The Spirit Returns to God

Read Genesis 2:7 and Ecclesiastes 12:1–7. What contrast can you

see between these two biblical passages? How can they help us to

understand better the human condition in death? (See also Genesis

7:22.)

As already seen, the Bible teaches that the human being is a soul

(Gen. 2:7), and the soul ceases to exist when the body dies (Ezek. 18:4,

20).

But what about the “spirit”? Does it not remain conscious even after

the death of the body? Many Christians believe so, and they even try to

justify their view by quoting Ecclesiastes 12:7, which says, “Then the

dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God

who gave it” (NKJV). But this statement does not suggest that the spirit

of the dead remains conscious in God’s presence.

Ecclesiastes 12:1–7 in quite dramatic terms describes the aging process,

culminating with death. Verse 7 refers to death as the reversal of

the creation process mentioned in Genesis 2:7. As already stated, on the

sixth day of the Creation week “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 being” (Gen. 2:7, NKJV). But now, Ecclesiastes 12:7

tells us that “the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit

will return to God who gave it” (NKJV). So, the breath of life that God

breathed into the nostrils of Adam, and that He also has provided to all

other human beings, returns to God, or, in other words, simply stops

flowing into and through them.

We should keep in mind that Ecclesiastes 12:7 describes the dying

process of all human beings and does so without distinguishing

between the righteous and the wicked. If the alleged spirits of all who

die survive as conscious entities in the presence of God, then are the

spirits of the wicked with God? This idea is not in harmony with the

overall teaching of the Scriptures. Because the same dying process

happens both to human beings and to animals (Eccles. 3:19, 20), death

is nothing else than ceasing to exist as living beings. As stated by the

psalmist, “You hide Your face, they are troubled; You take away their

breath, they die and return to their dust” (Ps. 104:29, NKJV).

We often say that death is just part of life. Why is that so wrong?

Death is the opposite of life, the enemy of life. What great hope,

then, is found in this verse: “The last enemy that will be destroyed

is death” (1 Cor. 15:26, NKJV)?