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Life is a Flash
July 23, 2011

If you have ever lost computer files due to a hard disk failure, or the failure of a flash memory stick, you know how frustrating it can be as all of your files appear to be gone.Unless you have a backup, you are typically out of luck. The exception is if the files can be recovered from he damaged device, and this is not always a guarantee. In some ways, our life is like this, too. Age sneaks up on us all and we start looking at the certainty of the end of our life.So here is a question.What happens to our memory upon our death?

Answering this question requires an understanding of what the Bible teaches about death rather than common perceptions of modern Christianity that teaches that upon death we either go to heaven or hell, and for some, a stop in purgatory is warranted. The Bible teaches a different result for us at our death. At death, the Bible teaches that we are sleeping until we are resurrected from the dead, and that this resurrection does not occur until Jesus Christ is returning to earth. Paul begins the explanation for us.

1 Corinthians 15:51-52
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

Paul shows that Christians become immortal upon the return of Jesus Christ, and for those who are alive at that moment in time, they will be changed without seeing death. For those who are already dead, they will be resurrected to immortality.One does not need to be raised from the dead if they have indeed already been changed to spirit and gone to either heaven, hell, or purgatory.John shows us that this change from mortal to immortal occurs at the end of the great tribulation as Jesus is returning to the earth.

Revelation 20:1-6
And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

The trumpet that Paul was referring to occurs in Revelation, and it is after this trumpet sounds that Christians are resurrected.What Paul writes about occurs within the timeframe outlined by John in Revelation.Using both verses together, one comes to the conclusion that Christians are resurrected upon the return of Jesus.

So with the idea that Christians are resurrected upon the return of Jesus, what happens to our memory upon our death?This is a good question to ask as our memories are formed from life experiences and stored within the brain, part of the body that dies.Upon death there is something that returns to God, and this is revealed in the Old Testament.

Ecclesiastes 12:7
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

In the beginning God created and within his creation immediately before creating the Sabbath came the creation of man. The spirit of man, given by God returns to God, and spirit in the Hebrew is Ruwach, meaning breath.

Genesis 2:7
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

When God created Adam, God breathed the breath of life into Adam. A different Hebrew word is used here,nshamah, and this means wind.With the breath of life we are living souls, and the word for soul is Nephesh, meaning a breathing creature.Modern Christianity often considers the soul as that which returns to God, however a spirit being has no need for respiration, the act of breathing.Modern Christianity in an effort to explain the mystery of death, adds to the misunderstanding by confusing soul and spirit. The soul is in essence our body, and the spirit is the life force within our body. This is what returns to God.

So what happens to our memory at death?It somehow returns to God along with our spirit in a way we do not understand.We know that Jesus died and was resurrected, and apparently was resurrected with his memory intact, and we can expect the same.

There is an old joke about Jesus and Satan being involved in a computer programming contest with God as the judge. Both were typing for a long time when suddenly the power went out and the computer screens went blank.When the power was restored moments later, God immediately announced that the contest was over. God went to Satan and asked Satan to show what he had written, and Satan had nothing, complaining that he lost everything when the power went out.When God stopped with Jesus, Jesus showed God thousands of lines of computer code. This upset Satan who didn't understand how Jesus could do this, as both lost power at the same time. God turned to Satan and told him that the reason Jesus had all of his lines of code is because Jesus saves.

And Jesus saves in a manner that should not cause us concern.Unlike computers and media that are subject to failure, when Jesus saves it is eternal, and even though we may not understand how Jesus saves us and our memories, we can trust that he will save reliably and without a hard disk or media failure.

All verses are from the King James Version.
This site provided by Tom Laign. To all who may believe differently, I also extend peace and love.
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