The intermediate heaven

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Heaven”

Our Bible verse for today: “… and the dead in Christ will rise first.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “The intermediate heaven”

In yesterday’s devotional I had some fun with the cartoonish notion some people have of existence after death as a disembodied spirit with angel-like wings, sitting on a cloud, playing a harp. I noted that the Bible actually portrays our eternal body as being something like Jesus’ resurrection body, having both physical and spiritual qualities to it.

What I didn’t tell you is that the resurrection body is a future promise, not an immediate reality right after we die. The Bible describes two different heavens – heaven as it exists now, and heaven as it will exist after the end of time (the new heaven described in Revelation twenty-one.) The new heaven is created along with the new earth after the second coming of Christ and after Satan is defeated and banished to the pit of hell. We will get to that in future devotionals.

In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 Paul was describing the time of Christ’s second coming, the rapture, and the rising of those who are already dead in Christ to meet Him in the air. As of that time the dead in Christ still have not received a resurrection body. That hasn’t happened yet. At that point they’re close to the time when the children of God receive resurrection bodies, but in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 they’re not quite there yet. So, what state have they been in up to that point? Was it a matter of wings and clouds and harps after all? Well, no. Not exactly.

If we take the time to piece together the evidence from Scripture chronologically, we discover that there are two states of existence for the believer after we leave this life. The first is what theologians call “the intermediate heaven” or “the intermediate state.” Paul spoke of this in 2 Corinthians 5:8 when he wrote that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. The moment this body ceases to function your spirit is released from it and you are in the presence of Jesus. But it is as a disembodied spirit (although there is some indication in Scripture that even at this stage, although we won’t have a resurrection body yet, we may have some physical, or physical-like qualities. At the very least, we will be recognizable as the person we were in this lifetime.)

But the point is that in the intermediate heaven there are no resurrection bodies. That’s a promise for the future, as described in the final chapters of the book of Revelation. If you die before then, you will be in heaven, and it will be paradise, and it will be wonderful beyond your wildest dreams, but at that point you will be a disembodied spirit.

But don’t despair. It will be still be glorious; and that new body (minus the cellulite, thunder thighs, and highway hips,) is still going to be yours. You will just have to wait a little longer for it.

The intermediate heaven will be great. The new heaven and the new earth will be even better. But before we explore what the Bible reveals about eternity in the new heaven and the new earth, let’s think a little more about how this old physical body of ours will one day be changed into that new resurrection body in which we will spend eternity. We will do that tomorrow.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

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