner of man, speaking not in the language of eternity, but of time. We cannot conceive of God, in His administrations carried out in time, being purposed eternally. Let us never forget the warning given in Psalm 50:21—“These things you have done and I kept silence; You thought that I was just like you; I will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes” (NASB UPDATE). Isaiah said, “Who has performed and accomplished it, Calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD, am the first, and with the last. I am He” (Is. 41:4 NASB UPDATE). Therefore, the eternal NOW can never be divided into parts any more than the Divine existence itself. Furthermore, that which is future to man is a present fact to God. Thus, all things in time do not coexist with God, but God coexists with them.

There is great debate about the last part of I Thessalonians 4:14—“…even so [houtos kai] God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus” (NASB UPDATE). “Even so” is designed to show that what happened to Christ will also happen to those who are in Him. Christ’s death and resurrection are the very heart of the gospel. God’s justice demands both on behalf of the elect. Therefore, Paul said, “He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification” (Rom. 4:25 NASB UPDATE). This assures the elect that they will not only become new persons in Christ in time, but they will have new bodies in eternity.

Death is not the discontinuance, but the separation of existence. Adam’s spiritual death was his separation from an upright life before God. His physical death was the separation of his soul and spirit from his mortal body. Since I Thessalonians 4:14 is not cessation but separation of existence, the believer’s physical death is the separation of his soul and spirit from his mortal body. As the believer’s death to sin does not eliminate his physical dying and final separation of soul and spirit from his mortal body, so his death or rapture will not be hindered by a bodyless state, subsequent to either death or the rapture.

The believer’s separation from his mortal body is his exodus out of time and his entrance into eternity. Since there is no imperfection in eternity, the deceased Christian cannot be less a person there than he was in time. If the soul is a person apart from the body, then of what value is the body? This refutes the idea of the soul being bodyless between death and the resurrection. Paul said, “For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked [gumnoi, adjective nominative masculine plural of gumnos, meaning uncovered, bare, or exposed]” (II Cor. 5:1-3 NASB UPDATE). The word “nakedness” is found 30 times in Leviticus 18:6-20:21, and it should be read publicly in every congregation.

The intermediate state that some approve is one of imperfection. However, Scripture does not approve. To say deceased Christians are in an intermediate state, between death and the resurrection, is to say they are only half persons. The intermediate state is a waiting period, but there can be no such thing as waiting in eternity. Hence, those who teach the theory of the intermediate state are forced to say there is a waiting period for deceased believers; this would deny they have entered eternity.

What appears to be a problem is the coming of Christ for the resurrection of the bodies of the deceased Christians and the translation of living believers. The question might be asked, What is the purpose of the second coming of Christ if the departure from time and the second coming constitute a single event to the deceased? It must be understood that a historical event has no relevance in eternity, but it does in time. This can be illustrated with two statements by Jesus Christ. He said to the disciples, “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:2, 3 NASB UPDATE).

Speaking in “time,” Christ told the disciples what He would do for them. However, when talking about a prepared place in the Father’s house with many dwelling places that are heavenly, He went out of the sphere of both time and sight. The main part of Christ’s MISSION was before Him. What He was saying to the disciples, “You have been trusting in God, keep on trusting in Me,” is magnified by the two imperatives in verse 1.

As stated previously, Christ told the disciples what He would do for them; but when talking about preparing a place, it was already accomplished, because there is NO TIME IN HEAVEN. The disciples did not have to wait for Christ’s second coming to experience what the thief did instantly after his death. Christ said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43 NASB UPDATE). Christ did not “mess up” by His use of “today,” a time word. It was used as a time word for the disciples IN time, but the word “Paradise” is the language for eternity—the eternal NOW. The Psalmist David said, “How blessed is the one whom You choose and bring near to You to dwell in Your courts. We will be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Your holy temple” (Ps. 65:4 NASB UPDATE).

We must remember that a historical event has no relevance in eternity, but it does in time. Paul was discussing a future event when he said, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus” (I Thess. 4:14 NASB UPDATE). This statement had relevance to time. The term “sleep” is applicable to time, because it is not only expressive of rest but also of the expectation of being awakened from it. This term cannot apply to the soul, but only to the body in time. Earthly language is not relevant in heaven. There is a succession of events in time, but not in eternity.

Informed Christians acknowledge that what is future to man is a present reality to God. All things have, with respect to God, both a known and a real existence. Both are simultaneous because there is no time with the great “I Am.” As mentioned earlier, although all future things in time do not coexist with God, yet He coexists with them. Therefore, what is future to Christians in time is a present reality to believers in eternity. Time is a state of transition, because it is a place of constant change. Conversely, eternity is a condition of constancy. Therefore, when the believer steps out of time into eternity, he undergoes the final change to the eternally unchanging.

Christians in time have a heavenly citizenship. Paul said, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself” (Phil. 3:20, 21 NASB UPDATE). The Christian citizens of Philippi did not think of their earthly citizenship in time as being more important than their eternal heavenly citizenship. The fact of this heavenly citizenship inspired hope. Thus, in Philippians 3:20, Paul said, “…from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ….” The Greek word for citizenship is politeuma, which means administration of a commonwealth. In the New Testament, it is equivalent to politeia, which is the state of being a citizen, a community, or a commonwealth. This is like our being seated in the heavenly places in Christ (Eph. 2:6). Thus, our present experience in time is by our God-given faith. Since our real commonwealth is in eternity, our present position in time is that of an alien. “For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come” (Heb. 13:14 NASB UPDATE). Therefore, the change in our bodies is an absolute necessity before we can enter our commonwealth in heaven.