for sure the Resurrection is fundamental but my question is actually about those two places(heaven/hell) being real and physical? or am i off in left field?
Hello Zech,
To my understanding the soul is mortal. It dies, and at death, the entire person or soul goes to hell (sheol, hades). Now, hell is not a place of torment or flames, it is simply the common grave, a place where all the dead go. According to Eccl 9:5,6, 10, all activity and consciousness for all people, have ceased.
"Hades" (or sheol) is said to give up those in it when the general resurrection of the dead begins. (Rev 20:12, 13: John 5:28, 29)
The body + breath (spirit) = a soul, or the whole person. Nothing survives death. Adam was not given a soul but became one with the breath that God put into him. When breathing stops, the soul dies.
Ezek 18:4 tells us that "the soul that sins, dies". We are all souls...we all sin...therefore we all die.
Animals breathe the same air as we do and die the same death as we do. (Eccl 3:19, 20) What makes us different is that Christ came to rescue us from the grip of death. Death is not permanent for us, like it is for the animals.
The Bible does not teach the notion of an immortal soul that departs from the body when we die.
The "spirit" departs, but that is the "breath". It is 'goes out' like a candle. (Psalm 146:4) When we breathe our last, it is the end of life and all consciousness.
All the resurrections performed in the Bible were back to life on earth. When Lazarus was raised by Jesus, he was not brought back from heaven. Jesus said he was "sleeping" and that he would awaken him. (John 11:11) There was no exclamations of where he had been at all. Surely if he had gone to a better place, he would have have said something about it. Was his resurrection back to life on earth, only to die a second time, a blessing in that case?
Jesus was the only one who went to heaven. Those chosen to rule with him in his kingdom (the elect) will also experience this kind of resurrection (Rev 20:6)...but the majority of mankind were always meant to live forever on this beautiful jewel in space....planet earth. (Gen 1:28-31)
Adam was not created to die. He was meant to live here forever with his children. Death has always been a foreign element in human existence. It is called an 'enemy' in the scriptures...and it is to be eliminated. (1 Cor 15:26)
Imagine everlasting life in perfect peace and health on a paradise earth with all of God's creatures living in peace and harmony for the rest of eternity....what a wonderful thought!