Dr Paul Allen

THE DIMENSIONS OF DEATH What do we mean by the “dimensions” of death? When we think of death, we typically think of a friend or a loved one dying. Certainly, the Bible speaks of death that way. The Bible also has a broader understanding of death than biological or natural death. It can speak of death in terms of a person’s relationship with God.  We may call this “spiritual” death. Third, the Bible understands death in its fullest dimension in light of eternity. Those who die impenitent enter into “eternal” death. These three dimensions are not separate from one another. They are very much interrelated. Let’s look at these three dimensions of death: biological, spiritual, and eternal. Biological, or natural, death is the kind of death that is most familiar to us. 1 This death is the temporary dissolution of the bond between a person’s soul and body. As a result, the body undergoes corruption. This is how Solomon speaks of death in Ecclesiastes 12:7: “The dust returns to the earth as it

“And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.” ( Isaiah 53:9 ) It is generally recognized that the amazing 53rd chapter of Isaiah, written over 500 years earlier, is the most explicit and complete exposition of the substitutionary suffering and death of the Lord Jesus Christ in all the Bible, including even the New Testament accounts. And this prophecy that His death and burial would be with both the “wicked, and with the rich” is surely one of the most remarkable. How could such a prediction possibly come to pass? Yet it did! Unjustly condemned, not for any violent or deceitful acts, but only for telling the truth, Jesus was crucified between two wicked criminals, yet He was buried in a garden tomb lovingly built by a rich member of the council that had condemned Him to death. Furthermore, that elaborate tomb had almost certainly been personally designed and built ahead of time by Jose