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THE NATURE AND DESTINY OF MAN

ERIC MARSHALL

“TO THE LAW and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them”. These words, quoted from Isaiah 8:20, are cited on a number of occasions in Brother John Thomas’s writings, and summarise his position and that of Christadelphians today: that the truth about life and death and the truth about the nature of man are revealed by the Word of God. Indeed, the context of these words is apt, for God through Isaiah was rebuking the prophet’s contemporaries for seeking the answer to problems about life and death from “wizards that peep, and that mutter”, rather than the Word of the living God. Therein, from beginning to end, is a consistent testimony regarding our nature and destiny.

Life and death defined

The basis of our subject is laid out in the early chapters of Genesis: “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 soul” (Gen. 2:7). It is right to notice that man, alive, is a living soul; he was not given a soul, as so many erroneously believe. When alive man is a living soul; when he dies he becomes a dead soul (Ezek. 18:4,20; Ps. 78:50). The same Hebrew words are used in Genesis 1:21, where we are told that “God created great whales, and every living creature (that is, living soul) that moveth …”. This life was enjoyed in ideal surroundings in the Garden of Eden. The only hazard to it would be disobedience to the command about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which disobedience would bring death.

The nature of death is clearly detailed in chapters 2 and 3. Death was a punishment for disobedience (2:17), and it would cause Adam to return to his pre-Creation condition: “in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return” (3:19). To further confirm that Adam and Eve, and therefore their descendants, can have no continued existence or life after death, we are told that they were expelled from the garden, “lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever”. The concept of inherent immortality in any sense whatever is thus denied in these foundation chapters of God’s Word. Death is presented as a punishment, while immortality as a state of present being is denied to mankind.

All later Scripture confirms these simple but basic conclusions from the early chapters of Genesis. Consequently, when the Almighty told Noah of the impending doom for his generation, He described it as “the end of all flesh” (Gen. 6:13). When this sentence was carried into practical effect we read in Genesis 7:21-23 that “all flesh died ... all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life (RV) ... died ... Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark”. Otherwise “every living substance was destroyed” (RV mg., blotted out). Peter confirms this by implication when he says of those in the ark: “eight souls were saved by water” (1 Pet. 3:20).

Both Job and David emphasise the disappearance of both identity and existence in death:

What death entails

The process of death is described in Ecclesiastes 12:7 as an exact reversal of the creation of Adam: “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God Who gave it”. Earlier in his book the writer argues that because “All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again”, therefore “a man hath no preeminence above a beast” (Eccl. 3:19,20). Even in this chapter, which asks the rhetorical question, “Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?” (v.21), the answer implied by the context is that such a concept is false, “for who shall bring him back to see what shall be after him?” (v.22, RV). The psalmist confirms this view when he describes flesh as “a wind (spirit) that passeth away, and cometh not again” (Ps. 78:39).

Hezekiah, when celebrating his reprieve from death, said of God: “Thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption ... For the grave (sheol) cannot praise Thee ... (Isa. 38:17). Isaiah also, in 40:6,7, reinforces the view that mankind is perishing with the description that “All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: the grass withereth, the flower fadeth ...”. Peter quotes this passage to remind his readers that the Word of the Lord which abides for ever is therefore incorruptible and the source of immortality in the gospel. It is this Word that begets a new mind, which, given the right environment (see 1 Pet. 2:1-3), will develop into a personality that God will be pleased to redeem to life eternal. Sarah is described in 1 Peter 3:4 as showing “a meek and quiet spirit”, which is “the hidden man (person) of the heart”.

Although the New Testament is concerned with the way in which life and immortality were brought to light through the gospel, it does so on the basis of the Old Testament teaching that the nature of man is sinful and dying, and that the death-state is unconsciousness and non-existence. The well-known words of Jesus in John 3:16 give the simple alternatives made available through the giving of God’s only begotten Son: believers will receive everlasting life; unbelievers will perish. The same choice is contemplated when Jesus challenges his hearers with the question, “what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul (life, RV)?” (Mt. 16:26). When Peter, on the Day of Pentecost, discusses Jesus’s death and resurrection, he states that “David ... is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us ...” (Acts 2:29). This clearly implies that David was actually in his sepulchre and nowhere else. This, the common lot of all, righteous or not, was in contrast to Jesus, who, having been raised from the dead, was no longer in his sepulchre—it was empty. Peter, however, makes it quite clear that Jesus had been in the grave when he was dead by quoting Psalm 16: “Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption” (2:27). His soul, that is, his being, was in hell (hades), but not long enough for his flesh to decompose. It is clear that in Peter’s mind, guided by the Spirit of God, a soul left in hell is equivalent to flesh seeing corruption. This is the same process so explicitly described in Genesis.

Resurrection the only escape route from death

Jesus described Lazarus as asleep when he meant that he was dead. It is a description that is used in both Old and New Testaments. This sleep would be perpetual unless life was restored by resurrection (compare 1 Cor. 15:18 with v.20).

The escape from death will follow the pattern of Jesus’s resurrection: a return to bodily existence. The word used for resurrection means a standing or rising up; it is the reverse of death, where one lies down or falls. Although an equivalent word is not found in the Old Testament, the idea of rising again is clearly taught: “many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Dan. 12:2). This passage is paralleled by Jesus’s words in John 5:28,29: “all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation”. Job hoped for a set time appointed by God when, after being hidden in the grave (sheol), he would be remembered (Job 14:13,14). His belief lay in a Redeemer who would enable him to see God for himself, from his flesh, which would need re-creating, having been destroyed by the worms (19:26,27). Isaiah looked for the day when the earth would cast out her dead because God’s dead men would arise at a time of judgement (26:19-21).

Jesus understood the Old Testament to teach resurrection in the account of the events of the burning bush (Lk. 20:37). His statement was made to refute Sadducean disbelief in resurrection, and to assert that resurrection was connected with a new age (“that world”;) and would involve different relationships from those which are normal in this present mortal existence.

Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 considers the resurrection of Jesus and its implication for faithful believers. We conclude that this is so because he only considers the outcome for those who are saved and therefore have not “believed in vain”, although elsewhere in the Corinthian epistles he teaches that there will be a judgement seat (2 Cor. 5:10), and that there is a possibility that believers might not be saved (1 Cor. 3:17; 8:11; 9:27). Jesus is the pattern for the faithful believer: “every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming” (1 Cor. 15:23). Jesus’s resurrection was bodily; so will be that of the believers at the specific time of his Second Coming, when he “shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body” (Phil. 3:21).

This fact of a bodily standing again is emphasised by the consideration of the question: “How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?” (1 Cor. 15:35). By the analogy of sowing a seed he draws the lesson that God provides the appropriate body for a thing to manifest itself. The wheat seed germinates into something that is significantly different from what is sown, but it is nonetheless recognisably a wheat plant: “God giveth it a body as it hath pleased Him, and to every seed his own body” (v.38). Every living thing is suitably presented; it will be no less so in the resurrection (1 Cor. 15:42-49). “It is sown a natural body”, which Adam was; it is raised a spiritual body” (v.44), which the Lord Jesus became. He is described as the last Adam because he is the ‘progenitor’ (Isa. 9:6; 53:10) of those who are made immortal.

Biblical teaching on the nature of man may be summarised as follows:

This summary will provoke such questions as, What happens when the dead are raised? And who will be raised?

The judgement

Paul’s words to Timothy, “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom” (2 Tim. 4:1), confirm that resurrection is inseparable from judgement, which is a key part of the purpose of the Judge of all the earth. It is also clearly taught by Jesus, both in his parables and directly. It is confirmed in the epistles. “The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works” (Mt. 16:27). The parables of the talents, and of the sheep and the goats, clearly involve judgement and separation into two classes; those who are acceptable enter into the joy of their Lord, and those who are not are cast into outer darkness.

The statement in 2 Corinthians 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body ... whether it be good or bad”, confirms this significant feature of God’s purpose (see also Rom. 14:10). He Who is the Judge of all the earth has committed all judgement to the Son, who will carry it out at his appearing and his Kingdom. This declared intention to judge at a specific time has significant implications. Those who die prior to that time can receive no reward or punishment for their behaviour in their lifetime until that day. Consequently all concepts of reward and punishment usually associated with the unScriptural idea of the immortality of the soul must be in error because they render the judgement obsolete. This point was raised by Brother John Thomas in his thirty-four questions in The Apostolic Advocate.(Footnote 1) Question 10 reads:

“If immortality or perennial bliss or woe be conferred upon men as soon as they die, i.e. if they be sent direct to heaven or contrariwise, to hell; pray what is the use of the judgement which all say is to be at the end of the world?”.

Who will be raised for judgement?

It is clear from Daniel 12:2 that not all will be raised, for “many of them that sleep ... shall awake”; also, of those raised only some will be made immortal, and the others will be punished. The basis upon which judgement can rightly be made must be some measure of accountability to God. The principle of accountability is shown in Luke 12:47,48: “that servant, which knew his Lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes”. Here the basis of accountability for servants is knowledge of the Lord’s will. Entry to the role of servants of the Lord is through belief of the gospel. As Mark records: “Go ye ... preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (16:15,16). The words of the gospel become the basis of what is believed. Of course, belief of God’s Word was also the basis in Old Testament times: “Abraham believed God ...”; “The just shall live by faith” (Rom. 4:3; 1:17). Jesus’s words are themselves the basis of judgement for those who hear and understand them: “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (Jno. 12:48).

There is much in the world that competes with the gospel message and will prevent many from hearing it. They will, therefore, not be accountable and consequently not raised from the dead: “if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost (perishing, RV): in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ ... should shine unto them” (2 Cor. 4:3,4). Those that do not come into contact with the gospel and are not enlightened will perish in death, because as mortal beings they will die, and, being ignorant of the gospel of salvation, will have no route of escape. A number of scriptures confirm this:

While it is possible to state the principle that knowledge brings responsibility, it is not possible, neither is it our place to do so, to attempt to closely define the boundary at which people will be left in the grave or will be raised to give account. Sadly, many who are held accountable will hear the terrible words, “I never knew you: depart from me …” (Mt. 7:23).

What will happen at the judgement

What will take place at the judgement seat is illustrated both in parables and in direct teaching. In all the records there is the unmistakable separation into those who are accepted, and are given immortality, and those who are rejected and are punished.

In the parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25 there is separation into two classes by the shepherd. Since Jesus said of himself, as the good shepherd, “I know my sheep”, this picture is not unrealistic. Other passages speak more in terms of giving personal account; for example, those parables of profitable and unprofitable servants, of the pounds, and of the talents. Romans 14:12 reads: “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God”; and 1 Corinthians 4:5: “… until the Lord come, who ... will ... manifest the counsels of the hearts”.

Those who are judged worthy will be changed to spirit nature. They will be “clothed upon” with their “house which is from heaven”, which, as the apostle explains, means “clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life” (2 Cor. 5:2,4). These will be the blessed of the Father, who will inherit the Kingdom, as children of God and joint heirs with Christ. Such a destiny should surely encourage patient continuance in welldoing and a seeking for the glory, honour and immortality to be found in eternal life.

Those who are judged unworthy will go away into everlasting punishment. There is, ultimately, for this sad class a second death. Daniel describes this destiny as shame and everlasting contempt. Jesus tells us that there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth at a time when the angels will “gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire” (Mt. 13:41,42). Paul states that “unto them that ... do not obey the truth” there will be “indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish” at “the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God” (Rom. 2:8,9,5). These pictures suggest that the rejected will be involved in the judgements on the contemporary world when Jesus returns to establish the Kingdom (2 Thess. 1:7,8).

The Scriptural teaching on the nature of man is thus a consistent whole which reflects the justice and mercy of God. It is summarised in the Declaration under sections 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 17 and 18.

FOOTNOTES

1. Vol. 2 No. 8, Dec. 1835.

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