Introduction:
As our first parents listened to the words of the serpent, they accepted the idea that they could continue to live without obeying God's revealed will. See Genesis 3:1-6. Though this assertion went directly contrary to that which God had stated, it was accepted in the place of God's word and acted upon.

For our vantage point in the stream of time, it seems that we would have learned to recognize the obvious falsity of such a claim; but the painfulness and heartbreak which attends death adds to our willingness to grasp any assurance that offers us hope of evading this ultimate enemy. Although the evidence available to us gives a much different picture, Satan's original lie has echoed and re-echoed with the passage of time, and is still being repeated. Oh, the wording is somewhat modified to allow for the obvious fact that life as we know it now does not continue, but we are inclined to believe that there is a part of every person that continues to live on in another form. In the minds of many, death has come to mean a continued existence as a conscious entity, though not in a form such as we now have. But, can we justify this conclusion? What evidence have we that this is the case?

1. Of what substance was man formed in the beginning?
Genesis 2:7___________________________________________________________________

2. What act of God made him a living soul?
Genesis 2:7___________________________________________________________________
Note: It was not a living soul that was put into man, but the breath of life. When you put breath from God into a body, you then have a living soul. We might write it like a mathematical equation: Breath + Body = Living soul.

3. What happens to the soul that sins?
Ezekiel 18:20__________________________________________________________________

4. With what did Job compare the spirit from God that is in man?
Job 27:3_______________________________________________________________________

5. Are there creatures besides man called "living souls" in the Bible?
Revelation 16:3________________________________________________________________
Note: The original word for "soul" in Genesis 2:7 is nephesh . In Genesis 1:24 this word is translated "creature." Dr. A. Clarke points out that this word is a "general term to express all creatures endued with animal life, in any of its infinitely varied gradations, from the half-reasoning elephant down to the polyp, which seems equally to share the vegetable and animal life."

6. Is theirs the same breath as man's?
Ecclesiastes 3:19______________________________________________________________

7. What then is the difference between man and the lower creatures?
1 Corinthians 15:39____________________________________________________________
Note: God gives various physical natures to the creatures He has made. The physical nature alone determines the properties of the mind and body, whether of man or beast, for the breath of God that gives them life is the same in all.

8. When a man dies, what happens to this spirit?
Ecclesiastes 12:7______________________________________________________________
Note: This verse shows us that the spirit of life by which the man lived, and which was lent to him from God, goes back to God, the great Author of life. It was God's to begin with, and when a man dies, it returns to his Maker. At that time, the dust, which in the beginning was made a "living soul," goes back as it was, to the earth.

9. How did Jesus refer to death?
John 11:11-14; Luke 8:52_______________________________________________________
Note: In a sound sleep one is wholly lost to consciousness; time goes by unnoticed; and the functions of the mind are suspended for the time being. If Lazarus was really in heaven when Jesus said he was asleep, calling him to life was robbing him of the bliss of heaven that rightly belonged to him.

10. What becomes of a person's thoughts at death?
Psalm 146:3, 4_________________________________________________________________

11. Do the dead know anything at all?
Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10___________________________________________________________

12. Where do the dead sleep?
Daniel 12:2____________________________________________________________________

13. How long do they sleep there?
Job 14:12______________________________________________________________________
Note: 2 Peter 3:3, 4, 10 tells us that it is at the coming of Jesus that the heavens will be no more.

14. Is it possible for the dead to praise the Lord?
Psalm 115:17___________________________________________________________________
Note: There is not even a remembrance of God in death. As we have already seen, the Bible everywhere presents the dead as sleeping. If a person went either to heaven or hell when he died, this could not be true.

15. What must take place before the dead can praise the Lord?
Isaiah 26:19___________________________________________________________________ 16. If there were never an awakening of the dead, what would be the result?
1 Corinthians 15:16-18_________________________________________________________

17. When does the resurrection of the dead take place?
1 Thessalonians 4:16___________________________________________________________

18. Then are the righteous dead now in heaven?
Acts 2:34______________________________________________________________________

19. Who only has immortality (never dies)?
1 Timothy 6:15, 16_____________________________________________________________

20. Is it possible for us to receive immortality?
1 Corinthians 15:52-53_________________________________________________________

21. How do we receive this life?
Romans 6:23____________________________________________________________________

22. To whom is this gift of life given?
Matthew 19:17__________________________________________________________________
Note: Because of disobedience it became man's portion to die. How unreasonable to believe that all that was lost may be regained while still disobeying God?

23. On what basis do they receive this gift?
1 John 3:4-6___________________________________________________________________
Note: Jesus came that He might overcome Satan,and, by His Spirit living in us, give us that same power to overcome. See Hebrews 2:14-15. For us to continue to live out of harmony with His expressed will--His Law--reveals that we really have no living connection with Him, the Source of life.

Adam's sin resulted in bringing death upon the whole human race; all alike go down into the grave. At the resurrection, however, a distinction will be made. All will fall into one of two categories. See John 5:28, 29. Those who have not through repentance and faith secured pardon, renouncing their sins and by the power of Christ's indwelling Spirit lived lives of obedience, must receive the penalty of transgression--"the wages of sin." Since it is impossible for God, consistent with His justice and mercy, to save the sinner in his sins, He deprives him of the existence which his transgressions have forfeited and of which he has proved himself unworthy.

If you have any questions or comments about this lesson, you can email me at: [email protected]