On Death, Dying, and the Future Hope - Teachers Comments

2022 Quarter 4 Lesson 12 - The Biblical Worldview

Teachers Comments
Dec 10 - Dec 16

Key Texts: Genesis 2:7, Luke 2:52, Romans 8:4–14, 1 Corinthians 2:16, Philippians 2:5

Part I: Overview

The biblical worldview counters the Greek philosophy of dualism, which posits that body is bad but spirit is good. Dualism claims that in a mortal body, an eternal soul is enslaved, which will be liberated at the point of every person’s death, at which point he or she will live eternally.

This view contradicts the plain biblical teaching wherein God created everything very good, including our bodies. We were created in dependence upon God; thus, we were made without inherent immortality. Life is not in us but given to us from outside, and as we live in close relationship with God, this life is maintained forever. God made human beings as living souls (Gen. 2:7). Immortality is not in us but constantly supplied to us from the Lord Himself, an external Source.

The biblical worldview of human nature is a unity of all aspects of our existence, namely, physical, mental/intellectual, emotional, volitional, spiritual, and social, aspects that do not exist separately or independently from each other. All are put together by our Creator God in a marvelous and unseparated unity, and everything needs to be sanctified by God (1 Thess. 5:23). When a person dies, there is no activity in any of these aspects (Eccles. 9:5, 6).

Our being is a unit, and God desires to change our being. To achieve this transformation, He speaks to us. Ellen G. White stresses that the Lord communicates with us through our brain: “The brain nerves which communicate with the entire system are the only medium through which Heaven can communicate to man and affect his inmost life.”—Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, p. 347. It is very crucial to have the mind of Christ in order to understand His Word. When the Word of God dwells in us and constantly guides us, then our mind can be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. “We can attain to an understanding of God’s word only through the illumination of that Spirit by which the word was given.”—Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 109. Paul explains: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom. 12:2, ESV).

Part II: Commentary

Life According to the Spirit

The spiritual dimension of our lives is of the utmost importance and must be properly cultivated. To aid in our understanding and undertaking of this task, the apostle Paul sharply contrasts life according to the flesh and life according to the Spirit (Rom. 8:4–6). The flesh and the Spirit stand in opposition: the carnal nature of humanity versus the spiritual nature, which is regenerated by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:9–11). Cultivating our spiritual lives requires attention to all facets of our existence, including our attitudes and motives. We must choose between God and His values or sin and self, by which we gratify the lusts of the flesh, such as lust, greed, envy, anger, pride, and dominance. Paul assures us that those who allow God to change them, who set their minds on the things of the Spirit and on the things above (Col. 3:2), are led by the Spirit. These believers are God’s children (Rom. 8:5, 14). Ezekiel speaks about the choice of either living with a heart of stone or with a heart of flesh (Ezek. 36:26; i.e., being sensitive to God’s voice, willing to change, and open to helping people in need). Only the heavenly Surgeon can successfully perform this transplantation of the human heart.

The Body—Physical Aspect

Humans are flesh (Gen. 6:3); they also are dust, taken from the ground, and to dust they return (Gen. 3:19). This axiom means we are fragile and mortal. Yet, Paul encourages believers to be filled with the Spirit in order to serve and glorify God in their body: “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Cor. 6:19, 20, ESV). Also, Paul explains what our goal in life should be: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31, ESV).

Soul/Heart—Emotional, Intellectual, and Volitional Aspects

The Hebrew Bible underlines the notion of heart in many verses. God states that He will transform human hearts by His teachings, grace, and Spirit: “ ‘I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts’ ” (Jer. 31:33, ESV). “ ‘And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules’ ” (Ezek. 36:27, ESV). In the Bible, the heart represents more than just a physical organ that pumps blood—it symbolizes a seat of the emotions, a place where we decide things, where we feel, and where we think. It represents our inner life, the deep-down life of our motives, goals, and desires.

Social Aspect

We were created as social people; no person is an isolated island unto themself. We were created with that social dimension. Social life is a very important aspect of our existence, and to have a healthy balance in life, we need to cultivate meaningful relationships with other people and serve others as Christ did (Matt. 20:28). It was well manifested in the childhood of Jesus—how He progressed and comprehensively grew in life: “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52, ESV). Christ’s life was in balance as all aspects of His personality—the mental, physical, spiritual, and social dimensions—developed in perfect harmony.

The Mind of Christ

The apostle Paul makes it clear that every believer should be a spiritual person. We can have the mind of Christ only when we discern spiritual things spiritually and are guided by the Spirit of God (Rom. 8:14). “ ‘For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ’ ” (1 Cor. 2:16, ESV). In this way we can have glimpses into God’s mind so that we may know His thinking.

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5, ESV). The New International Version translates this phrase: “Have the same mindset as Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5, NIV). The New Living Translation and some other translations explain this term correctly as attitude: “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had” (Phil. 2:5, NLT). We need to think according to God’s way. Jesus rebuked Peter for his earthly thinking: “ ‘You aren’t thinking the way God thinks, but the way humans think’ ” (Matt. 16:23, GW).

Anthropological Studies and Neuroscience

Recent studies in theological anthropology present excellent new views on the mortality of the whole human being. Research confirms the biblical teaching. David P. Gushee declares: “Unlike the Greek notion that the body decays while the self floats off to heaven, a biblical (especially a Jewish) understanding seems to envision no such separable existence between body and soul or spirit. When we die, all of us dies.”—Only Human: Christian Reflections on the Journey Toward Wholeness (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2005), p. 49.

Nancey Murphy embraces physical and relational functions of our existence and stresses human moral responsibility. Instead of a soul, she uses the notion of self: “The term self is used in a variety of ways in psychology and philosophy. What is at issue here is not the question of what it means to be a self. Rather the issue is that of having a self-concept.”—“Nonreductive Physicalism,” in In Search of the Soul: Four Views of the Mind-Body Problem, ed. Joel B. Green and Stuart L. Palmer (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005), p. 124. Murphy claims that humans are physical and that “it is the brain that does the work once attributed to the mind or soul.”—In Search of the Soul: Four Views of the Mind-Body Problem, p. 132. What a stunning confirmation of what Ellen G. White stated (see citation in Overview).

Joel Green, using his background in neuroscience and biblical studies, states that we need a better understanding of biblical anthropology. He argues for the biblical wholistic view of humanity. He stresses that humans are a unit and do not possess an ontologically distinct soul; therefore, he rightly denies that after physical death, the soul lives in an “intermediate state.”—Body, Soul, and Human Life: The Nature of Humanity in the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008), pp. 177–180. Green ends his study with the hope of resurrection and powerfully declares: “Nothing in the created human being is intrinsically immortal. Resurrection and embodied afterlife are God’s doing, divine gift.”—Body, Soul, and Human Life, p. 175.

F. F. Bruce fittingly declares: “In biblical usage immortality belongs inherently to God alone; otherwise it belongs only to those to whom God gives it. Again, where human beings are concerned, immortality in the Bible is predicated of the body, not of the soul.

“In our western culture, thought and language about immortality have been largely determined by Plato’s doctrine of the immortality of the soul. But any attempt to combine Plato’s doctrine with the teaching of the Bible can lead only to confusion. For Plato did not mean by immortality what the biblical writers mean by it, and what Plato meant by the soul is not what the biblical writers mean by the soul.

“For the Christian, the hope of immortality is bound up with the resurrection of Christ.”—“Foreword,” in George Wisbrock, Death and the Soul (Oakbrook, IL: ZOE-Life Books, 1990), p. i.

Part III: Life Application

  1. Imagine that your friend is discouraged, disappointed, and depressed. How can you help him or her gain confidence in life and hope?

  2. Individualism, self-centeredness, and selfishness kill all meaningful relationships, which are built on trust and sacrifice. How can you build a relevant social life with the people around you?

  3. Ellen G. White declares: “If we thought and talked more of Jesus, and less of self, we should have far more of His presence. . . . Christ and Him crucified should be the theme of contemplation, of conversation, and of our most joyful emotion.”—Steps to Christ, pp. 102–104. How can we share Christ in a practical way when we eat or socialize with people?

  4. How can you obtain the mind of Christ? On what does it depend, and how can it be developed?

  5. Since God communicates with us through sensitive nerves in our brain, how can we protect and cultivate them?