FromNowUntilForeverBook8.5x5.5 REV.indd

and Scripture affirms, “The intermediate Heaven is not our final destination.Though it will be a wonderful place, the intermedi- ate Heaven is not the place we were made for—the place God promises to refashion for us to live in forever.” 174 For the believer, intermediate heaven serves as a stopping over point between death and Christ’s return to the earth. This is called the disembodied state. When we die, our spirits depart our temporal earth suits, and are transported immediately into the presence of the Lord. Before Jesus died on the cross He called out: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46). Why did He not say, “Father, into your hands I commit my body?” The reason is, His body was taken down from the cross and placed in the tomb. It was three days later, when He came forth from the grave, that He possessed a glorified, resur- rection body. As Christians, we’ll receive glorified bodies when Jesus comes to the earth a second time, along with the angels and saints. After the forces of evil are defeated and Satan is bound, Christ’s millennial reign will commence. It’s after that thou- sand year period of peace, Satan’s ultimate destruction and the final judgment of the unsaved that the old heaven and earth are destroyed by fire and the new heaven and new earth are estab- lished (2 Peter 3:12, Revelation 21:1). Fret not if this seems overwhelming. It will be explained in more detail in later chap- ters. For now, let’s conclude by addressing two frequently asked questions. First, with our earthly bodies buried in or spread upon the earth, what will our soul and spirit consist of during the intermediate state? Although the Bible doesn’t address this inquiry directly, answers are implied. When, in one of Jesus’ parables (Luke 16:19-31), the poor man Lazarus died, he was carried to Abraham’s side. From hell, the rich man asked if

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